vinegarette stablizer

[hlstone]

what is a product that would keep a homeade salad dressing stable and not seperate?

 

[jellly]

Xanthan gum - this is the same thing used in commercial salad dressing.  You can buy it on Amazon or at some natural food stores (some people use it for gluten-free recipes).  It is pretty simple to work with, just blend it into a liquid, no heating required.  

 

[granny smith]

Lecithin also works.

 

[gunnar]

nothing...even high processed vinegarettes like Kraft separate..cruise the salad dressing aisle at the supermarket and check it out. in order for it to not separate you would need to emulsify it and then it's not really a vinegarette anymore, it's an aoli or flavored mayonaise or some sort of odd mix.

 

[chefedb]

Guava gum, modified food starch, xanthan gum. Can't think of anything else because anything else will change the name of it to some other kind of dressing.

 

[gareth]

Contact a company called National Starch, they have everything and anything when it comes to thickening and stabilising and are a helpful company.

 

[foodpump]

I'm with Gunnar on this,

Vinaigrette= oil and vinegar

=they don't mix. 

Once you emulsify it, it becomes a.....(drum roll please) Emulsion.

If you want an emulsion without the gums and starches, use a natural starch:  Over cooked rice (NOT Unkle Bens)  Toss in a handfull of overcooked rice and the vinegar/acid you want to use into a blender, then add in your oil.

Of course, you could also use egg yolks.......................

 

[phatch]

Mustard has natural emulsifiers that will help stabilize the emulsion. They still break but not nearly as fast. You can use preapred mustard or even the powder. Garlic works this way too.

 

[gunnar]

To be seriously technical..even just oil and vinegar properly mixed is an emulsion..however they will separate eventually, in either hours or just a day, it's inevitable. Even with chemical or natural emulsifiers it is going to happen it's just a matter of time.  The old adage "oil and water  don't mix" is a time tested scientific fact and feel free to add vinegar to the water list at this point. Stop screwing with it, please.

 

[gareth]

My understanding is that any thing used as a binding agent is exactly that. They do not chemically combine the molecules but rather trap the molecules, hence acidity, sheer and temperature all speed up or slow down the process of separation, as Gunnar has pointed out oil and water don't mix...forever

 

[piratechefny]

there are broken vinaigrettes and emulsified vinaigrettes. it's still a vinaigrette. a sauce that is bound with eggs (due to the lecithin in the eggs) is no longer a vinaigrette, but a mayonnaise or a derivative of. ie: caesar dressing is not a vinaigrette. 

just because a vinaigrette is emulsified does not make it a mayonnaise. "aioli" is neither, technically.

a vinaigrette is a temporary emulsion whereas a mayonnaise is a permanent emulsion. 

any further reference can be found in McGee's book or even J Peterson's "sauces" or "glorious french food".  

to the OP.... do a search for "fat emulsifiers" or "emulsification stabilizers" to look for other avenues regarding lecithin or gums. 

 

[bazza]

The definition of "vinaigrette" has been debated at length on cheftalk, a quick search should find the thread.

Lets call it a home made salad dressing, as in the OP's post. If you want to make your own, and stablise it then lecithin works very well.