Judy J posted:I was wondering if I could heat my egg whites up to pasteurize them the way I do when I make Swiss Meringue Buttercream.
I don't think the heating process involved in making Italian or Swiss meringue actually hits high enough temperatures for a long enough period of time to kill all bacteria; it's certainly a safeguard, but I'm not sure it's a guarantee.
For instance, this site (http://www.foodsafetysite.com/...ing/processing2.html) says that whole eggs pasteurized in the shell are maintained at 130F for about 45 minutes (the temperature needs to remain lower than 140F to prevent coagulation of the eggs). I don't know of any meringue recipe that calls for heating this high for this long. Do you?