I thank the good lord that my fiancee and I are both Miracle Whip[sup]TM[/sup]? people.
I would have laughed at the “bread lubricant” remark but last night I was desperate for a snack and seeing no cheese or baloney in the fridge made a Miracle Whip sandwich. No, I’m not kidding. Two slices of 12 grain bread and Miracle Whip. Damn it hit the spot!
IMHO the only thing Miracle Whip is good for is to exfoliate dead skin cells on facial skin. It’s too sweet for anything else. A good olive oil mayonnaise goes with crisp bacon, red ripe tomatoes, cool lettuce and properly toasted bread to make sublime BLT’s.
IMHO the only thing Miracle Whip is good for is to exfoliate dead skin cells on my face. It’s too sweet for anything else. A good olive oil mayonnaise on the other hand, combines with crisp bacon, red ripe tomatoes, cool lettuce and properly toasted bread to form sublime BLT’s.
Oops, sorry for the double post. I swear I only hit the submit button once for the first post, I thought it disappeared.
From my Woman’s Day Encyclopedia of Cookery which has great introductory sections on everything(although I don’t vouch for the accuracy).
Mayonnaise. “It must contain salad oil, at least 65% by weight; acid ingredients such as vinegar or lemon juice; and an emulsifier such as egg, gelatin, starch paste, or gums. It may also contain salt, certain sweetening ingredients, monosodium glutamate, and a variety of other seasonings so long as they do not impart the color of egg yolk. If a binding agent other than egg is used, the product is then called salad dressing.”
Going back to nametag’s listing of the ingredients, you’ll notice that MAYO has whole eggs listed as the second ingredient, indicating that it compromises a significant portant of the ingredients. MW lists eggs as the 6th ingredient. Not a lot of egg in there, so that is probably why they need to add the starch to emulsify the end product.
Also notice that vinegar is the third ingredient in MW, and the 4th in Mayo. I can’t prove it, but the taste would indicate that the percent of vinegar in MW is MUCH higher than any Mayo.
Also notice the high fructose corn syrup is 4th in MW. 6th in Mayo.
I can’t explain the anomaly of why my source says that Mayo can contain “starch paste” but then goes on to say that if anything other than egg is used as an emulsifier, it becomes salad dressing. I can only offer that egg is the main emulsifier in mayo.
No, but when I was a kid and before my family got a TV set, I would go to a friends house and watch The Lone Ranger. The sponsor was Merita Bread (This was around Atlanta).
I have a feeling it may have to do with the %age fat content in Miracle whip vs. mayonnaise. According to their web site, regular MW contains 33% less fat than commercial mayonnaise. My guess is that this would put it under the 65% fat content required for a product to be called mayo. The whole point of Miracle whip, once again, according to the Kraft foods website, was to create a cheaper alternative to mayonnaise with roughly the same texture. The ingredients of MW itself can be used to make a mayonnaise, IMHO. I’m supposing it’s the fat content or how its emulsified that prevent it from being called “mayo.” I’ll send them an e-mail and see if I get a response.
Libertarian wrote:
[quote]
[Miracle Whip] has its own cult, comprised chiefly of transplanted Nawthnuhs.
Nametag wrote:
Lib, I don’t know what part of the South you’re from, but down here in Georgia, Miracle Whip is a staple. (See below.)
Nametag, Miracle Whip is not used on tossed salads, but rather on such delicacies as pear salad, carrot salad, fruit salad, and as an ingredient in cucumber salad and in some congealed salads.
Oh yeah, and I left out egg salad and macaroni salad.
Duke’s on white bread = good eatin’
Plnnr- who is from Virginia
Merita bread also sponsored the Lone Ranger in the 1950’s on Danville, VA. tv.
But growing up in Arlington, VA., I never heard of it or saw it in the stores.
OK, let’s just say I want to make my own mayo. I’m just snooty enough to reject a recipe that calls for Real Lemon.
What kind of oil should I use? Would olive oil be OK?
For the acid, is a combination of fresh lemon juice and vinegar the best? And what kind of vinegar? It seems like cider or wine vinegar would work. Balsamic vinegar, I dunno, doesn’t seem right.
Anyone have a recipe for simple honest hamomade mayonnaise?
Thanks
Mark Bittner’s recipe for basic mayo. From How to Cook Everything
1 egg, dash cayenne, 1/2 tsp dry mustard, salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste,2 tblsp fresh squeezed lemon juice, 1 cup oil(1/2 extra-virgin olive and 1/2 canola or other neutral)
l. Combine egg, cayenne, mustard, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and 1/4 cup of the oil in food processor; turn on the machine and add the oil in a thin, steady stream.
He notes to use fresh oils as rancidity is more detectable here than in sauteeing.
Also notes that you can use a blender, but mixture may separate after a few days.
Using all extra-virgin olive make too strong a mayo. All neutral oil, you might as well use good store-bought.
Mayonnaise is at least 65% vegetable oil, but salad dressing can be as little as 30% vegetable oil. Both are made with egg yolks. Salad dressing must be at least 4% egg yolk (or equivalent), but mayonnaise doesn’t seem to have a minimum amount. Salad dressing also contains something not permitted in mayonnaise, a scrumptious sounding “starchy paste” made from tapioca, wheat, or rye. In practice I’m pretty sure Miracle Whip is sweeter than almost any brand of mayonnaise, but both are permitted to contain “nutritive carbohydrate sweeteners” (government talk for sugar) in any amount the manufacturer desires, provided the other requirements are met.
From the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 21, Volume 2
Thanks samclem. I’ll give it a try when I get a chance. I’ll also try a batch with just egg yolks to see if that improves it.
The traditional way is the following (from the top of my head)
Bring all ingredients to room temperature before proceeding. Also, on humid days it will be more difficult to make mayonnaise by hand. (But with a blender or rotary mixer you should be fine.)
1 scant cup oil (use a lighter olive oil, or 1/2 extra virgin 1/2 any neutral oil, as samclem’s suggestion.)
1 large egg yolk
1 -2 tsp vinegar (use white wine vinegar) or lemon juice
Dijon mustard
salt and pepper
Traditionally, this is done by hand. It is quite tiring, but the results are worth it. Otherwise, use a handheld rotary beater. I don’t like the texture of blender mayonnaise. Homemade mayonnaise is much silkier than its commericial cousins.
Begin by beating the egg yolk, vinegar (or lemon juice), and salt and pepper together in a bowl until it becomes a bit frothy. At this point you can start adding your oil. Pay strict attention to the following: The oil must be add, at first, very slowly, drop by drop. Make sure the oil is absorbed by the egg yolk before adding the next few drops. You shouldn’t be mixing in more than about half a teaspoon a second. Eventually, your mixture will begin to thicken. After you’re 1/3-1/2 way through your oil, you can start beating it in with a slow and steady stream. As before, make sure the oil is thoroughly blended in before adding more.
Then you should be finished. Your end result should look like a shinier and silkier, but thick, version of commercial mayo. At this point you can add Dijon mustard to taste. This mayonnaise will last you two days at most.
Hints:
If at some point your mayonnaise “breaks,” ie separates back into yolk and oil, you can usually save it. In another bowl, put two tablespoons of hot water and beat the broken mixture slowly into this bowl. It should re-emulsify before your eyes.
Mayonnaise sounds tricky, but it’s not that difficult. It just takes patience in making sure each drop of oil is absorbed fully before adding the next one. I urge you to use a rotary beater rather than a blender. You will get much nicer results that way.
If this thread isn’t enough for you, here are some more opinions!
If “salad dressing” is Miracle Whip and its imitators, then what do you call that liquid stuff put out by Wishbone, et al that you pour on SALADS?
That stuff is “salad dressing.”
Miracle Whip, et al., is labelled “salad dressing,” but nobody refers to it as such.
“I’ll have a ham and cheese sandwich.”
“You want mayo on that?”
“No, I’ll have salad dressing please.”
Nah, wouldn’t happen.
Quoth heresiarch:
I don’t know mayo specifically, but olive oil is always OK, for absolutely anything. And the different types of vinegar should all serve the same role in the recipe, so just go with your tastes on that one.
Here’s a suggestion: Let’s all refer to Miracle Whip and its ilk as “sandwich dressing”. That’s the primary use for such concoctions, after all, and it keeps the dressing/mayonaise distinction.