Food safety question - use of egg and boiling

[ihavezippers]

Doctor,
I have been trying to emulate a dough with a consistency closer to bagels.  I have been researching bagel recipes, which call for egg.  The recipes says to boil the dough balls until they rise to the top of the boiling water, then remove.  The final step in the recipe is a 400 degree 20-minute bake.

My question: does the boiling nullify any dangerous bacteria, due to the egg, in the dough?  Or would the 400 degree/20-minute bake also be required.  I prefer to throw my pizza into a brick oven only for a few minutes, plus with toppings/sauce/cheese, I don't think the dough would be baked through anyways for those 5 minutes, so in the context of making pizzas, I would not be achieving that 400 degree/20-minute bake that the bagel recipe calls for.

If you agree, is there anyway around this?  Maybe boil longer?

[TXCraig1]

I don't completely understand your question. The boiling step is part of creating the chewy crust of the bages. It has nothing to do with food safety. Are you thinking about opening a dough ball, boiling it, topping it and then baking it? Given that your dough will be much thinner than a bagel, I'd suggest baking at a higher temperatur for a shorter period of time. I think 20 minutes at 400F would be death for a pizza.

In the simplest terms, if your dough is fully baked, anything that might have been introduced by be the egg will be dead. If it's not fully baked, its going to be a sticky gummy mess.

[pizzaneer]

 

I think I see where you're going with this.  I could be wrong, of course.

Here's a possible workflow:

1. mix your bagel dough, let proof, whatever the recipe calls for
2. roll it out to a 1/4" thickness, diameter sized to fit your skillet
3. heat up your skillet, place the dough and add already boiling water. Boil at low until the dough floats.
4. drain the skillet, saving the hot water for the next dough if applicable, and put the dough on a screen
5. In your preheated oven, bake the dough on the screen until it is browned top and bottom
6. at this point you can save the cooked dough, freeze, fridge, whatever, until you are ready for the final step
7. top the dough as you like and bake at 425 just long enough to bubble the cheese

Then enjoy your bagel pizza!

I find this interesting - I love bagels, and I want to see pictures of the finished pie.  It's basically the same concept as using croissant dough for a pizza base: another way to enjoy the world's greatest food!

[norma427]

ihavezippers,

I tried a couple of bagel pizzas and they did turn out well in my opinion.  http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,12463.0.html

Norma

[ihavezippers]

Thanks everyone.  Pizzaneer, I will try as you suggest---I was hoping to not have to pre-bake the crust by itself, but I guess if it gets rid of the nasties from the egg, thats more important.  It seems Papa Johns crust is very similar to a bagel, at least in some respects, so that was what I was really going for---and everytime I eat a bagel, I think to myself "wow, this would make a pretty decent crust" especially in comparison to all the trials and tribulations crusts I've had with crusts for the 10 years I've been visiting this forum.

I'll repost if its a success.  If I don't repost after a couple weeks, you can assume its back to the drawing board for me.

[pizzaneer]

I missed the "brick oven" part of your original post.  As long as it's at bread-baking temp, should be fine.  Thats around 400 or so.

In answer to your original concern, you don't have to worry too much about the egg.  See Norma's posts.  There's a lot of NY pizzerias that still use egg in the recipe.  What it does is add protein to "average" flour, until the result is more like a HG flour.  They don't have customers getting sick from their pizza.

[ThePieman]

Pasteurized eggs are your friend.

[jduchon]

I am a fan of the mobile pizza maker trucks in Southern France (Provence).  Our go to order is for a pizza that has a couple of fresh eggs cracked on it before baking.

Never a problem, the eggs are cooked through in a couple of minutes.

JD