![]() ![]() Water and oil will always attempt to re-create their natural surface tension, but this inevitability can be prevented by using emulsifiers and stabilizers. This recreation of surface tension as it applies to cooks is commonly referred to as "broken." For most culinary emulsions, the dispersed phase should not exceed three times the volume of the continuous phase.Īdding too much of the dispersed phase to a given emulsion is only one of many reasons an emulsification will "break." In fact, emulsifications are unstable by nature. This leads to the dispersed phase first stating to touch, combining, pooling and finally re-creating the natural surface tension. Eventually there is so much of the dispersed phased that it becomes impossible to keep the individual particles separated. But as more of the dispersed phase is added, the dispersed particles become crammed closer together. Like we talked about above, the more dispersed phase contained within an emulsion, the thicker the emulsion will become. The smaller the dispersed phase, the more of that liquid you can add, yielding a thicker emulsion. The more shearing power used, the smaller the dispersed phase will become, creating a more stable emulsion. Shearing power is necessary in the emulsification process to break up the dispersed phase and distribute it throughout the continuous phase. Shearing power can be described as a liquid in motion this can range from shaking, stirring, blending, etc. So how do cooks combine fat and water even though they don't like to mix? By using shearing power. It's important to keep track of which phase is which because adding more of the continuous phase will thin an emulsion and more of the dispersed phased will thicken an emulsion. The continuous phase can be thought of as the "container" of the emulsification it is what the other liquid will be "dispersed" into. In any emulsification there are two phases, the continuous phase and the dispersed phase. This alignment is described as "surface tension." It's this surface tension the cook will constantly battle when attempting to make and maintain an emulsification. Chemically speaking, when two molecules don't freely mix they will align themselves in such a fashion to touch as little as possible. In scientific terms, fat and water are considered "immiscible," or two liquids that don't like to mix. This is a good thing if alcohol reacted to water like fat does, then that nice bottle of wine would be nothing more then grape juice with pure alcohol floating on top. In contrast to water and fat maintaining their distinct characteristics when combined, other water friendly liquids like alcohol can never form an emulsion with water because of their ability to freely mix. Water in fat emulsifications are most commonly found in the form of vinaigrettes and whole butter. Common fat in water emulsifications include hollandaise, mayonnaise, aioli, milk, cream, and pan sauces. Culinary emulsion can take two different forms fat dispersed into water and water dispersed into fat. When talking about emulsions as applicable in a kitchen, the term emulsion refers to combining fat and water. ![]() An emulsion is defined by combining two liquids that will maintain their distinct characteristics after being mixed. ![]()
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