My homemade mayo broke, why?

[kitchenelf]

OK, my mayo was beautiful and thick. I added about 1/4 tsp of Dijon mustard, gave it a whirl, and poof, liquid. What did I do?

 

[VeraBlue]

I would have added the dijon with the egg, at the beginning, and then added the oil...
It might be the difference..

 

[kitchenelf]

Thanks Vera - I will definitely do that the next time - it was so good too - I still made my egg salad - just with broken mayo - I was hungry, what can I say!!!! The one recipe I got said to make it first then add whatever else you wanted, like Dijon.

 

[jpmcgrew]

I would do like Vera says but I would think instead of using blender or proccesor I think using a wire whip and doing it by hand ,alot of work but better control in making mayo.(the old french way)You also want to make sure you are adding oil in the thinnest steams until it starts to thicken.Very much like a Hollandaise.

 

[Andy M.]

Always add the oil last when making mayo. Process/blend everything else first then start with the oil.

Also, you can fix broken mayo by starting with a clean blender/fp and blending an egg then adding the broken mayo a little at a time just as you originally did with the oil and it will re-emulsify.

 

[Uncle Bob]

Miss Elf

"Gave it a whirl" might have been the culprit. Just a guess! Adding the Dijon should not have been the cause I don' think. Oh well I bet it tasted good!!
Miss VeraBlue probably has the best idea...

 

[kitchenelf]

Maybe next time I will do as Vera said AND use my whisk versus the blender. It was soooooooooo nice until THAT whirl. THAT whirl is exactly what did it!!! I threw my leftovers away.

Thanks UB.

 

[auntdot]

My guess is you could have gotten away with it had you added the the mustard while whisking the mayo and not just tossing it in as a glob.

Sure it is preferable to toss in the mustard as before you add the oil when making the mayo. But there you are with a lovely mayonnaise, and you just crave some mustard in it. In such an event, would try adding the Dijon while beating the mixture.

But I guess the question was egg salad.

I can only suppose had you added the Dijon to the egg salad mixture first, mixed it up a tad, and then added the mayo everything would have worked out just fine.

Take care.

 

[kitchenelf]

I feel if I had whisked in the Dijon versus giving it a whirl it may have helped. But I'm going to add it to the egg/lemon juice mixture FIRST - then drizzle in the oil next time. It was so good too!! It was an itty bitty glob!

Next time I definitely will just add it as an ingredient to my egg salad, NOT the mayo. But the recipe said I could do it.........

 

[ironchef]

KElf, when you re-whipped the mayo using a FP/blender, you overly agitated the emulsification between the oil and the proteins in the egg which caused the emulsion to seperate or become loose. If you had gently folded in the the dijon with a spatula it would have held. Similar to making something like a sauce remoulade or sauce gribiche, you gently fold in the ingredients to the mayo/aioli after it's blended so that everything is incorporated and the emulsification holds and it's still tight.

 

[kitchenelf]

Thanks IC!!!

 

[wysiwyg]

kitchenelf,
When preparing mayo, I go along the lines of Vera, Andy and jpmcgrew (mix all ingredients together and add oil last)
However, there are two details that I don't overlook:
a) Mixing bowl and egg/s must be AT ROOM TEMPERATURE.
I fill the bowl with hot water, drain and dry before mixing eggs on it.
b) Before done adding all the oil, I add two tablespoons of boiling water.
I guess the egg and oil emulsion is very sensitive to the ingredients proportion; by increasing the temperature of the mix, you make it more forgiving. Perhaps the Dijon mustard you added was too cold?

Sorry for not having a better explanation. I am a mechanical -not chemical- engineer.

 

[ChefJune]

I would have added the dijon with the egg, at the beginning, and then added the oil...
It might be the difference..

I'm pretty sure that's the culprit.

I always make mayo in my food processor. Whenever I've tried to use a blender, I end up with "juice." It never emulsifies.

The other caveat is to make sure all your ingredients (including the egg) are at room temperature.

 

[Uncle Bob]

I use one of these to make mayo. Slow speed, and s-l-o-w-l-y add the oil are my hints.

Enjoy!

 

[ironchef]

Once your mayo is emulsified, you cannot add any other ingredients, beit solid or liquid, and use a food processor or blender to incorporate it. You will overly agitate the properties that are holding the emulsification together and it will break. I seriously doubt that it was the temperature of the dijon, although it MIGHT be a very slight possibility. I've made tons of mayo and aioli and I have added both room temperature and cold ingredients to the finished product, beit gherkins, capers, diced veg., sriracha, ponzu, etc. The key is to fold it in using a spoon or spatula.

Remember that key point here was that the mayo had already reached the desired consistency BEFORE it lost it's emulsification. If it never emulsified and stayed runny, then it would most likely be due to the ingredients, temperature, and/or technique.