Blending Mayonnaise For Too Long Won't Get The Best Results
Making mayonnaise at home doesn't need to be as scary as it sounds, and homemade mayonnaise is an amazing base for all kinds of dishes. It can be made with just a whisk, but it comes together even easier, and more quickly, if you use a blender. With mayonnaise prices on the rise, whipping up a big batch at home is also easier on the budget.
There are all kinds of tips and tricks out there for making mayonnaise with a blender. You can use either a stick blender or a traditional blender with a pitcher, but the basic concept remains the same. The whirring action of the blender's blades helps to combine the oil with the egg yolks, vinegar, and any other flavoring you've added to create the mayonnaise — a process known as emulsification.
Sounds simple enough, right? Technically that's true, but there are a few things you'll want to pay attention to throughout the process, one of which being the length of time you actually blend all your mayonnaise ingredients together. Too short and the separate parts won't combine, but too long and you risk breaking apart your mayonnaise completely.
Why you shouldn't overmix your mayonnaise
Why can over-mixing ruin your mayonnaise? Well, let's take a quick step back. As mentioned earlier mayonnaise is an emulsification, the product of two things that wouldn't normally mix together being combined through some sort of outside force. In this case those things are oil and eggs (egg yolks are mostly water), and that force is the centrifugal spinning of the blender blades. That motion breaks the oil into tiny globules, allowing it to attach to the water molecules and become mayonnaise.
The danger lies in letting that motion continue for too long. Over-agitating the oil globules through continued mixing can actually cause them to separate after they've been emulsified. Additionally, the whirring of the blender blade creates friction which leads to heat – mix for too long and the mayonnaise actually begins to warm, which can also lead to the emulsification coming apart.
For perfect homemade mayonnaise mix just until everything comes together and then stop. Any additional add-ins, like herbs, garlic, or even chipotle peppers for a classic chipotle mayo recipe, should then be folded in by hand to ensure the mayonnaise actually remains mayonnaise.
By not taking your eyes off the prize and only blending until the magic of emulsification has turned your eggs, oil, and vinegar into mayonnaise, you end up with a perfectly creamy homemade condiment that's ready for everything from sandwiches to sauces to salads.