I know there has been a lot of discussion about IMBC and its safety. I found this info and it clarifies a LOT! I feel so much more comfortable about using the IMBC recipe that requires the heating of the egg white (not the recipe that has the syrup that gets poured into the egg whites).

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Q-A/EggPasturization.htm

I just wanted to share since I know I'm not the only one that has concerns about this!

Hope I've helped a bit.
-Krissy

I always get the Swiss and Italian mixed up. I haven't had any problems either but I've always been nervous about it. I prefer the Swiss to the Italian just because I've had better luck with it.

Thanks for clarifying

Use pasteurized egg whites. Problem solved.

I tried the pasteurized egg whites and it didn't work. It even said right on the carton "not for use in meringues". Of course I didn't see that until after I wasted an entire recipe's worth of ingredients.

Have you successfully used them? What brand di you use? Maybe it differs from brand to brand?

I actually used meringue powder because I'm a freak (Salmonella actually grows on the shell from what I understand), and while I'm certain my SMBC that it came out as it was supposed to (texture wise), I wasn't pleased with the taste. I wonder if it's the meringue powder that I don't like, or just the recipe? I have no qualms about eating stuff I prepare, but I worry about giving it to someone.

I just don't like the smell or taste of meringue powder, so I'm guessing that is what you didn't like. But I do think SMBC or IMBC are an acquired taste if you have grown up on powdered sugar buttercreams.

the cooked meringue icings taste like French Vanilla Ice cream..

sooooooooo yummy!

Another meringue buttercream thread:

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-137351-.html

That's the funny thing, I like Meringue powder in my regular BC (love the smell too! Yes I'm a freakazoid)- but it probably doesn't taste like pure egg whites do. I think I'll just bite the bullet and make it as it was intended next time! And yep, I am very powder sugar buttercream-ized (LOVE Toba's recipe), but want to branch out. I have eaten raw eggs in cookie dough and batter all my life and have never become sick. I don't know what my deal is.

What are pasteurized egg whites and where do you buy them?

Pasteurized eggwhites are heated to kill of any bacteria (salmonella). Some grocery stores have them in the case with the eggs, afew have them frozen. You can also find them in restaurant supply stores.

You can also buy pasteurized eggs, in the shell in many groceries. Of coarse they cost more.

I hate the smell of meringue powder and it has a funky taste. Yuck! JMHO

I made some SMBC tonight and I used my thermometer to make sure the temp got to 160. It did and it turned out great! Safe and yummy!!

I know a lot of folks say dont get your sugar over 160 or you get lumps but when i make caramel IMBC i make caramel out of the sugar let it cool a little and then beat it into my egg whites. i have never had lumps of sugar in it so you can should be able to go to 160 and kill the baddies!

Min:0)

okay to leave out for a couple of days then ! I have been trying to figure that out for so long. It always seems wishy washy because no one wants to say. Thanks!

hmmm i tend not to leave butter cream out too much. It a bit hot here is Aussie! ha ha ha. But a couple of days if its not too warm is ok. If the eggs is effectively cooked then just think of it as butter and what happends to butter if left out of the fridge to long! If you want to leave it out longer you could try white chocolate ganache that is safe to leave out.

Cheers Min

I use a recipe of Colette Peters called Italian meringue buttercream, even tho' the sugar and egg whites are mixed and heated on the stove until they feel hot to the touch (no thermometer used). I don't want to look for trouble, so I purchase pasteurized egg whites (can't for the life of me remember the brand) from Whole Foods Market. They are a specialty store catering to the organic, natural foods enthusiast, here in CA. There is nothing on the container that says they will not whip or don't use for meringue ..... even put on glasses to be sure I wasn't missing anything since the print was to freakin' small! These are the only whites I have found that don't have the warning about not working and they work wonderfully. When I get home I will look up the brand and let you all know. Not sure if you can find them elsewhere......I know around here this is the only store to carry this brand......They even have an organic version, altho' the one I use is just "regular".

In school, this was a HUGE concern of mine. One of our instructors had a container of egg whites that he had left at room temperature for several months and they literally were a radioactive green in color. I would swear that if you turned the lights off, they would have glowed! This particular chef insisted that the older the egg white, the better it whipped up. I can see letting it get to room temp, but not for several months.

Anyway, we always used regular eggs and then just separated the white from the yolk for our buttercreams. There was never an issue as the temp of the sugar cooks the egg white. The same with using just the yolk for french buttercream. I have used the pasturized whites for smbc, but never for imbc, so personally I don't know how well that works...so it's nice to see everyone else's comments!

The site was down for maintenance when I got home, so if anyone is still interested here is the info on the egg whites I use.

Eggology brand....comes in a 3x3 clear plastic, squarish carton. Says 100% egg whites, absolutely nothing added...No preservatives or additives - kosher. I know I have bought the 'whites only' brand at the grocery store, but I think they have a preservative in them (used that brand in the cake itself). There is a website too... www.eggology.com. Like I said before, my recipe doesn't bring the eggs to the pasteurization stage, so I just feel a lot better knowing they are already pasteurized. HTH someone

When ever I make IMBC I also use only pasturized egg whites because I am too scared of somebody getting sick. My local grocery store carries them but I'm in Canada so you wouldn't have the same brand as I do.

Does anyone have a good chocolate IMBC recipe? I've heard of people using that, and I would love to try it!

Thanks!

Since this has been so controversal and I've made a lot of cakes for baby showers and it always concerns me for the mom's, what I use is dried pasturized egg whites. They are actually less expensive and easy to use. I get mine at http://store.honeyvillegrain.com The cost including shipping for 1 serving or 1 egg white is $ .06 compared to the cost of 1 egg which is $ .13 I've been very happy with the results.
Jacqui

It's the EGGs, not the sugar, that need cooked to 160. In all of my IMBC recipes, the sugar syrup is always cooked to 238-240 degrees, which is "soft ball" stage on a candy thermometer. It stays perfectly clear. It can develop crystals at this point (they're clear at this temp, too), so I always always pour it out of the sauce pan through a fine seive into a glass measuring cup before adding to the whipped eggs.

Caramelizing or darker color doesn't happen to sugar until it actually begins to, well, burn, for lack of a better word. Eggs, on the other hand, if you cook over 160 degrees, will usually turn to scrambled clots. If you've ever made homemade eggnog and overcooked it, you will see this...bleh

I lay awake nights worrying about food service issues. Sometimes I wonder if it's worth it at all to serve anything but nonperishable icings and fillings...

It sounds like we are discussing two different types of icing cooked in different ways. My understanding is that Swiss meringue buttercream is sugar and eggs or whites cooked together to a certain temperature, then beaten and butter added.

My understanding of Italian meringue buttercream is where a sugar and water mixture are cooked together to make a syrup, usually cooked to 240 degrees. then poured into raw stiffly beaten egg whites and later butter added.

So I can see that you might be able to cook sugar and egg whites to 260 degrees without the icing being a carmalized or beigey color. But if you are cooking a sugar syrup, just sugar and water together to 260 degrees. That is where I am wondering about the color change in the syrup that might change the color of your finished icing to a beigey or ivory color. The only way to tell is to try it. I think I may do that next weekend when I have a cake wrapped in chocolate with ruffles on top. If the icing gets beigey cooked at 260 degrees it won't matter because it will be covered with chocolate. I am just curious to see if it cooks so hard that I get hard candy sugar balls in the mixture when I add the syrup to the beaten whites. Cake decorating is a continual learning experience, isn't it?

What's IMBC ?

IMBC = Italian Meringue Buttercream
SMBC = Swiss Meringue Buttercream

I'm new too and was having trouble so I looked it up.

Hope that helps.

P.S. Glad I'm not the only one getting used to all the abbreviations.

Thanks kbrown99. Man... there are so many it's hard keeping up