All posts by globecore

There is a legend about the origin of mayonnaise. It says that this sauce was invented by a chef of the French garrison, which was locked by the British on the island of Menorca in the city Mahon (Mayon). The besieged experienced problems with food – there were only olive oil and turkey eggs, and the officers were only fed on fried eggs. Then the French commandant’s personal chef – thoroughly grated egg yolks with sugar and salt, mixed it all with olive oil, and finally, added lemon juice into the mixture. Thus, the classic mayonnaise was created. This wonderful sauce quickly gained its recognition and became known as “mahon sauce” or “mayonnaise”.

However, the Spaniards insist on their authorship, arguing that the treacherous French usurped the glory of their “ali-oli” sauce, popular in South Europe since Virgil.

In the early 19th century a French chef made mayonnaise with mustard, which gave it a delicious and piquant taste. Besides, mustard, being an excellent emulsifier, it improved the sauce durability in a long-term storage. This kind of mustard sauce got the name “Provencal sauce from Mahon” or more familiar to us name – “Provence” mayonnaise.

Today there are many recipes of mayonnaise with different proportions of ingredients, but the determining factor of this product is the fat content. According to European standards, with regard to the fat content, the product is referred to as “mayonnaise” (at 80% of fat), “salad mayonnaise” (at 70-50% of fat) and salad dressing (at 49-20% of fat).

Using the language of the food industry technologists, we can describe mayonnaise as “oil in water” fine emulsion, prepared from egg powder, milk powder, mustard powder and vegetable oil with the addition of emulsifiers, flavorings and spices. Thus, the main task of a technologist in this regard – is to obtain a homogeneous, stable substance, taking into account the concentration of the dry components and the degree of their swelling – by adjusting the flow of the oil, and the level of mechanical and hydro-mechanical equipment.

A mayonnaise production line consists of several compulsory sets: a section of components resting, tanks for steam treatment, the main mixer tank, and a homogenizer or colloid mill.

To obtain a high-quality product, the raw materials have to meet certain requirements. For example, vegetable oil (sunflower, soya, olive, corn, peanut, and others), serving as one of the main components, must pass through a refining process, including deodorization, and used within a period of one month since refining.

The following ingredients are used in dry form: egg powder, powdered cow’s milk (skimmed or whole), mustard powder, sugar, and salt. Vinegar is used in the form of a 9-10% solution of acetic acid.

The preparation of  mayonnaise consists of a series of steps: first, you prepare the ingredients according to the recipe. The dry ingredients: egg and mustard powder, powdered milk, sugar, salt, soda are weighed on the scales, and then sifted through a fine-meshed sieve. Sifting through a sieve breaks large lumps, improving the moisture-retaining capacity of the powders. The required amounts of vegetable oil and water are poured out into the appropriate storage tanks.

Usually, egg paste is cooked first. For this – egg powder and water are delivered into a mixing tank. The mixture is stirred with a paddle-type mixer for about 2 – 10 minutes. Then it is heated to 60-65°C and held for 15-20 minutes, then pumped through a homogenizer into the main mixing tank to let it cool down to 20-30°C.

In the second tank, mustard and milk blend is prepared. A homogenizer evenly distributes the dry ingredients (milk powder, mustard powder, salt, sugar and soda) in the water and a colloid mill provides an additional grinding of the solid fractions (if necessary). The obtained mixture sits for 20 minutes at 80-85°C for a better dissolving and pasteurization of the components, and then it is allowed to cool down to 20-30°C. Cooled down mustard and milk paste is also pumped into the main mixing tank.

In the main mixing tank egg paste and mustard-milk paste are stirred for 5-10 minutes with a paddle-type agitator to obtain a homogeneous paste. The weight ratio of mustard-milk and egg pastes range from 1.5-2.0:1 for high-calorie mayonnaise and 2.2-2.8:1 for medium and low-calorie.

At the next stage vegetable oil is delivered into the main mixing tank. For an even distribution the oil is spread with a thin jet into the mixture of egg and mustard-milk pastes, that it is passed through a homogenizer.

Simultaneously with the introduction of the last portions of vegetable oil the previously prepared cold (15-16°C) vinegar-salt solution is introduced.

The sequence and speed of adding vegetable oil and vinegar-salt solution into the paste are extremely important, because the simultaneous or accelerated introduction of these components can result in emulsion getting lumpy.

At the final stage a coarse mayonnaise emulsion, from the mixer tank is  pumped through a homogenizer or a colloid mill. Homogenization is continued until a stable emulsion is obtained. As practice shows, this requires all mayonnaise emulsion to be passed through a homogenizer at least 2-3 times.

If the sample taken is entirely homogeneous, has no lumps, runs evenly and has a typical for mayonnaise viscosity, color, taste and smell – the product is considered to be ready and is subject to packaging.

Mayonnaise is stored at 3-7°C. Freezing or excessive heat of mayonnaise destroys its structure, besides a high temperature dramatically reduces the shelf life of this remarkable product.

The history of mustard extends back a couple of millennia. Today it is one of the most popular spices used in the cuisines of many nations. In general, mustard is a mixture of mustard seeds, water, vinegar and various additives. The taste of mustard depends on additives and plant seeds (white, black, brown (saperda/Indian) or abyssinian mustard)

In Europe, the most popular is “Dijon” mustard with white wine and black mustard seeds, produced  since the XIV century. The most liquid mustard is “American” with white mustard seeds with a lot of sugar. “Bavarian” mustard is prepared with coarse-grained seeds and caramel syrup. The composition of “English” mustard is crushed seeds are mixed in apple juice or cider. In Italy, people like “Fruit” mustard prepared with whole or large pieces of apples, oranges, pears, and others, that are added into mustard powder, white wine, honey and spices. Finally, there is a hot, strong and familiar to us “Saperda mustard,” the preparation technology of which, as an example, will be discussed further.

The production of mustard consists of the following stages:

• preparing saline solution;
• preparing sugar syrup;
• preparing marinade;
• preparing mustard itself.

Components (mustard powder, peanut flour, salt and sugar) are pre-sieved through sieves with a mesh size of about 1mm. The sieves are equipped with magnets for trapping  large lumps of mustard powder and peanut flour – after which additional crushing is required. The additional crushing improves the “swelling” properties.

Sugar syrup is prepared from sugar and water in proportion nine to five, boiled for half an hour to prevent the development of mucosal bacteria.

The saline solution is prepared from salt and water in equal proportion one to one is brought to boil and then filtered.

A marinade is a day-old solution of water, vinegar and spices (pepper, cloves, bay leaf, cardamom, and others). If required by the recipe – garlic extract is cooked separately (within a period of five days).

When all the components are ready, the process of preparing mustard  follows in two stages: the first stage – mixing the main ingredients; the second stage – adding the recipe components.

During the mixing process : water, heated to 800С, delivered into a special mixing tank, continuously stirred, then mustard powder, and half of marinade are added. The mixture is continuously stirred for 25-30 minutes. Generally it is done using paddle-type mixers, but the most efficient mixing process is achieved by repeatedly running the mixture through a homogenizer or a colloid mill. The substance, prepared this way, is left for few hours to “sit” to launch the process of fermentation.

Into the obtained mustard paste, continuously stirred, are added: vegetable oil, saline solution, sugar syrup and the remaining part of marinade. The mixing process lasts for an hour, where mustard is passed through a homogenizer (colloid mill) to obtain a high-quality, uniform product.

As a general rule, the mustard production line is equipped according to the requirements of the Customer. However, there is a “basic” set of equipment installed. It includes:

1. A vibro screen for sieving mustard powder. The mesh size of the screen does not exceed 1.5mm, the optimal oscillation amplitude is about 10mm, and the oscillation frequency is about 500-600 oscillations per minute.
2. Stainless steel tanks for preparing saline solution, sugar syrup and marinade  are equipped with heaters for boiling. Tanks for syrup and saline solution are equipped with low RPM mixers.
3. Filters between the solution tanks and homogenizer that delivers a mixture into the mustard preparing machine. These filters serve to remove foreign and large size particles.
4. The mustard preparing machine. Generally, it is a vertical container with a water-steam heating circuit, equipped with a blade- or rake-type agitator.
5. Crusher-homogenizer is also an integral part of the production line. Usually, it is a rotary homogenizer or colloid mill (as an example, produced by GlobeCore). The main purpose of the homogenizer (colloid mill) is to crush mustard mass and bring it into a fine, homogeneous state. At the same time acts as a transfer pump.

Packaged mustard is stored in dark, dry rooms at a temperature not higher than +100С. Shelf life varies from 45 days in the hot season, and until 90 days in the cold.