January 5, 2010 - 11:29am
do eggs go bad in a long fermentation?
Normally, enriched doughs are made using baker's yeast and relatively short rise times.
I made a Greek celebration loaf using PR's BBA recipe pretty much.
The eggs went in and the fermentation times turned out to be like 8 or 10 hours do to the high percentage of wild yeasts, and a confluence of that and baker's yeast (not instant).
I am wondering if the eggs go bad in this scenario as in "do not eat".
Anyone have experience with this?
Thanks!
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I once had a large batch of Portugese Sweet Bread turn sour--terrible smell--when I had to extend the final proofing time by two or three hours. The recipe I was using contained seven eggs.
I threw the whole batch out.
David G
I'm about to bake a "Roscón de Reyes". The dough contains one egg, and went through 3 rises for about 10 hours. I've never had a problem with eggs going bad, and I've made this recipe maybe 5-6 times.
Moreover, wild yeast in your recipe might act as a preservative, due to its low pH.
If I'm going to leave eggs at room temperature for more than 2 hours I use only pasteurized eggs. After that, I figure it's time to toss them out. The variable is how long they've been at room temperature. I figure that, as soon as the dough is ready for it's initial fermentation period, the clock starts.
As my subject comment suggest I don't understand what is going to still be alive in bread that has been baked to at least 195 F. Bread has been one of the safest food down through the ages because it is baked and the dough is taken to a high temperature.
Some foods could develop toxins that survive the baking -- is that the case with "cooked eggs"?
Dave
Toxins which have grown at lower temps will stay in the bread and still make you sick even though you kill all the live bacteria. This is how something that has been improperly left out and then cooked can still make you sick.
Salmonella is classic for this and eggs are frequently contaminated with salmonella.
AFAIK, salmonellosis is an infection with alive Salmonella bacteria. You won't get ill by eating contamined food that has been thoroughly cooked.
Quote from the CDC, a rather informed source, I'd say:
"In affected parts of the United States, we estimate that one in 50 average consumers could be exposed to a contaminated egg each year. If that egg is thoroughly cooked, the Salmonella organisms will be destroyed and will not make the person sick."
Source: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/salment_g.htm
The bread was the best enriched bread I've ever made.
But I thought I didn't feel good after I ate it one day. Stomach ache the rest of the day. So I thought maybe this was the reason and then I started to think about it and realized it may not be a good idea.
OTOH, it is possible that the fermentation taking place in the dough has a protective or crowding-out effect on any "bad" bugs...but I don't think I'll try that again.
I will be careful not to do any long ferment with anything with eggs in it from now on.