Without any argument, mayonnaise is one of the most popular dressings on the planet. There are different mayonnaise brands in the market, but they all have the same primary constituents.
Mayonnaise is a dressing that’s made with eggs. Taking this fact into consideration, it makes sense that mayonnaise will spoil quickly with or without refrigeration. So, how can one preserve this versatile egg-based dressing? The answer to this question is freezing.
Can you freeze mayonnaise? Yes, you can definitely freeze mayonnaise. Freezing is great for preserving so many food items, and luckily for you, mayonnaise is one of those food items. Through freezing, the shelf life of mayonnaise can be extended by quite a significant amount of time. Although, you should know that the emulsion texture of mayonnaise causes a breakdown of its constituents after a while of freezing.
To avoid the ingredients in your mayonnaise getting separated, there are some tips you can use. If done correctly, you can successfully preserve both the original taste and texture of your mayonnaise through freezing. Mayonnaise can be kept preserved in the freezer for up to 6 days. Keep reading to know more about freezing mayonnaise.
Freezing Mayonnaise
Mayonnaise is quite versatile and can be used as a fastener for cooking, dressing, sauce, and a thickener. If you’ve made a fresh batch of mayonnaise for some cooking, and you’re left with some excess portions, you can use freezing to preserve the leftovers for some days.
Because of its egg-based nature, mayonnaise is hard to keep. In fact, the other components like oil and lemon squeeze also contribute to the facilitated spoiling of mayonnaise. Only freezing can push its very limited shelf life by a significant amount of days.
When you want to freeze mayonnaise, the container for freezing should be freezer-safe. It is preferable to use a sanitized glass bottle – but it must be one that won’t crack or break to pieces when frozen for a while. If the glass bottle you could find is still contaminated with traces of other food items, you can sanitize it by fully dipping inside a water-filled pot and heating the water to boiling temperature for few minutes.
Make sure you keep track of how long the mayonnaise has been frozen for so that you won’t end up with a batch of messy and odd-looking mayonnaise.
How to Freeze Mayonnaise
If the right steps are followed, your mayonnaise will keep nicely in the freezer for a couple of days. Here are some easy steps to follow:
- Start by grabbing a freezer-safe glass bottle that is large enough to contain all the mayonnaise you wish to freeze. If possible, get a glass bottle that is already sanitized. However, if you can only get one that’s still contaminated, soak it in water and boil the water for some minutes. After that, take out the glass container from the boiled water and wipe it dry. You must select a glass bottle that won’t break when subjected to low freezer temperatures.
- Now that the freezer-safe glass bottle is prepared, start transferring the mayonnaise into the bottle. Make sure that you don’t fill the bottle to the brim – there has to be sufficient room at the top for any expansions in the freezer. Failure to take this step can cause expanding mayonnaise to spill out from the bottle’s sides and mess up your freezer.
- You also need to vacuum as much air as possible out of the bottle. After that, proceed to seal the bottle tightly and write the present date with a marker on the glass bottle. The written date is to help you keep track of how long the mayonnaise has been frozen for.
If you can follow these steps correctly, your mayonnaise should keep well in the freezer for up to 6 whole days. Take note that store-bought mayonnaise will typically last longer than the homemade batch.
How to Defrost Frozen Mayonnaise
Defrosting frozen mayonnaise isn’t a difficult process. When you’re ready to use the frozen mayonnaise just take it out of the freezer and leave it in the refrigerator to thaw. Allow the bottle of mayonnaise to stay in the fridge till it has fully thawed.
As you defrost your frozen mayonnaise, you should know that mayonnaise would usually retain its original consistency and texture when frozen, but gets separated when being thawed. Because of its oil component, there will be a separation of the oil from the mayo’s emulsion – this makes the mayonnaise look unappealing.
In case you’re experiencing this separation of oils in the mayonnaise, you can re-emulsify the mayonnaise to restore it back to normal. The re-emulsifying process is relatively easy. Here’s what to do:
How to Re-Emulsify Mayonnaise
- Start by transferring the batch of mayonnaise into a blending bowl that can hold everything.
- Next, use an electric blender to whip the mayonnaise for about a minute. At this point, the mayonnaise should be looking much better already
- In case the mayo still isn’t well emulsified, you can do the whipping in smaller batches.
Once the mayonnaise is successfully re-emulsified, you can now go ahead and enjoy the dressing.
Can You Freeze Egg Mayonnaise?
Typically, egg mayonnaise will not freeze well; this makes sense because it isn’t made for freezing at all. The very nature of eggs makes them highly sensitive to variations in temperature. Because of this factor, egg mayonnaise will experience rapid growth of bacteria if placed for long on the countertop to thaw.
It is also expected that the taste and texture of mayonnaise will not remain the same after it has been removed from the freezer and thawed. For the best preservation results, it really helps if the mayonnaise has been made with oil.
Conclusion
Mayonnaise has a lot of uses and you may have stocked up on lots of it. If you’re faced with the need to preserve some mayo, freezing is the best way to go. However, even freezing can only preserve mayo for about 6 days. Also, there’s the likeliest chance that the mayo’s consistency will have been altered after freezing.