[oops, this was supposed to go to good eats, but I’ll leave it in here too :]

Thanks for all the advice. I wanted to share my latest mayo experience…

My last attempt at mayo was reasonably successful. It was a stable emulsion, but it was syrup-consistency and didn’t stand up. Someone suggested adding more oil, and that did the trick. It was very nearly mayo-like.

This time, I ended up with “broken goo” but I was able to save it. The first whip attempt never really got to the “frothy” stage, so I started with an empty bowl and 1 whole egg, whipped until frothy (or at least foamy) and then poured in the broken goo :) It seems like once you get to the foamy stage, it’s smooth sailing from there out.

The “broken goo” really reminded me of the good eats vinaigrette. Which leads me to an idea for next time… instead of adding a little liquid, a little oil, rest of liquid, rest of oil, I could just make “sort of” vinaigrette, which has all the ingredients except egg, and then beat the egg foamy, and then drizzle in the vinaigrette. That would be almost exactly like my “recovery” process was this time. But, I think once I get more experience at it, I’ll be able to tell when there is not enough liquid or too much and all of that getting started process will make sense again.

Another interesting observation… I started out with Alton’s exact recipe, then doubled it while trying to kick-start the emulsion, but it never got started. The first attempt was using a yolk, and some liquid. Getting an actual emulsion started (on the third try) and getting it to the “frothy” stage was definitely much easier with a whole egg than just the yolk. The yolk by itself never did become foamy.

Approximate ingredients I ended up with were: 2C canola oil, 1C corn oil, 2 egg yolks plus 1 whole egg, 2.5 tsp lemon juice, 2 tsp wine vinegar, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp dry mustard, 1/8 tsp sugar.