This week I posted a picture of my homemade mayo on social media. A lot of people wanted the recipe so I figure a great way to share it would be a blog post!
I'm still getting my feet wet with this whole blog concept and have been the queen of procrastination. By the time I get the hang of it Blogs will probably no longer exist....
Why Homemade Mayonnaise?
Well Because everything is better when it's homemade of course!
With homemade you have complete control over your ingredients unlike store bought. You can make a clean food without added sugars, preservatives or crazy ingredients you can't pronounce. I think the more we can make ourselves and the less dependent we are on the grocery store the better we will be. Why let someone else be in control of your food? Food is one of the most important aspects to living but so often we give that control over to a unknown entity who does not care if we live or die. That's frightening!
The best part is mayo is quick and easy to make and I bet you have most of the ingredients in your pantry. You can make it more nutritious by using healthier oils, vinegar with the mother in it and fresh ingredients instead of processed.
The Ingredients
It is best to use ingredients that are room temperature. Don't be afraid to add a little flavor like hot sauce, herbs, garlic or pepper.
Oil- Use a light tasting oil, you don't want to use oil that will overpower the flavor like extra virgin olive oil. You can mix oils also. I like to use the light olive oil and grapeseed oil mixed but use whatever you have. Common oils to use in mayo are Grape seed, Canola, Avocado, Sunflower or Vegetable oil.
Acids- You will need an acid to emulsify the the liquids into the oil. I like to use a mixture of vinegar and lemon juice, I think the combination adds more flavor. Fresh lemon always tastes better than bottled lemon juice but use what you have. A variety of different vinegars can be use, I always have Apple Cider Vinegar with the mother in it so that is what I stick with.
Eggs- Use a fresh farm egg, your mayonnaise will last as long as your eggs. You want a good quality egg as it will be raw, not something from the grocery store. I would never dare to eat a raw grocery store egg, do you have any idea how old those eggs are? Several weeks at least and they are dipped in hot chemicals to 'sanitize'. Eggs have a bloom on them that protects contaminants from entering the shell, this is why a chick can develop inside the egg safely. Once an egg is washed the bloom is removed and the shell is now porous, allowing contaminants or chemicals to enter the egg. Only in Western culture do we wash eggs and store them in the refrigerator.
Mustard- You can use a Dijon mustard or mustard powder, mustard aids in emulsification and acts as a stabilizer. I like to grow my own mustard seed and grind it into powder. Mustard seed is incredibly easy to grow, its has more bee's on it then any other flower in the garden and it's fun thrashing it to get all those seeds out.
Salt- Use a somewhat fine salt. I have recently discovered Redmonds Real Salt and love it! Its unrefined and mined in the USA, Utah to be exact. Unlike other salt that is heat processed this salt is unrefined and contains all of the natural minerals and taste that salt should have. I order it in bulk and use it in canning and even the butter I sell at the farm stand.
The Tools
Food Processor- I find the most foolproof way to make mayo is in the food processor. Just in case you weren't aware food processors have a little gadget on the food pusher that is like a tube with a tiny hole in the bottom. This is for slowly adding oil, it adds the oil in a perfect stream to emulsify to perfection.
Emersion Blender- The nice thing with an emersion blender is less dishes and you can add all the ingredients at once. You will want to use that handy cup that came with it for best results.
Standard Blender and Hand Whisking- The trouble with these methods is it can be tricky to add the oil slow enough to keep the mayonnaise from breaking. If the oil is added to fast it will cause the mayo to quickly break. The key is to add the oil SLOW and I mean drop by drop in the beginning. It's a little hard to do that by hand with a blender or a whisk unless you have 10 minutes and a nice set of strong arms. But it is definitely doable if that is what you have available.
What if it does break?
No worries my friend! Just put that broken mayonnaise in a measuring cup or something you can easily pour from. Whisk up an egg with a touch of vinegar or mustard and VERY SLOWLY add the broken mayonnaise to the egg in the food processor or by hand. Presto it should be back together. You can always use that broken mayo for salad dressing if you just added your last egg to the mayo.
My Recipe
1 Large Egg
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp. Vinegar
1 tbsp. Lemon Juice
3/4 cup Olive Oil
Instructions:
Food Processor
Add egg, mustard, salt, vinegar and lemon juice to the food processor bowl. Pulse 10-12 times to mix ingredients well.
Pour oil into the food pusher tube while the food processor is running.
Put mayo in a glass container and store in fridge, it will thicken up even more once it is cold.
Immersion Blender
Add all the ingredients the the immersion blender cup or another similar container.
Hold immersion blender on the bottom just over the egg and pulse 10 - 12 times until egg emulsifies.
Slowly bring the immersion blender up and down to incorporate oil until mayo is thick.
Store in refrigerator.
Blender or Whisk
Add egg, mustard, salt, vinegar and lemon juice to bowl or blender. Mix until combined well.
Very slowly add the oil while constantly mixing. Drop by Drop at first and as it emulsifies and comes together you can increase to a very slow stream. This process will take about 10 minutes.
Store in glass container in refrigerator.
Tid Bits:
Julia Child liked to say that one large egg can only manage to hold 3/4 cups of oil. I always like to remember that.
The Joy of Cooking mayonnaise recipe says to never make mayonnaise if it is storming or it will surely break!