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The dressing contains raw eggs, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, Worcestershire, mustard, salt and pepper. How long can I keep it in the fridge in a airtight container?

Sly
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  • No garlic? Are you sure this is a Caesar dressing? – Aaronut Oct 27 '10 at 02:47
  • of course there is garlic! but i don't think this has an effect on how long i can keep it. – Sly Oct 27 '10 at 02:50
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    Actually it does. Garlic almost always harbours botulinum spores, which are anaerobic; they grow when they are protected from oxygen. Raw garlic in a Caesar type dressing is protected from oxygen and can therefore encourage growth of the spores. (This is the same reason you shouldn't keep raw garlic in oil.) –  Oct 27 '10 at 07:29
  • It's anaerobic, but it's also got a relatively low ph, which botulism doesn't like. I don't think the garlic matters very much in terms of storage. – Satanicpuppy Oct 27 '10 at 13:45
  • @daniel: I see. I have updated my question with the full ingredients list. There is also lemon juice in the dressing and that certainly affects shelf-life... – Sly Oct 27 '10 at 16:18
  • @Satanicpuppy: I think it does matter, you need a much lower pH than this to really stop botulism growth. Practically speaking, I think that the eggs would start to go rotten here before botulism became an issue, but I'm not confident enough in that statement to make it an answer. – Aaronut Oct 27 '10 at 16:22
  • Synchronicity! I made this for the first time last weekend as well and had the same question. +1 on the question. – Tobias Op Den Brouw Nov 03 '10 at 09:30

4 Answers4

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Up to 7 days (homemade mayo as well). Egg whites/yolks out of the egg (but not combined with the acid) can last 3-4 days refrigerated, and eggs in-shell are good for 2-4 weeks depending on processing.

Bruce Alderson
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Hmmm. It's the eggs that have the potential to cause problems. I'd say less than a week, or until the acid kills the egg, and causes the whole thing to de-emulsify.

Satanicpuppy
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You can age raw eggs by keeping them in the fridge for 3 days, so I would definitely say more than 3 days, but less than a week. I think the dressing would develop a bad consistency or start to taste too strong before it actually spoiled.

Manako
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  • Could you explain this please? Keeping raw eggs longer = giving them more time to go bad. –  Oct 27 '10 at 16:31
  • I don't get this one either. To temper an egg means to add a relatively small amount of hot liquid so as to warm it up without setting it, and allow it to subsequently be exposed to higher temperatures without instant setting. I have never heard of "tempering" an exposed egg by leaving it in the refrigerator for 3 days and would like to see some reference for this. – Aaronut Oct 27 '10 at 16:41
  • maybe i used the wrong term? When I make macarons the recipe calls for me to keep the egg whites in the fridge for 3 days, to achieve the appropriate consistency. Yes, that was wrong term, sorry for the confusion. – Manako Oct 27 '10 at 19:49
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Raw eggs last 2 to 4 days in the fridge but only 2 hours at room temp, so I would only make what will be used within 24 hours, just to be safe.

Lilly Rose
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