644605 Fri Aug 14 05:38:01 -0700 2009 9 31 Home Cooking 0 4945834 I want to make a sauce that normally requires a drop of raw egg yolk to emulsify. Will I get the same effect if I use a cooked egg yolk? The other ingredients in the sauce are green chiles, salt, and oil. Fri Aug 14 05:38:01 -0700 2009 118120 luckyfatima 1 4946011 I have made mayonnaise with cooked (hard boiled) egg yolk and it worked just fine, although the texture was a bit less silky than usual. Give it a try and please report back! Fri Aug 14 07:07:06 -0700 2009 4945834 12823 Junie D 1 4947315 You could try some alternative emulsifiers (e.g. soy bean oil, sunflower oil) Fri Aug 14 15:02:41 -0700 2009 4945834 203621 todao 2 4947361 I'm not following. An emulsifier stabilizes the oil/water mixture. Oils are not emulsifiers. Fri Aug 14 15:22:44 -0700 2009 4947315 12823 Junie D 3 4948106 Both sunflower oil and soybean oil contain lecithin. That's the principal ingredient in egg yolk that makes it a worthy emulsifier. So using one of these in place of veg. oil should (if handled properly) eliminate the need for an egg emulsifier. Soy bean oil is probably better than sunflower oil because, depending on who processes it and how, it is often higher in lecithin than its sunflower contemporary. That said, the Egg Products Inspection Act of 1970 (§1036) requires eggs to be pasturized. But because I don't believe that applies to every type of egg production (the legal language looks pretty weak to me) I never rely on that unless the package is marked to authenticate USDA pasturization standards have been met. If I were going to use raw egg yolk in a sauce, I might try mixing the ingredients and stirring it constantly over low heat until it reached the temperature specified by USDA for safe egg consumption, then cool it before serving. But I haven't tried that so I don't know how well it might work. Those are some nice looking nasturtiums you have in that avatar. Fri Aug 14 21:54:29 -0700 2009 4947361 203621 todao 4 4949454 Yes, those oils contain lecithin. But using that logic, any vinaigrette or mayonnaise made with sunflower or soy oil would emulsify itself. That just doesn't happen because they don't contain enough lecithin. Sat Aug 15 15:58:26 -0700 2009 4948106 12823 Junie D 1 4949520 Use mayonnaise. Sat Aug 15 16:32:30 -0700 2009 4945834 13819 Karl S 2 4949523 June D says it won't work; because there's not enough lecithin. Even though I respectfully disagree, you may not want to take the chance if you're making dinner for guests. Sat Aug 15 16:34:03 -0700 2009 4949520 203621 todao 3 4949593 Actually, Cooks Illustrated in its Sep-Oct 2009 issue discusses the use of mayonnaise as the emulsifier in vinaigrettes and similar sauces. Of course, as with any emulsification, you have to phase properly. Sat Aug 15 17:10:00 -0700 2009 4949523 13819 Karl S 3 4951304 "June D says it won't work" What I said was that soy oil and sunflower oil do not function as emulsifiers even though they do contain small amounts of lecithin. It is true that "soy lecithin" is a common emulsifier in processed food. Soy lecithin is not the same as soy oil. Karl S is correct that, depending on the sauce, mayonnaise certainly could work because it contains egg yolk or other emulsifier/lecithin source. Sun Aug 16 16:16:20 -0700 2009 4949523 12823 Junie D