The Important Step That Will Prevent Your Aioli From Breaking
Making homemade aioli in your own kitchen can be a fun task, and it signals a bit of sophistication to any home cook. As with all emulsions, there are certain steps you must take to ensure that your aioli will come out smooth and buttery. A small prep step that can really help you get the perfect sauce is to dry your equipment thoroughly. Whether you're using a smoothie blender or a more high-powered food processor, you should dry away any water droplets or moisture that may be left in the device. As we all know, oil and water do not mix — in fact, they repel one another. Since an aioli is mostly made out of oil, any excess liquid at the beginning of the blending process can cause splitting or breaking.
If you find that your finished aioli came out too thick for your liking, you could always add in more water later. Once the aioli has a creamy and smooth texture, it's much easier to incorporate additional liquids without having it split. But what do you do if you're mid-process when you realize you added too much water initially or started off with wet equipment?
Add in an extra egg yolk for creaminess
Aioli recipes may differ but most of them involve some type of acidic seasoning like lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, garlic, egg yolks, and oil. A runny, broken aioli is a very common problem that plagues kitchens everywhere, and there are several ways to troubleshoot it. In the case of having too much liquid in the beginning, be it in an extra squeeze of lemon juice or too much water, we recommend that you simply add an extra egg yolk. Egg yolks are high in fat, so the additional yolk will bring your mixture back to the proper ratio of fat to liquid and create a new starter for the aioli.
If you're halfway through adding oil, or you have a runny finished product, stop pouring in more oil. The egg yolk should be mixed with the acid and garlic first, and then oil can be added gradually as you blend. Once the extra yolk is fully incorporated with the rest of the ingredients, you can continue drizzling oil as you blend. Just make sure you're not pouring in lots of oil at once, since you will most likely end up with a pool of oil sitting on top of the egg yolk mixture. With an added egg yolk and a bit of patience, the split sauce will become the perfect aioli.