Mayonnaise can be classified as a very important kitchen condiment. It is necessary to have a jar of mayonnaise in your kitchen at all times. Mayonnaise is a thick condiment that is commonly used as a dressing in the case of salads, hamburgers and sandwiches. It can also serve as a base in sauces like Tartar sauce. Mayonnaise should not be confused with normal salad dressing because it contains different ingredients and is not as sweet as the normal salad dressing. Few people prefer using mayonnaise as a spread than using butter. This is attributed to the fact that it contains less fat than butter.
Mayonnaise is very easy to prepare at home and producing it yourself is a lot cheaper than purchasing it in the market. It also taste amazing. All you need is egg, lemon juice/vinegar, virgin oil, salt, sugar and a blender.
Here are simple steps to produce homemade mayonnaise.
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs.
- 2 tea spoons fresh squeezed lemon juice or vinegar.
- 1 cup of virgin oil (preferably olive oil or sunflower oil)
- A pinch of fine grained salt.
- A pinch of fine grained sugar.
Step 1: Gather all your ingredients and get a blender.
Step 2: Separate the egg white from the egg yolk and place the egg yolk in the blender.
Step 3: Add the fresh lemon juice or the vinegar into the blender and mix well with the egg yolk.
Step 4: Slowly pour the oil into the blender, put a drop of oil at a time while the blender mixes it.
Step 5: Once the mayonnaise has started to thicken, pour the remaining oil in a slow and steady stream while the blender keeps mixing.
Step 6: Once all the oil has been mixed in, the mayonnaise should look thick and fluffy. Add the pinches of salt and sugar then mix for one last time.
If the mayonnaise is too thick and you prefer a thinner mayonnaise, just add water to bring it to the consistency you would like. Add a tea spoon of water at a time.
The principle behind making mayonnaise is called Emulsification. Mayonnaise is an emulsion, which means that it is a mixture of two liquids that are normally impossible to combine on their own. An example of an emulsion is the combination of oil and water.
Emulsifying is done by slowly adding one ingredient into another while simulataneously mixing rapidly. This causes a dispersion, thereby making tiny droplets of one liquid to be suspended through the other. However, the two liquids would easily separate again if an emulsifier is not added. Emulsifiers serve as liaison to stabilize the mixture of two incompatible liquids. Egg and gelatin are good examples of food that can serve as emulsifiers. In the case of mayonnaise, the emulsifier is the egg yolk which contains lecithin. Lecithin is a fat emulsifier.
Since homemade mayonnaise is uncooked, be sure to use the freshest eggs possible. Make sure the eggs are free from salmonella. Homemade mayonnaise will last for three to four days in the refrigerator but can last for months in the freezer.
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