A Quick Remedy

• You can prepare a soft meringue with raw eggs, as long as you heat the finished product to 160 degrees Fahrenheit. Once the meringue is on top of your pie, pop it in a 350 F oven for approximately 15 minutes, or until the peaks take on a golden-brown hue. Insert a food thermometer into the meringue to test the internal temperature. If the reading is below 160 F, give the meringue a few more minutes of cooking time.

Piping Hot Meringue

• Decorative, hard or dry meringues are created by piping the frothy egg white mixture through a pastry tube. If you use raw eggs as a base for your piping, dry the finished product on a baking tray inside a preheated oven set to 225 F to kill bacteria. Cook the piped meringues for approximately 1 ½ hours, pressing a food thermometer into the center of a few of the meringues to test the internal temperature. Turn off the oven after cooking and allow the meringues to sit an additional hour for extra crispness.

The Pasteurized Option

• If you prefer not to cook your meringue recipes, pasteurized egg whites are a suitable stand-in for shelled eggs. The pasteurized egg whites are heated to safe temperatures, cracked, separated and cooled. Although pasteurized egg whites are a safer alternative to raw, the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends that recipes utilize cooked eggs when serving pregnant women, babies and young children, the elderly and anyone diagnosed with a compromised immune system.

Refrigeration Requirements

• Keep your meringue recipes safe to eat after preparation by placing them in the refrigerator before and after serving. Store hard meringues in layers, separated by wax paper. Set the layers of meringue in an airtight container where they will keep for several months in refrigeration. Soft meringues succumb to refrigerator storage more quickly, lasting only two to three days before bacterial growth reaches unsafe levels, and the meringue must be discarded.