Why mayonnaise turned out liquid: reasons and how to fix the sauce

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Mayonnaise, which most people love so much, is a sauce made from eggs and vegetable oil. It is suitable for almost any dish. Store-bought ready-made analogues cannot boast of naturalness, they always add preservatives, thickeners, flavor enhancers and other additives that are not very beneficial for our he alth. Therefore, it is best to make homemade mayonnaise and enjoy the aromatic sauce by adding it to dishes. You don't need to be a chef to cook it. The sauce is quick and easy to make.

But in order not to wonder why the mayonnaise turned out to be liquid after cooking, you need to cook it strictly following the recipe.

Basic homemade mayonnaise recipe

To make the sauceyou will need:

• 1 glass of refined sunflower or olive oil;
• 2 yolks;
• 1 tsp mustard
• whisper of s alt;
• 1 tsp 9% vinegar (or 2 teaspoons lemon juice);
• 0.5 tsp sugar.

Mixed vinegar, sugar, s alt and mustard with egg yolks. This mixture is beaten continuously with a mixer, vegetable oil is added drop by drop.

When the sauce begins to thicken, pour in the oil in a thin stream while continuing to beat.

Why mayonnaise may not work

The ability to thicken different sauces is one of the basic skills that any cook should have. In order to understand why the mayonnaise turned out to be liquid, you need to carefully consider the preparation method and ingredients. There are many ways to achieve thickening. You need to choose a specific method based on what products are used and what you want to achieve in the end.

If there are difficulties during the preparation of a popular sauce and questions about why homemade mayonnaise turns out to be liquid and does not thicken even after long whipping, and also why it is not very rich, you probably missed something, and therefore homemade sauce is so different from the purchased one. In order to solve this problem, you can use some tips that are recommended by experienced chefs.

Many housewives wonder why homemade mayonnaise is liquid. What to do in this case?

Some tips

The first and main tip is to add egg yolks alone, without using egg whites. Only thanks to the yolks, the liquid becomes thick. Be careful that they are carefully separated from the protein.

Another tip for thickening mayonnaise is to add vegetable oil little by little and beat with a mixer. Therefore, it is better not to rush and pour the oil first in drops, then in a thin stream. Then continue beating the mixture for a while until it thickens.

However, if something was missed during the cooking process and you don’t understand why the mayonnaise turned out to be liquid, you need to think about what to do in this situation, how to fix it. Before attempting to thicken the sauce, see if it only needs to be chilled. It will begin to thicken as it cools, so it should be placed in the refrigerator after cooking.

If the sauce still looks runny, you can add a little lemon juice to it, but it's important not to overdo it, otherwise the mayonnaise may become too sour.

However, it happens that these methods are not suitable. But why did the mayonnaise turn out to be liquid, how to correct the current situation? There is a solution that mayonnaise companies use to prepare the starch and pour this thick mass into the sauce.

Add starch

First you need to select it. More oftenjust for thickening, cornstarch is used (but potato starch is also suitable), rice or tapioca flour. When starch is mixed with a liquid and heated, it begins to expand and become thick, in the form of a gel that has the ability to thicken.

It is better not to use flour as a thickener. It is endowed with a rich taste, but it does not have the necessary property. Flour can be poured into ready-made mayonnaise without diluting it with water beforehand, but it is still better not to use this method.

Sequence of actions

1. In order to thicken mayonnaise with starch, you must first measure the right amount and pour it into a separate bowl. For 200 grams of liquid, one tablespoon of starch will be required.
2. Stir it with the same amount of cool water. One tablespoon of starch accounts for one tablespoon of water. Mix the mixture thoroughly using a whisk to avoid lumps and to fully combine the starch with the water.
3. Pour the starch solution into the mayonnaise and stir with a whisk. The starch mass must be slowly and carefully added to the thickening sauce, while not forgetting to stir the whole mass with a whisk, you need to combine the mayonnaise and the starch mixture as thoroughly as possible.
4. Next, bring the sauce to a slow boil. You need to heat the mayonnaise and let it boil a little, otherwise the starch will not thicken.

Adding yolks

To understand why mayonnaise is liquid at home, you need to pay attention to the amount and addition ofegg yolks. In order to make the sauce thicker with their help, you need to break the egg and carefully separate the yolk from the whites. In addition to thickening mayonnaise, this method is used to thicken custard and various creamy sauces.

Sequence of thickening mayonnaise with yolks

To thicken the sauce with egg yolks, you must first beat them in a separate bowl. While they are whipping, you need to add a small amount of warm sauce to them (for example, it can be pudding, if we are talking about cream). With this preparation, eggs can be added to hot ingredients without quickly curdling.

Slowly pour in the liquid until the amount of sauce reaches the volume of the glass. After adding the liquid in the required proportion, do not stop beating the mayonnaise so that the eggs mix well with the liquid. Add the resulting mixture to the mayonnaise, stirring. Wait until the mayonnaise boils, put it on a slow fire and wait for it to thicken. If everything is done correctly, then the question of why the mayonnaise turned out to be liquid will never arise.