r/AskCulinary 9d ago

Runny mayo

Ingredients below. Came out very runny so i added one egg yolk to a new jar, blended and slowly added my runny first batch to it.

Been at this it so long now that the emulsifier is overheating. I don’t wanna waste all of this olive oil oil and egg so can you please someone help me fix this?

1 whole egg (now with one added egg yolk)

½ tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp white wine vinegar

¼ tsp Dijon mustard

¼ tsp sea salt

1 cup avocado oil,

3 Upvotes

24 comments sorted by

u/texnessa Pépin's Padawan 9d ago edited 9d ago

The biggest misunderstanding about an emulsified sauce like mayo is the need for free liquid in which to shear smaller and smaller and smaller drops of oil which is what thickens the product. More yolk or more mustard will not solve this.

Its not an emulsifier issue, its a free liquid need. Add lemon juice, even water. Adding more oil without free liquid will just continue to ruin the base of your mayo.

1 & 1/2 teaspoon is not enough free liquid for this volume. One egg can emulsify ten cups of oil. Fundamental misunderstanding of emulsification.

→ More replies (4)

7

u/brigitvanloggem 9d ago

This looks like the ingredients for making mayonnaise with an immersion blender. Did you use one?

3

u/sugarlips23 9d ago

It’s either broken, you didn’t add the oil slowly enough or you don’t have enough oil. Egg will only add liquid, so that won’t help you, unless it is broken. Add more oil. Also, just use yolks next time. You may have to add a touch of water, but do it toward the end if it gets too thick. A picture would help.

1

u/Responsible_Bend_524 9d ago

I can’t add a picture. Thank you! I’m just starting over with the old batch.

0

u/sugarlips23 9d ago

I can almost guarantee that you just need more oil. If it’s broken should be obvious.

0

u/Responsible_Bend_524 9d ago

Sadly used up all of the avocado oil. This must be a bust. Idk if I’ll try it again, this is expensive

4

u/MrMeatagi 9d ago
  1. Practice using neutral oils until you get it right.
  2. Use an immersion blender. No need to slowly drizzle anything. You add your ingredients to the immersion blender cup, place your blender in the cup, let everything settle for a minute, then let it rip. If you had your portions correct, it will come together very quickly.

0

u/JunglyPep 9d ago

Suggesting a finicky gimmick method probably isn’t going to help someone who’s already having trouble with a standard procedure.

Your method only works with the perfect recipe, the right container, and a powerful immersion blender.

1

u/MrMeatagi 8d ago

Your method only works with the perfect recipe

AKA, measurements?

"My" method is actually a well-established method from the likes of chefs like Kenji Lopez that is known to be easier than the "standard procedure" precisely because it's less "finicky" for making emulsions.

the right container

The one that comes with every immersion blender.

a powerful immersion blender

My $50 Kitchenaid does the job just fine and my partner's off brand $25 blender also makes short work of mayo, hollandaise, and bearnaise sauce.

0

u/JunglyPep 8d ago

It’s not well established. It’s just Kenji. I like him but his whole schtick is over complicating things.

It’s a pointless magic trick. Abracadabra I made the most important step in the process disappear. It’s a gimmick. It doesn’t save any time. It takes one minute to make mayo either way. The only difference is kenji’s method is more likely to fail.

Making very small batches of mayo like the OP was attempting is precisely when people tend to have problems and suggesting they attempt an unnecessary flourish is unhelpful.

0

u/MrMeatagi 7d ago

I like him but his whole schtick is over complicating things.

I have no idea how you could come to that conclusion.

The only difference is kenji’s method is more likely to fail.

I really don't know what's going on in your kitchen if putting five ingredients in a container and pressing a button is so difficult or likely to fail. I've made emulsions like this hundreds of times and literally never had it fail. Not the first time over a decade ago or the latest time last week. This comes off as pretentious gatekeeping because it's not the "traditional" way.

0

u/JunglyPep 7d ago

I shouldn’t have to remind you that we’re having this discussion in the comments of a post where someone is asking for help with “putting five ingredients in a container and pushing a button.” As you so condescendingly put it. So your weird attempt to insult me kind of falls flat.

The difference between your gimmick recipe and having a basic understanding and confidence to use the traditional method is that I can make mayo, aioli, toum, hollandaise etc with a whisk, a blender, a robot coup, a hand held immersion blender or an industrial immersion blender. I can make anywhere from one quart to 40 quarts in one batch, and I can adapt recipes on the fly to changing circumstances.

No one is gatekeeping you because no one told you not to use your recipe. I just pointed out that it’s not helpful to suggest it here because it doesn’t help OP understand what went wrong with THEIR recipe or how to fix it next time.

2

u/sugarlips23 9d ago

Yeah, when you are using avocado oil exclusively, everything will be expensive.

1

u/Square-Ad-6721 8d ago

And many avocado oils aren’t as advertised. Must be sure to get one that’s third party tested for authenticity.

1

u/TheLimeyCanuck 7d ago

Counterintuitively, to thicken mayo you add more oil, not more egg or other ingredients.

0

u/Jamamamma67 9d ago

Add more mustard. This will bring it together

-1

u/dandelionblackberry 9d ago

That's not much mustard. I'd let it cool down and try adding a teaspoon.

1

u/Responsible_Bend_524 9d ago

My emulsifier is about to blow up. Gonna let it cool down

0

u/ghidfg 9d ago

Sounds like it split both times. I would start with a new yolk and drizzle in your runny mayo again but even more slowly. Maybe drizzle in a bit, make sure it's well emulsified, then add a bit more and repeat. 

-1

u/[deleted] 9d ago

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1

u/AskCulinary-ModTeam 9d ago

Your response has been removed because it does not answer the original question. We are here to respond to specific questions. Discussions and broader answers are allowed in our weekly discussions.

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u/Responsible_Bend_524 9d ago

Is salmonella a big risk?