Home made mayonnaise: farm fresh eggs not working?

#1

Any advice?
I often make my own mayo with store bought eggs (1 whole egg + 1 yolk, 1tsp dijon mustard, pinch of salt, 1T each lemon juice and apple cider vinegar, 1/2 cup each avocado oil and light tasting olive oil) and never have an issue, but I’ve tried making 3 batches with farm fresh eggs and it will not thicken up.
Can eggs be TOO fresh?

(Shelly Poetter) #2

ESSENTIAL is that everything is at room temperature, especially the eggs. I use food processor, put in eggs, mustard and whip on high for 3 minutes. SLOWLY add the oil. VERY VERY slowly until it starts to emulsify this can take several minutes but is you add, too fast and you will have liquid mayo-UGH! I wait until it has thickened to add my vinegar or lemon juice

(Door Girl) #3

Are the eggs smaller than your store bought eggs? I’m reading Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and there is a whole lot in there on mayo. When there is too much fat to egg, this problem can easily happen.

And as a former backyard chicken person, I know that there is a whole lot more variety to non-commercial, non-graded eggs. Comparing the volume of a long skinny egg, or a short fat egg, to a perfect (looking) mass produced egg can be confusing. And can mess with recipes. When I was baking with home eggs, I switched over to using eggs by weight, based upon the standard for the given size in the recipe, in order to increase my rate of success.

With mayo, I would just hold back on some of the fats rather than weighing it all.

(Cindy) #4

I do mine directly out of the refrigerator. :wink:

I don’t think so. My eggs are usually just a few days old and it works just fine. Now, maybe there is a difference between store bought and fresh but since I’ve always used fresh, I haven’t seen it.

My recipe looks much like yours except I use 1 whole egg (no extra yolk), dry mustard and salt, 1 cup light tasting OO. All that’s in a mason jar, stick blender at the bottom. I blend for about 30 sec, then slowly start raising the blender to start blending in the oil sitting on top. After all that’s emulsified, I add ACV (I don’t measure, just add until I get the mayo consistency that I like).

(Shelly Poetter) #5

Do you use an emulisyier? I don’t have one.

(Cindy) #6

I used a stick blender like this one:
https://www.amazon.com/BELLA-14460-2-Speed-Immersion-Attachment/dp/B018ELIYA4

(ANNE ) #7

I have the most success with Delia Smith’s Quick Mayonnaise recipe. Use a stick blender or similar.
She uses groundnut oil, but you can substitute with avocado oil as needed.

Please note, it has to be her quick recipe. Uses more eggs and fewer yolks. The recipe is less finicky.

(Cindy) #8

All this talk of mayo…I had to put mayo on my eggs. Usually don’t that, but I do love the stuff. :wink:

#9

Shelly: I have always used an immersion blender with no problems:) The eggs are fresh so I keep them at room temp. Good suggestion about adding the acid last, I’ll try that.

doorgirl: no, they’re actually slightly larger. I usually get large eggs, and these are between that size and extra large, and they have huge yolks! If the market has duck eggs this weekend, I may give those a shot :slight_smile:

Cindy: I love the immersion blender for it, makes it so easy :slight_smile:

Anne: thanks I’ll look it up :slight_smile:

Cindy me, too. Makes a quick breakfast or snack :slight_smile:

Thank you all!

(Sheri Knauer) #10

Maybe its the extra yolk? I always have no issues and i use just one whole egg, right out of the fridge, and my eggs come from various neighbors who own chickens so they are pretty much laid the same day I get them. Are they the same brand of eggs you always buy? Are the oils the same oils you always use?

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #11

I do believe that freshly-laid eggs can be a problem. Try to let your eggs sit for two or three days before using them, and see if it helps.

The Joy of Cooking advises: “Don’t try to make mayonnaise if a thunderstorm threatens or is in progress, as it simply will not bind.” The authors also advise: “Eggs, oil, bowl and mixer must all be at room temperature, 70°. Warm the oil slightly if it has been refrigerated, rinse your bowl in hot water and dry it.” (Who on earth refrigerates olive oil? I mean, really!) “Sometimes the sauce will break, because you have either added your oil too fast toward the end or added too much of it.”

Hope this helps!

(Banting & Yudkin & Atkins & Eadeses & Cordain & Taubes & Volek & Naiman & Bikman ) #12

Mustard is an emulsifier.

(Banting & Yudkin & Atkins & Eadeses & Cordain & Taubes & Volek & Naiman & Bikman ) #13

Unmentioned might be the water content of the loose egg whites. Large yolks shouldn’t be a problem, you just dial back the oil. But extra loose white will prevent the emulsion from binding as tightly. I believe fresh laid eggs have a higher water content and looser loose white. This would be my guess as to why folks let the eggs sit at room temp for a few days.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #14

Also, eggs, if not washed, don’t need to be refrigerated, because they come with a coating that seals out bacteria and keeps them fresh (in fact, if you refrigerate unwashed eggs, you run the risk of condensation ruining this finish). Washed eggs must be refrigerated, becasuse otherwise they will quickly spoil.

#15

That’s a thought, I can try it with 2 yolks and no whites and see how that goes.

Thank you all! I appreciate the insight :slight_smile:

#16

That’s what the seller at the farmers market said. She said we can keep them at room temp for up to a month!

(Hyperbole- best thing in the universe!) #17

Eggs aren’t even refrigerated at grocery stores in some countries.

Also, with an immersion blender you don’t have to add the oil slowly. Just put all the ingredients in the container and blend away. I haven’t had a batch break since getting the blender, so I don’t think that is the problem.

(Windmill Tilter) #18

Dumb question time…:blush:

How do you know whether or not eggs have been washed? We never wash them at home obviously, but I mean how does one know whether this is a part of the post-processing of the egg distributor or egg farm? I’ve got a tiny little euro fridge, and 3 dozen eggs each week takes up a lot of prime real estate!

Visual inspection? Some kind of scratch test?

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #19

My uncle certainly did, back when he had his egg farm. It took the Agway man a surprisingly long time between pickups.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #20

In the U.S., commercially-sold eggs are invariably washed. That’s why they are refrigerated in the supermarket. If you buy farm-fresh eggs, practices vary, and you could ask, but if the farmer keeps her eggs in a fridge, then refrigerate them at home, if she keeps them at room temperature, you can safely do the same.

As for other countries, my sister informs me that eggs are not refrigerated in South Africa. I don’t remember what my ex and I used to do, the year we spent together in London.