Egg Nog Taste Test: Raw vs Cooked

Does cooking ruin good egg nog, or improve it?

Frothy raw egg nog.

For you foodies out there who want the ultimate home made egg nog experience, I did a side by side comparison of egg nogs made with identical ingredients. One cooked, one raw.

Which one do you think you would like better?

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups raw milk (if you pour from the top of a full jar, this includes cream)

• 3 egg yolks

• 1/4 to 1/2 cup maple syrup

• pinch of salt

• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

• 1/4 tsp nutmeg

• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Adding raw ingredients to the blender.

Raw Method:

Put all ingredients into a blender and zap it.

It will get quite frothy! If you want it to be frothy when your family drinks it, make it right before serving. Plan for increased volume.

Cooked Method:

Separate egg yolks into a medium sized mixing bowl.

Put all other ingredients into a sauce pan and bring to a simmer, stirring to prevent scorching.

Tempering the eggs with hot milk.

Temper the eggs: pour a few ounces of the hot milk into the egg yolks while beating. Repeat this a few times until about half of the hot milk has been beaten into the eggs. Now pour the egg mixture into the pan, return to the heat, and bring to a simmer while stirring.

There will be fine bits of cooked egg that take away from the silky texture. To remove them, simply pour the cooked egg nog through a sieve.

Chill before serving (unless you like it warm!).

Taste Test Results

The flavor of the two methods was almost identical, but the mouth feel was night and day different.

The raw version was frothy, which is kind of fun, but only slightly thicker than regular milk.

The cooked egg nog is thick and silky, almost like drinking custard.

While it's true that raw milk contains beneficial bacteria and enzymes that help you digest it and contribute to a healthy gut, I drink raw milk every day. I only drink egg nog once or twice a year, and I want it to be the best egg nog experience possible!

I think it's worth cooking it.

Doesn't cooking raw milk ruin it?

A lot of people who have trouble digesting highly processed store bought milk find that they can digest raw milk just fine.

However, cooking raw milk does NOT make it into the same thing as highly processed grocery store milk.

Grocery store milk is typically:

• from cows that were on an intense diet for maximum milk production

• from cows that are dosed with pharmaceuticals because they are being pushed for max production

• was homogenized

• was pasteurized way above the boiling point, at a whopping 280F

• has synthetic vitamins and minerals added

Raw milk which was gently cooked is none of those things. It generally comes from healthy cows, is not homogenized, was cooked no higher than the boiling point, and has nothing synthetic added.

My mom used to think that she was lactose intolerant, but she can drink my milk with no problem. And, she can drink my milk when it has been cooked with no problem.

So it really is worth using raw milk even if you cook it!