Mayonnaise Production

Background/Requirement

 

Mayonnaise typically contains vegetable oil (minimum 65%), acidifiers (vinegar, lemon juice or lime juice), egg yolks (emulsifying agent) and other ingredients (salts, sugars, spices, monosodium glutamate, sequestrants, citric and/or malic acid and crystal inhibitors). Preparation of mayonnaise is difficult and science is typically less important than the choice of equipment and operator experience.

 

Quadro's Approach

 

Commercial production is a two-step process. The first step is the premix of the dry ingredients with the egg yolk, mixing is initiated and the oil and vinegar are pumped in at a controlled rate to prepare the premix.

 

The Quadro Ytron Jet Mixer with bypass assembly is ideal for immediate sub-surface dispersion of the powdered ingredients without agglomerates into the liquid. The oil/vinegar can also be added for sub-surface dispersion into the rotor/stator via the bypass assembly or auxiliary port to prepare a pre-emulsion. The axial flow pattern of the Jet Mixer ensures an even distribution and proper premix of the ingredients in preparation for the second step of the operation. The second step is to pump the premix through a Quadro Ytron Z Emulsifier to reduce the diameter of the oil droplets. The final viscosity is dependent upon the degree of subdivisions attained by the high shear mixer. The objective of the emulsifier is to obtain a high degree of subdivision with large variation in droplet diameters.

 

Summary

 

The traditional equipment choice to reduce the oil droplets is the Colloid Mill. When testing the Quadro Ytron Z Emulsifier vs. a colloid mill, the Z Emulsifier produces a product with a higher final viscosity.

 

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