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post #1 of 11
12/28/12 at 11:36am
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Is it safe to eat swiss meringue buttercream when your pregnant?
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post #2 of 11
12/28/12 at 11:40am
my doctor said no because the egg is uncooked and thats where the bacteria comes from. pretty much like any other uncooked food. i wouldnt take the chance.
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post #3 of 11
12/28/12 at 11:41am

I'd say it's essential. :)

 
 

 

 

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post #4 of 11
12/28/12 at 11:53am

With a Swiss meringue, you cook the egg whites until they reach 160 degrees F, at which point Salmonella dies, so you are safe to eat it.  Italian meringue has a different method of preparation which does not allow the egg whites to reach 160 degrees F, so enjoy your Swiss meringue buttercream! :)

~ Sherri
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~ Sherri
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post #5 of 11
12/28/12 at 12:25pm

100% safe.  It's cooked to a higher degree then 99% of Americans cook their morning breakfast eggs.

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post #6 of 11
12/29/12 at 6:53am
I'd be careful if you aren't the one making the SMBC. The recipe I learned for SMBC is Toba Garret's and she only calls for the egg whites to be heated to @ 140 degrees. I took a class with her and she even said that hitting 140 degrees was not essential - just that it got hot enough to start the sugar dissolving.
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post #7 of 11
12/29/12 at 12:54pm
In IMBC you actually heat the sugar and water to 244 F/ 118C so in my opinion IMBC is safer, but in either method the egg whites are cooked above the temperature that bacteria can survive so you are safe with either option.
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post #8 of 11
12/29/12 at 7:49pm
I made a batch of FMBC, which is made in a similar way as IMBC, but uses whole eggs. I measured the temperature of the egg mixture, thirty seconds after adding the 230 degree simple syrup, and it was 100 degrees. The eggs were never heated to anywhere close to the recommended 160 degrees needed to destroy bacteria.

I have no problem serving FMBC to my nieces and nephew or my ninety year old grandparents because, in my opinion, the risk of salmonella poisoning is extremely low. That said, the eggs have not been heated to 160 degrees so I don't believe I can claim with a 100% certainty that there is no chance of salmonella poisoning. (My family grew up eating raw egg yolks in a uncooked variation of the Portuguese dish, ovos molos, so no one bats an eyelash for SMBC or FMBC).

And unless I knew for a fact that the SMBC I was eating had been made using a recipe that requires heating the egg whites until they were 160 degrees, I don't think I would assume the SMBC was 100% free of salmonella bacteria. Again, I only heat my egg whites to 140 degrees and if a pregnant woman asked me, I would tell her so and let her make her own decision.
Edited by VanillaSky - 12/29/12 at 8:23pm
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post #9 of 11
12/30/12 at 9:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by LisaPeps View Post

In IMBC you actually heat the sugar and water to 244 F/ 118C so in my opinion IMBC is safer, but in either method the egg whites are cooked above the temperature that bacteria can survive so you are safe with either option.

 

Harold McGee says otherwise (http://tinyurl.com/McGee-salmonella).

 

I've made tons of IMBC and the meringue NEVER hits anywhere near 160 degrees F, which is the temperature at which Salmonella is killed.

~ Sherri
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~ Sherri
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post #10 of 11
12/30/12 at 2:19pm

If you are making your own SMBC, use the pasteurized whites in the carton, and also heat to 160 degrees with the sugar.  That way, the whites have been pasteurized twice, and I would think would be very safe.  (congratulations!)

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post #11 of 11
12/30/12 at 2:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by -K8memphis View Post

I'd say it's essential. :)

LOL!!

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