WEBVTT - How Does Mayonnaise Work?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogelbaum. Here here in the Northern Hemisphere, the weather

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<v Speaker 1>is getting warmer and thus cookout season approaches, promising a

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<v Speaker 1>rays of grilled foods and accompanying side dishes and salads

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<v Speaker 1>in lots of places. Some of those salads are bound

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<v Speaker 1>to be the type that consists of stuff bound by mayo.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe a pasta salad or potato salad. Maybe eat sandwiches

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<v Speaker 1>with chicken, tuna, or egg salad. Mayonnaise is a thick

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<v Speaker 1>sauce or dressing that's yellowish white in color and tastes

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<v Speaker 1>creamy despite containing no dairy product. But how does that

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<v Speaker 1>work today? Let's look at the science and history behind mayonnaise.

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<v Speaker 1>In addition to being used as an ingredient in the

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<v Speaker 1>aforementioned cold mixed salads, mayo can show up as a

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<v Speaker 1>spread on sandwiches, onto itself, or as an ingredient in

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<v Speaker 1>casseroles or in dips alone or mixed with other sauces

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<v Speaker 1>or seasonings for veggies, French fries, and other dippable things.

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<v Speaker 1>It has a creamy mouthfeel and a mild, slightly zippy flavor.

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<v Speaker 1>That texture and flavor come from the fact that mayo

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<v Speaker 1>is made from some kind of acid like vinegar or

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<v Speaker 1>lemon juice, in an emulsion with a liquid fat like

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<v Speaker 1>olive oil or another vegetable oil. The emulsion is bound

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<v Speaker 1>together with something bindy that traditionally raw egg, yolk, and salt,

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<v Speaker 1>and various spices might be added for flavor. Emulsion is

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<v Speaker 1>the term for an even mixture of two liquids that

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<v Speaker 1>don't generally mix, like oil and water, or in this case,

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<v Speaker 1>oil and vinegar or lemon juice. If you put equal

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<v Speaker 1>parts of oil and vinegar in a jar and shake

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<v Speaker 1>them up, they'll beat up and appear to mix for

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<v Speaker 1>a minute or so, and then they'll start separating out again.

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<v Speaker 1>The molecules of water that the vinegar is primarily made

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<v Speaker 1>up of do not want to bind to the molecules

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<v Speaker 1>of fat in the oil, and the feeling is mutual.

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<v Speaker 1>It's like being at a party or maybe a school

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<v Speaker 1>dance where different social groups or genders are simply not mixing.

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<v Speaker 1>But there are plenty of molecules in nature that can

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<v Speaker 1>make oil and water play nice for our party. Metaphor

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<v Speaker 1>that might be I don't know. The snack table for

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<v Speaker 1>the molecules. It's more like the connective pieces in a

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<v Speaker 1>set of tinker toys. These connective molecules are emulsifiers. They'll

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<v Speaker 1>have one end that's a hydrophilic, meaning that it likes

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<v Speaker 1>connecting up with water, and another that's lipophilic, meaning that

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<v Speaker 1>it likes grabbing onto fats. The fats will still repel

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<v Speaker 1>against other molecules of water, but since they're also attached

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<v Speaker 1>to bits of water, they wind up dispersing themselves evenly

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<v Speaker 1>throughout the water. These physics are also Milk contains both

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<v Speaker 1>water and fats, but looks like a single homogeneous liquid.

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<v Speaker 1>Egg yolks contain a fatty molecule called lesse thin that

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<v Speaker 1>acts as an emulsifier. A bit of ground mustard seed

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<v Speaker 1>or prepared mustard is often added to homemade mayo because

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<v Speaker 1>mustard seeds contain a lot of mucilage, which is a

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<v Speaker 1>gluey protein that also acts as an emulsifier. But you

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<v Speaker 1>can't just pour vinegar, oil, and egg yolks together and

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<v Speaker 1>wind up with mayo. You need to encourage the molecules

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<v Speaker 1>to interact physically, so in a bowl or some kind

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<v Speaker 1>of electric mixer, you whip together egg yolks and your

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<v Speaker 1>acid of choice, and then continue whipping and slowly drizzle

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<v Speaker 1>in the oil. The physical action of the whip allows

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<v Speaker 1>the emulsifying molecules in the yolk to interact with and

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<v Speaker 1>grab up molecules of oil and water. Sometimes while you're

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<v Speaker 1>doing this, the mayonnaise will break, meaning it'll go lumpy

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<v Speaker 1>and runny the same time, in precisely the way that

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<v Speaker 1>mayo shouldn't well. When emulcifications break, the water and oils

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<v Speaker 1>that make them up go back to hanging out on

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<v Speaker 1>separate sides of the dance floor instead of mingling. This

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<v Speaker 1>happens in mayo when the amount of oil in the

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<v Speaker 1>mix overwhelms the connective molecules. But you can fix it

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<v Speaker 1>by restoring balance. You can do that by either adding

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<v Speaker 1>more connective molecules, more egg yolk, or by adding a

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<v Speaker 1>bit more of your acid or just plain water for

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<v Speaker 1>the oil to disperse itself through, and you have to

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<v Speaker 1>whisk to combine, otherwise those oils will resolutely hang out

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<v Speaker 1>by themselves. Chemically, emulsions are what's called colloids, which are

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<v Speaker 1>evenly balanced mixtures composed of tiny particles suspended in another

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<v Speaker 1>unmixable material. In other colloids, Solids, liquids, or gases can

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<v Speaker 1>be either the particles or the medium in which they're suspended.

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<v Speaker 1>Emulsions are liquids suspended in liquid. Emulsions are usually thick

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<v Speaker 1>in texture and sort of satiny in appearance. They can

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<v Speaker 1>be used in lots of different ways outside of making mayo,

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<v Speaker 1>like by pharmacists, as a vehicle for medication, in anything

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<v Speaker 1>that needs to stay stable, from paints to detergents to

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<v Speaker 1>make up to explosives, and in other food products, including

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<v Speaker 1>in similar dressings that are made without eggs or with

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<v Speaker 1>less oil and thus generally can't be labeled mayonnaise. The

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<v Speaker 1>US Food and Drug Administration and other governing bodies irregulate

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<v Speaker 1>foods that are labeled and sold to make sure that

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<v Speaker 1>consumers know what they're getting and to keep manufacturers from

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<v Speaker 1>cutting corners by using too many fillers in their foods.

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<v Speaker 1>In the case of mayo, its rules lay out how

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<v Speaker 1>much acid and oil the product should contain by weight,

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<v Speaker 1>plus what kinds of acids, oils, and egg products may

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<v Speaker 1>be used, plus what optional flavorings and texture modifiers are allowed.

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<v Speaker 1>This is why you might see products on a shelf

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<v Speaker 1>next to mayonnaise labeled salad dressing or sandwich spread. Some

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<v Speaker 1>of them lower the oil content and therefore the fat content,

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<v Speaker 1>by swapping some out for other texture modifiers like sugar

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<v Speaker 1>or food starch. These products, like the brand Miracle Whip,

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<v Speaker 1>can taste a bit sweeter than mayo. For this reason,

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<v Speaker 1>others swap out the egg for a plant based product

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<v Speaker 1>to make a dressing suitable for vegans. The emulcifiers found

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<v Speaker 1>in egg yolks can be derived from lots of other stuff.

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<v Speaker 1>For example, soybeans contain a lot of less than and

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<v Speaker 1>seaweed a lot of mucilage. A mayonnaise as we know

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<v Speaker 1>it today developed in France sometime in the late seventeen

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<v Speaker 1>to early eighteen hundreds, though exactly where, when and how

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<v Speaker 1>is debated. Legend says it may have been prepared by

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<v Speaker 1>a chef for a victory feast at Port Mahone, hence mayonnaise,

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<v Speaker 1>but evidence is scant. Further north, in Germany and England,

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<v Speaker 1>other creamy dressings developed around the same time, though because

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<v Speaker 1>olive oil would have been an expensive imported product back then,

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<v Speaker 1>but dairy was widely available, these dressings incorporated ingredients like butter, milk,

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<v Speaker 1>or sour cream. You can see these influences in boiled

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<v Speaker 1>dressings in the American South, which aren't boiled but rather

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<v Speaker 1>simmered gently in a pan over boiling water. Products like

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<v Speaker 1>these started getting manufactured and bottled around the nineteen twenties. Today,

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<v Speaker 1>mayo is the best selling condiment in the United States,

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<v Speaker 1>with more Americans more likely to have it on hand

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<v Speaker 1>than even ketchup or peanut butter. As of twenty fourteen,

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<v Speaker 1>of the eight billion eggs produced every year in the States,

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<v Speaker 1>about one percent eight million went directly to making mayo,

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<v Speaker 1>which is impressive and brings us to one last question.

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<v Speaker 1>Are mayo based sides and salads the culprits behind summer

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<v Speaker 1>cookout food poisoning. The answer is maybe, but the mayo

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<v Speaker 1>isn't actually the problem here. Mayo contains a lot of acid,

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<v Speaker 1>which prevents bacterial growth. Commercially bottled mayo is especially safe

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<v Speaker 1>because the egg yolks in it are pasteurized. The CDC

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<v Speaker 1>has never reported an incidence of food borne illness associated

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<v Speaker 1>with commercial mayo. However, the other things in these salads chicken, potatoes, eggs,

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<v Speaker 1>fresh vegetables, are bacterial playgrounds at room temperature. If that

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<v Speaker 1>salad is allowed to sit out between the temperatures of

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<v Speaker 1>forty and one hundred and forty fahrenheit, otherwise known as

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<v Speaker 1>four point four two sixty celsius, otherwise known as the

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<v Speaker 1>danger zone. Any bacteria that have found their way into

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<v Speaker 1>it can multiply really fast, like double their population every

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<v Speaker 1>twenty minutes. This is why it's always a good idea

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<v Speaker 1>to serve chilled foods in a shaded area on ice

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<v Speaker 1>if you can. If cold foods are not kept chilled,

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<v Speaker 1>it's safest to not eat them if they've been sitting

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<v Speaker 1>out for more than two hours, and if the ambient

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<v Speaker 1>temperature is above ninety degrees fahrenheit or thirty two celsius. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>first of all, I'm sorry, and b you should produce

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<v Speaker 1>that non chilled time to just one hour. Today's episode

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<v Speaker 1>is based on the article what is Mayonnaise on HowStuffWorks

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<v Speaker 1>dot com and on an episode of my other podcast

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<v Speaker 1>Saver devoted to the topic. Brain Stuff is a production

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<v Speaker 1>of iHeartRadio in partnership with how Stuffworks dot Com, and

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<v Speaker 1>it's produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts my heart Radio,

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<v Speaker 1>visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen

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<v Speaker 1>to your favorite shows,