AlleyGator said:Jean B. said:BTW, anyone got a clue about a decent store-bought mayo now? I used
to use Hellman's and have saved the little bit of the old formula I
have left for my daughter's sandwiches.
Uh, in my opinion, there IS no decent store-bought mayonnaise. This
is one of the few simple things that we actually make from scratch -
course, it doesn't last more than a few days, unlike the commercial,
preservative-laden stuff.
I hear this often and am still waiting to hear exactly what happens to
homemade mayo after a few days. If properly made, it doesn't break. It
doesn't support bacterial growth and, in fact, is bacteriostatic - kills
bacteria. It doesn't get rancid. It doesn't mold.
What spoilage happens to homemade mayo? In all the years I've been
making it, not once have I had any problems with it, nor have I heard of
an example. Just to see what's out there online, I Googled and also
asked Jeeves. Lots of very similar-sounding warnings with not one
example or instance or description of what goes wrong. Not one site I
found cited anything specific, and they pretty much all sounded like
they were written by the same three people. So no real explanatory info.
Commercial stuff isn't "preservative-laden" because it doesn't need to
be. It's stable at room temp because that emulsion is that way. No need
to add anything to preserve it; it preserves itself against either
spoilage or pathogenic bacteria because of the low pH, the extremely low
water activity, salt, oil, and, if it has any, sugar. That's why it can
sit in warehouses and on market shelves without refrigeration. There is
no additional safety preservative technique employed in making
commercial mayo. The normal ingredients of egg, salt, mustard, vinegar
or lemon juice, and oil are enough to provide safety.
Other ingredients can, by law, be added for color (paprika) or flavor
(MSG) or preservation (an EDT form of acetic acid - which is the acid in
vinegar) and still fall within the definition that governs all mayo
manufacture in the US, but most manufacturers don't use many of those
possibilities.
Here's the ingredient list for Canadian Hellman's:
Vegetable oil, water, liquid whole egg, white vinegar, liquid egg yolk,
salt, sugar, concentrated lemon juice, spices, calcium disodium EDTA
USan Hellman's:
Soybean oil, whole eggs, vinegar, water, egg yolks, salt, sugar, lemon
juice, natural flavors, calcium disodium EDTA
Some differences are merely the ways that the respective governments
require labels to read.
Calcium disodium EDTA is a preservative - just like white vinegar, salt,
sugar and concentrated lemon juice or plain lemon juice are
preservatives. "Spices" and "natural flavors" include mustard, paprika
and other such things that can be normally used in mayo. Calcium
disodium EDTA is a close kin of vinegar (the "A" is for Acetate) and is
technically called a "sequestrant." In mayo, sequestrants are used to
stabilize fats and oils which undergo rancidity and reversion in the
presence of copper and iron. By chelating or "sequestering" metals,
oxidation is slowed or prevented. Preventing oxidation is quality
maintenance and the EDTA family of ingredients are recognized as safe.
But to simply assume that preservatives are harmful is silly. Remember
the flap about BHA and BHT and how terrible they were? Butylated
hydroxyanisole... butylated hydroxytoluene. Scary-sounding. Until it was
noted that they're anti-oxidants and that's a good thing for us to be
consuming. They reduce the incidence of oxidative stress, among other
things. They also appear to have anti-viral and anti-microbial
properties. And, like with everything else, there are people who say
they've been damaged by them. But, now they're food supplements and we
like them.
Here's a hoot. The Slovenian version of Hellman's Delikatesna Majoneza.
<http://www.kolinska.com/products.php?kategorijaid=8&izdelekid=29> They
say, "No thickening agents, emulgators and colouring agents are used in
production. The products packed in bags, tubes or glasses do not contain
any preservatives."
Quoted message said:Homemade mayo is so simple - and well worth the effort, IMO.
I agree with this. Although the effort is small with machines. A wand
blender can make the whole process a 15-second exercise. Contrary to
traditional methods, with the wand, put *all* the ingredients into a
tall container, put the mixer part of the machine all the way to the
bottom and turn it on. In very short order, it begins to come together.
Slowly pull the blender up in the container and watch it become mayo. No
real effort to speak of.
We make mayo that way a couple times a month. And the reason we do is
that each batch lasts a couple weeks before it's gone. Never had any
spoil. Not at home; not in my restaurants.
Quoted message said:I bought the wife a Kitchenaid mixer because she
likes to make bread - seems like it's more a mayo factory these days
<G>.
A countertop blender, processor or wand blender will all be faster and
IME easier.
Pastorio