AGE your raw egg eggnog 

My first thought when Adam warned that older folks are at a higher risk of getting sick from salmonella was "Not very Adam-like to forget to warn us that little kids are at risk too" and then I realized what an idiot I am.

Got to love Adam, for locating the only eggnog scientist in the world 😂

I’m always hoping for a clip of Adam saying “take about 5 dozen eggs, start putting them in a bowl”

Adam is seriously showing us Rebecca Lancefield's actual eggnog recipe. As a medical student it is unbelievable to think one day you're learning about her classification of certain bacteria and the other one of her recipes!

Adam, THANK YOU for showing what happens to the eggs when you add in too much alcohol at one time. I find a lot of cooking videos always tell you “don’t do this, this, and this”, but they never explain or show why, or show what happens when you DO do those things, and why they’re bad. So just thank you for that!

This channel is a goldmine of educating scientific literacy. Thanks for what you do.

8 Months ago I made exactly this recipe, put it in a quart jar, and set it in the back of the fridge. I just cracked it open and it's amazing. Time will tell if it spoiled and carries any illnesses but the taste was out of this world. I'll report back in 24 hours if I survive to do so. BEST NOG EVER. Next batch I'm gonna try storing at room temp, see how it gets along.

Christmas season officially starts when foodtubers start uploading their eggnog recipes.

My Grandma used pure 80% Ethanol to make the base, then some dashes of rum to taste. She let it rest for like two weeks before the the first drink was served.

I was always confused seeing eggnog in American TV shows, since we don't have that here in Germany. What we do have is Eierlikör, literally egg liqueur, which in English, according to Wikipedia, is known as advocaat. It seems to have mostly the same ingredients, but is much denser, not frothy at all. Its origin would be worth a video, since it seems to be based on a drink by indigenous people in Brazil, originally made with avocados.

I've been making Alton Brown's eggnog recipe for years, and it's always received very well. Even people who 'hate eggnog' are pleasantly surprised when they try it. I'll do a batch of this one this year, as it also seems quite good. I'll say one thing with aging: Usually I go 3-4 weeks, and it never makes it past Christmas. However, recently (for obvious reasons) it did make it past. I kept it in a mini fridge, and kind of forgot about it until Easter. I broke it out, and the flavour was actually better. Aging absolutely matters with Nog. (And always grate fresh nutmeg)

I'd love to see a collab with Adam and Tasting History with Max Miller, esp. when diving into origins and such.

Really cleaver to do this a little more than 3 weeks before Christmas. Very much apricated, probably will try this.

I’ve got to say, this recipe is FASCINATING. Let me start here: I’m a every-spice-in-my-cabinet-egg-nog sort of girl. And since I started making eggnog each Christmas years before I drank, it was always alcohol-free, and then rum or whiskey added to the glass. So this recipe for me was completely unlike any nog I’ve ever nogged. I made a full batch, and NO alterations. No vanilla, no cinnamon, no cloves, allspice, nutmeg (except garnish), nothing. And let me tell you. Day one, it was undrinkable. Day 7 it was just as bad. Even after doctoring the bland, astringent mixture with all the aforementioned spices and flavors I normally would, it still tasted disgustingly of straight alcohol. Times are tight, and as this is an aging recipe, we used cheap liquor, and in this early stage, IT SHOWED. It was honestly anxiety-inducing, because it tasted so bad, and the whole thing cost over $40 to make with all that liquor and cream in there. Well, today was day 15, and let me tell you: ITS MAGIC. Somehow, in the past week, this revoltingly alcoholic mixture transformed into a delightfully creamy and boozy masterpiece that is- and I’m not exaggerating- downright FULL of spice flavor. I taste cinnamon, I taste nutmeg, and NONE OF THAT IS IN HERE. Where did this fine from? Why, the spiced rum, of course. But it was NONEXISTANT in the first taste tests. Somehow, the aging has just pulled out all those flavor notes from the rum (and vanilla from the bourbon?) and mingled them behind a sheer sheet of creamy custard goodness. I am actually astounded (and do relieved that the gallon waiting in my fridge for Christmas will not be a waste!). It truly feels like magic how, in one week, this mixture has completely transformed. I mean, I’ve made my own wine before and watched much more dramatic changes unfold in that timeframe, but this is finished product alcohol, and cream, and I just didn’t expect it to be THIS SIMPLE. You really just mix them together, throw them in the fridge, and wait. Knowing I have a week left before I serve the concoction, I have gone- overnight- from being ANXIOUS about whether this would work to SO EXCITED to enjoy this delicious delicacy and share it with my friends and family. This recipe is SO COOL! It’s really all about the aging. It changes EVERYTHING!!! I saw a comment here from someone else who ages their eggnog, and mentioned the incredible improvement when they tasted a forgotten Christmas batch at Easter. I think next year I’m going to set mine up at Halloween and let it ruminate all the way until Christmas Eve. I bet it will be SPECTACULAR! Thanks for sharing this super simple but exciting recipe Adam, and all the history and science behind it which makes your channel so captivating and engaging!!!! ❤️❤️❤️ Happy Holidays everyone!!!!

I appreciate the easily-screenshotable still at 3:44 with the recipe card accompanied by a nice photo of the author! 😁

Adam inching in to Tasting History's territory with this one. Historical background, vintage recipe, etc.

Grog by the way is not just rum, it is rum mixed with water. Rum was served as a part of the Royal fleet seamen and they use grog as a way to make the rum last longer, esp. in long travels.

While taking a class from a guy who was food scientist as well as a chef, I was shown a great egg nog recipe. What was interesting was that he pointed out that the way his recipe worked (which started with frothing the eggs and then adding the sugar and mixing for a while), it wasn't the alcohol that would kill any possible bacteria, but actually the sugar, which is hygroscopic (something that readily absorbs moisture). Basically, with just the eggs and the sugar, there isn't enough water from the eggs for the amount of sugar to completely counter the sugar's water absorption tendencies, so the sugar ends up removing the water from the bacteria, killing it. If you were to add all the ingredients together at once, the total liquid in the cream and milk (in this particular recipe) would prevent the sugar from actually killing the bacteria because the sugar would absorb the water from the milk and cream first. The strong hygroscopic nature of sugar is also the likely reason why, while they caution against eating raw cookie dough, you never seem to hear of anyone actually getting food poisoning from it.

I am an eggnog Junkie and loved it since I was a kid. I can still remember my grandmother making it when I was about 4 years old. I know she put a little bit of booze in it. I make my own egg nog now, heavy Cream, milk, generous amount of nutmeg, very small dash of cinnamon, eggs, sugar, dash of cloves, vanilla extract. I cook it ever so slowly in a double boiler. I don't like the idea of raw eggs and it comes out perfect. You have to experiment around to get the taste that you want. When I do add booze, I do it when the eggnog is completely finished and put it in the fridge. Out here in San Francisco where unfortunately I live, the eggnog doesn't hit the supermarket shelves until about 2 weeks before Christmas and disappears in about 2 weeks or so unlike the East Coast where it starts hitting the supermarket shelves before Thanksgiving and you have it till about the first or second week of January. This is San Francisco and they're weird out here!

Speaking of lactase enzymes--a video all about lactose, lactase, and lactose-free products would be really interesting! It's really fertile ground for discussion about its chemical structure, why many adults can't digest it, and all the solutions we've cooked up to get circumvent that intolerance. Did you know, for example, that lactase pills aren't the only way to use lactase? You can also buy liquid solutions (or suspensions, I suppose) of lactase enzyme and put it directly into your dairy product, which is basically exactly what manufacturers do to make lactose-free products. But that leads to somewhat of an issue (depending on your preference): when you split lactose into glucose and galactose, it doubles the total osmolarity of the sugar and also increases the subjective sweetness. Then there's also ultra-filtering, which supposedly cuts the total sugar content of milk in half along with doubling the protein. And all of this is big business now! I mean, I'm only scratching the surface here. There's history to talk about, both ancient and modern, and so many other things, and who better to do this kind of deep dive than Adam?

Currently aging my Alton Brown nog in the fridge for Christmas!

One of the first things my mom taught me how to make after toast was (non-alcoholic) eggnog , for breakfast . Raw egg , sugar , vanilla , nutmeg and milk . Made it many a day for years .

Eggnog is one of those things I've ever only seen on TV, but if its THAT easy I might give it a go... And if ur supposed to let it rest now is the time to make it too! Another stellar and interesting video from Mr Ragusea

The old recipe I've always used included gently heating the egg-sugar-milk mixture to about 80C making a custard. The culinary purpose was to thicken the mixture but it also kills the bugs

8:31 Eggnog: the one time you don't want heterogeneity.

Excellent recipe and thanks for the detailed scientific explanation. I trust my raw eggs and have eaten plenty in homemade mayo or dressings, etc. but it's good to know exactly why I can safely age this drink to mellow the flavors without worrying about possibly growing colonies of pathogens. I took the "use more eggs" advice from the comments and just made a triple batch with 2 eggs plus 2 yolks per everything else, using whole milk for the extra liquid addition. Tasting portion is quite boozy but so good... Lovely fresh grated nutmeg on top is perfect. I think the extra yolks lend a custardy taste and texture without having your entire mouth coated with butterfat from using all heavy cream. I used Plantation rum and Makers Mark bourbon for the liquor components. The fresh stuff tastes nice and smooth and rounded. Half a cup of sugar per batch is plenty sweet. I also passed the egg, liquor, sugar mix through a fine mesh sieve from my Kitchen Aid bowl to the largest mixing bowl in order to remove any chalazae or strands of egg proteins that might leave an unwanted texture in the final product. There was definitely about a teaspoon of visible bits in the strainer, so I highly recommend this extra step. FYI: Triple the quantities in the description yielded 4 - 750ml bottles (reused swing-top glass bottles from fancy French sodas, ie. standard wine bottles), plus 1 partially-filled 16oz. screw top Mason-type jar. (Use a funnel and ladle to fill the narrow-necked bottles. Don't latch down the bottle caps for a few days.) TL;DR make this it's worth the effort. Although I hope my notes are of assistance to other viewers. Cheers!

All these videos you do are seriously so well done. Like, I rewind all the time to make sure I'm learning everything, and I LOVE how you qualify your statements when there's room for other ideas. Also the humor is excellent. Thank you for doing these!

Very thankful you did a show on eggnog. My new favorite holiday drink, by my new favorite home show chef. I don't know how I have missed your program for years. A big fan truly.

It was very gratifying to learn nothing from an Adam ragusea video for once, family recipe finally pays off! I like to use a similar blend to Washington's family, but Kentucky bourbon replaces the rye and sherry. A couple other steps I like to take: Separate the egg yolks from the whites, beat the whites with a little cream of tartar, and fold them back in at the end with the whipped cream. Also, I like to beat the sugar into the yolks before I add the liquor. Making a sugary egg yolk paste seems to make it easier to add the liquor, my guess is when the proteins are denatured by the alcohol the sugar gets in the way of them flocculating. They tell you NOT to add sugar at first when you're making meringue because it will prevent the proteins from sticking together.

This feels like a good use for my airlocks I use for my homebrewing. If anyone is looking for something like that, you can find them online for a dollar or two nowadays. You might be able to check the canning section of your local market/department store as well.

First time commenting, I really enjoy your videos and saw Dr Fischetti speaking at a international digital conference. Dr Fischetti was one of the few interesting speakers at this conference and I love that you give him a more public platform. I really respect your videos and Dr Fischetti's work!

Thanks so much for re-releasing the knife!

Blood (A comment) for the blood gods (The algorithm)

The hot poker isn't actually used to warm the drink, it's used to burn or brown a small amount leading to better flavors in your beer.

In Norway we dont wash the eggs after harvest and they stay unwashed (just slightly cleaned) and that helps protect the egg against bacteria

Thank you for releasing it early enough to make for christmas

I'm thinking of giving your technique a go and trying to age my nog again. The last time I used Alton Brown's aged nog recipe, and after a month and a half I pulled it out of the fridge, poured myself a glass, and found it tasted like slightly spiced, sweet, vanilla mayonnaise. But maybe adding the eggs to the booze (which AB doesn't do) will change the overall taste. I'm not 100% convinced, but I love egg nog enough to give it another try.

Commenting from the UK. I've never seen eggnog offered or sold here but this video got the better of me and I decided to make some a couple of weeks ago. It's been aging in the fridge ever since. Looking forward to finally trying it on Christmas day!

The word GROG originally referred to rum diluted with water (and later on long sea voyages, also added the juice of limes or lemons), which British Vice-Admiral Edward Vernon introduced into the naval squadron he commanded in the West Indies on 21 August 1740. Vernon wore a coat of grogram cloth and was nicknamed Old Grogram or Old Grog.

I just made a batch and it's already amazing, can't wait to see on the 23-24th (if the batch lasts that long!). Thank you for the recipe and the science behind it!

Years ago I made Alton Brown's egg nog, and his recommendation was to let it sit for three months (citing you should make it closer to Halloween to enjoy at Christmas). I found the longer it ages the smoother it gets. After Christmas that year I still had some left over in a sealed bottle, so I let it sit in my fridge for close to a year. And after a year it was way WAY too good and smooth, and I'm not one to drink hard liquor. Off-hand the one thing I remember clearly is ABs recipe uses yolks only and no albumen, only because I had a egg tray full of albumen and I had to get creative on how to use them. The easiest method was meringue, or mix them into whole eggs for "more white" omelets. But yeah given Ragusea's recipe I'd think aging it longer will also smooth out the booze and make it much tastier to drink, but that's an exercise in patience (and how much fridge real estate you're willing to commit).

RIP Aron Eisenberg, the greatest Nog of all.

By far more interesting than I’d thought this be. And I love eggnog. Thank you!

"I'm a drink all of this" had me on the floor laughing. Adam, all of your videos are so good. This one might be your best. Thank You !!!

I love how Adam uses science in his cooking

Even though the recipe posted is not George Washington's actual recipe, it is the recipe I use every year and it is worth it. Absolutely delicious. Always a hit at the family Christmas party.

Definitely going to try this one for Christmas.

Just made some. Thanks for the recipe Adam!

I had salmonella once and it was truly awful, and I was still a teen at the time. I can only imagine how bad it is at an older age

Made a double batch of this stuff that will be at 3 weeks on Saturday! A double batch filled three quart-size Mason jars plus a little extra. I did add some ground baking spices to mine, and used brown sugar rather than table sugar. For the booze I used Wild Turkey for all of it rather than rum and brandy. The little extra I put in a small bottle that I normally use for syrups, and brought it to work last Friday to share with my boss since he will be away for the holiday. It was so thick and creamy!!! I'm planning on serving the rest for Christmas dinner on Saturday. I'll definitely be making another big batch next year! Maybe even a double-double batch!

Thanks Adam for uploading this video in time for us to make this for Christmas. I'll make a batch this weekend

Great show. I appreciate the extra effort you put into research. Can't wait to get my new knife!

Last year at Christmas I drank some aged egg nog I made that had been aging for 1.5 years. It was delicious. I still have some left over and will let you know how it is after 2.5 years this coming Christmas! 😂

Having shoved hot iron into liquid more than once, I can say with some authority that you probably wouldn't want to drink anything that had recently been heated with a hot poker. You get quite a bit of iron in the liquid.

Thank you for showing

You have such a friendly and concise demeanor for teaching. I'd learn anything from you!

20 seconds in and I am already FLOORED by that Santa hat. God bless you Adam, if I wasn't in a Christmas mood before, I surely am now!

I have made this egg nog last week, using only (relatively nice, barrel aged) rum instead of whiskey as I don't drink much so it would be wasteful to purchase another bottle. It's delicious and the small part I've put aside for ...production testing is getting better with each few days of aging. I have also added a tiny bit of vanilla seeds to the mix to make the smeel even more mellow. To cut long story sthort, I'm looking forward to the Christmas party with my friends and family. 🙂

I love Adam’s videos. They’re so much more than just food tips. He lives like 30 minutes from me, you should have a fan meet up!

here to remind you its the perfect time to start a batch for the holidays

I was just looking into Alton Brown's aged eggnog, what perfect timing.

I've been putting a raw egg in my whey protein shakes for >10 years and never had salmonella from it. I did get pretty bad salmonella in 2018 from a recalled herbal product, but never yet from raw eggs.

Great video as usual Adam. For those who are concerned about raw egg safety, it is very easy to pasteurize your raw eggs using a sous vide water bath (140 degrees for an hour and 15 minutes). You can then make eggnog with or without alcohol, and nor worry about eating raw eggs.

Made this last year, making it this year. Best egg nog recipe out there hands down. My family is picky and they pick this.

I doubt it has any basis in actual etymology but given the stuff at the start of the video i like to think that noggin is a name for the head because its where you put nog in

My main question: can you pasteurize the eggs with, say, an immersion circulator and still get a good result? That'll eliminate the need to age the nog.

Wow, this is really good timing. Uploaded just after I watched an episode of Tasting History on the same subject.

Eggnog is one of my favorite treats! Keto eggnog was difficult to figure out and a little runny but I would to see more content on eggnog if there’s anything you thought of discussing but didn’t in this video!

Every year I say I’m gonna make eggnog and this might make me do it

According to David Wondrich in his book Imbibe!, the first mention of eggnog in print was from a Philadelphia newspaper in 1788. He says that, although people preferred to use brandy and rum than whiskey at first, people made all kinds of variations on it, including one with a Mezcal base from Texas when it was still a part of Mexico.

I am so excited to try this!!! Thank you😺💚❤️💛

I really appreciate you showing the separation and denaturation parts, I had similar situations with my aged eggnog prep in October (first time). It was nice to hear that the alcohol is strong enough to be bactericidal. I was somewhat worried because we use 70% ethanol in the lab as a disinfectant that the concentration in the eggnog would be insufficient. Looking forward to my eggnog with more confidence now! Cheers Adam!

As a Brit, I've never really understood what the hell eggnog actually is. Imagine my delight to find out it is a complete booze-fest! Just today, I've followed the recipe down to a tea...and my concoction is currently secreted at the back of the fridge, waiting for maturity in a couple of weeks. It smells hella boozy! Excellent work as always Adam. Love your channel so much 🙂

Awesome stuff as always - I learned a lot! Just tried the recipe, and it seems a little light on egg for an egg nog. I think I'd prefer it with another couple yolks at least, but I'll let it age and reevaluate!

It's that time of year again!

I've intended to make aged eggnog for years but I always forget until it's too late. Maybe next year.

As an australian, Egg Nog is usually in bottles as a thin custard during xmas time. Your version of it sounds far, far nicer and I want to try to make it! i guess i have a couple of days to get that three-week age going. I have the end of a jack daniel's bottle so i think i'll try and use that.

I don't think Adam has ever made a bad video.

This channel is like the best excuse to my family for doing fun food stuff

You can also pretreat your dairy with some lactase enzyme before making your nog! Some lactase enzyme formulations only take 24 hours to digest the lactose. That way you can avoid the pills.

8:55 "Ideally you would want to repeat the experiment several times." Repeating an experiment which requires the consumption of alcohol should not be a problem.

Sounds like the good idea would be to make this recipe around Halloween, consume half at Thanksgiving, and then the rest at Christmas. Also, Adam's impressed "Oooh shit 😳" at 8:40 was priceless. #ChefsKiss Also, I feel some type-a way because I NEVER remember what the three symbols on his knife stand for. 😅 It's like I missed an episode that was crucial to the subplot but figuring out just where it was is nearly impossible. ...And asking feels like you're asking your family to teach you how to play Spades, and they look at you with such annoyed disappointment as if you were supposed to have been conceived with the knowledge of this game.... LMFAO, wait 😂

can confirm, this is a great eggnog recipe I've been making Alton Brown's recipe for a few years now and whipping the cream does hold the texture much better than whipping the egg white and folding it in

Way to plan out this video now so we can all have eggnog for Christmas

About 10 years ago, i was in Belgium just before Christmas... we visited a cafe for a pastry, and were given a complimentary egg-nog... chatting to the cafe owner as we paid, she owned up that the alcohol used was industrial ethanol! Thank god I only had the one!

Grog is diluted rum. I think to ration out rum for a caribbean ship on a budget.

Very pleased you ship to Poland! Keep it up.

"Egg in grog in nog" I wasn't ready for this new Adam / Doctor Seuss collab.

Adam, I would love to see a vid abt Hanukkah recipes (latkes and donuts) 😋

Alton brown’s eggnog is amazing. Recipe is online. I start it in sept or Aug. it’s great but very boozy. Burbon brandy and rum fuck yeah

Just drank a healthy amount of mine after 3 weeks of aging - I've made a few eggnog variants of the years, including Alton's... this is the best eggnog I've ever had. Fantastic. I'm setting a calendar reminder to make a double batch the day after thanksgiving nexrt year

The mechanism for cellular death when exposed to alcohol is actually a point of contention among microbiologists but eh I think for avoiding that discussion saying it denatures the membrane is fine

I'd like to see Adam do a recipe for homemade pasteurized non alcoholic eggnog.

Any holiday party I go to, I show up with a boozy egg nog made from scratch ... I've been deemed the "adult milkshake man"

Thank you for the recipe - made it and finally gave it a taste today. So much better than those cartons. Light, with the taste of the alcohol coming though, but not overbearing. Can't wait to truly enjoy it on Christmas eve and Christmas. Thanks and have a great Christmas and New Year

In addition to mitigating the [likely minor] risk of explosion, allowing any generated gasses to leave the vessel may improve the quality of the drink. A gas under pressure can dissolve into a liquid, especially if that liquid is cold. Hydrogen sulfide can be produced by fermentation and is famously _not_ odorless, so you'd want that to waft its way away from the finished product. Carbon dioxide, another common fermentation product, acidifies an aqueous solution, which may further denature the eggs or mess with the cream, causing separation.

Hi Adam, thank you for this recipe! Do you know if it can be made with lactose free milk? There doesn't seem to be a recipe around for lactose free eggnog, just dairy free.

Shouldn't the small batch recipe, found in the description, use 3 eggs instead of 2?

I really like this recipe. I made it for my family this past Christmas and everyone enjoyed it. I used very cheap brandy since it seems like you won't taste the liquor much no matter what you use, and it turned out fine. Also, everyone loved the story of this bacteriology lab testing their eggnog. Great video.

More cocktail videos please!