A lot of people make their own mayonnaise, but for some reason, the idea always intimidated me. I have no idea why; maybe it was just the entrenched habit of using store-bought mayo. But then Dan and I got into another diet analysis discussion, and talked about more ways to improve our diet (there's always room for improvement).
I had already changed the oils we cooked with. Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon was a real eye opener on that front, and I eliminated all edible oils except extra virgin olive and coconut from our diet. The hold-out was mayo, which is typically made with soy oil. For awhile, I was able to buy coconut or avocado oil mayo from our discount grocery, until they closed shop. I switched to the commercial mayo with olive oil, but it still contains soy oil. But now, with mayo costing $6 to $8 a jar, it was time to do something else.
My first step was to ask for recipes at Permies.com. I got a lot of good ones, so I chose the simplest, plopped the ingredients into my power blender, and whirred it up. Except no matter how long or at what speed I blended it, my "mayo" remained liquid. Because of the EVOO it solidified in the fridge and tasted okay, but it didn't have the creamy consistency I wanted.
After we finished that jar, I was tempted to just buy a jar of mayo again, but decided to hunt for a DIY video instead. This one, The Easiest Homemade Mayonnaise Recipe!, told me what I needed to know. She had the same results as me with her blender mayo, and recommended a stick blender instead. I vaguely remembered buying one for soap making, but it was still unopened in the box. Somewhere.
Also called a hand or immersion blender. |
I found it, assembled it, and dumped the ingredients into a wide mouth pint jar. Within seconds I had mayo! I couldn't believe how fast and easy it was.
Sauerkraut slaw. Just add mayo to sauerkraut or kimchi. |
The recipe is the standard one found around the internet. For my records, here it is again.
- 1 cup oil of choice
- 1 egg
- juice of 1/2 lemon (or 1 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar)
- pinch salt (or to taste)
- 1 tbsp mustard (Dijon tastes best, but yellow will do)
24 comments:
I first made homemade mayo back in 2010. Just oil, lemon and egg yolks I think. We don't eat it enough to make it fresh, but now you have me wanting to make some for egg salad. Yum.
I'm going to try this, thank you. I use my stick blender all the time, so this I can do.
I blogged about this a few years back, when I tried using a stick blender in a wide-mouth jar instead of the blender approach I had been using. Unbelievably simple! Unlike most things :)
Kristina, egg salad! What a great idea. Plus we like it on sandwiches and since we like salads, I'm going to experiment making various kinds of salad dressings. :)
Liz, it's incredibly simple! I think somehow I thought it would be a huge job, but this method is wonderful.
Quinn, "Unlike most things," That's exactly right! One of the lessons I've learned over the years is to evaluate the amount of time and energy a course of action will result in. Some things just aren't worth it.
I use my stick blender quite often. Many soup recipes call for straining it before consuming but I usually just use my stick blender and go with the "rustic" version to consume. I also use it when canning excess cherry tomatoes to cut up the skins after cooking down.
I have never made mayonnaise but I'm pretty sure I remember my grandma doing so. Other than tuna/egg salad sandwiches a couple times a year, the only other thing I use mayonnaise for is as a binder in my salmon cake recipe.
P.S. When it comes to recipe, I like video recipes more than I do just recipes on a random sight with 10 pages of commentary hyping them up before you get to the actual recipe. I find most of those recipes underwhelming. But if I know the science and reasoning of a recipe, I generally come up with something much tastier.
Ed, I like the idea of using for soup. I like a soup with substance, and that should do the trick nicely without added thickener.
I agree about understanding the principles of a recipe. It makes it easier to remember and adapt. I like video recipes too, as long as they can get to the point!
Interesting .....I think I would be intimidated by trying to make mayonnaise. We seldomly use Mayonnaise but so many recipes call for this ingredient. Enjoy your day...
I do make my own, but the key for me was learning that I needed to use the light olive oil, not standard extra virgin olive oil, as is used in sauteeing.
The light olive oil gives a better flavor, and also works well for baking.
My recipe is similar to yours, I think I found it on Downshiftology, which is a wonderful place to find clean, healthy food. Enjoy your mayo!
Shug, if you don't use it much, making it would be of much interest, I suspect. You're right that it's used a lot though.
Daisy, good point about the lighter olive oil. So far, no complaints about the EVOO, except it does have a light green color. :)
I had no idea it was that easy. Thanks Leigh!
Mom made all our mayo when I was growing up. I never have but remember cleaning the blender afterwards was a bit of effort. I resorted to taking it apart and setting it on the floor for the dog to "pre-wash". I don't use much mayo these days but might have to give this a try once my supply is used!
Hubby makes this also - caution do not over-blend (don't ask me why I mention this) haha. He loves it and it's nice elimination ever more chemicals from the diet.
TB, easy peasy!
Annie, yeah, cleaning the blender is always a pain. The stick blender is so much quicker and easier. In fact, I've already started using it for more things. :)
LL, it's always great to eliminate chemicals and nasty ingredients from our diet! I'm glad I finally took the plunge.
When I use a blender, afterwards I run it filled with soapy water. Then rinse by running it with clear. That pretty much does it. Same with the stick blender, run it in another container, with soapy water, rinse likewise.
Except, if I've made pesto, I run the blender first with clear water and save it for soup. Then I do the cleaning.
Waste nothing!
Watch a lot of cooking shows and always see them reaching for Japanese mayo. So went looking and it's as easy at our store bought but recipe is located at 52 Best Kewpie Mayo /recipe. Maybe a different taste but the chef's seem to think.
I will slide down this oily slope.
I have toyed with making my own and did a few times but apparently it was not the time.As it didn't continue on after the first few times. As I remember the original recipes were more complicated (how can anything be more simple than Mayo?). Also like so many homestead type of things many of us now in our later years started on that journey in the 1970's. Trust me if you walk that way of life in 54 years one has a few side trips that don't become keepers.
I think that my Mayo making days got sabotaged somewhere between dairy goats, Great Pyrenees and two children.I found a Mayo that met my "must have or not" on the shelves of Trader Joe's and used it since. Now it is just a way of life since no one has come up with prepared Mayo seeds for the garden.
I will give your "go to" recipe and see how it goes for me. I am lucky to have an olive oil source that is as pure as the driven snow between me and Fresno. I have been purchasing their oil (family farm) since I began the soap journey in the 80's. I appreciate recipes that have less ingredients as it helps narrow down finding appropriate substitutes if needed. I will have a go using my Ninja blender . I got it five years back to do smoothies as I didn't have to pop for the more expensive blender but got the job done.
I will let you know Leigh how it "whips" up.
Liz, yes, that method works really well. I'm just never able to scrape out as much as I wish I could. At any rate, the stick blender did a better job on mayo.
Anonymous, I am completely unfamiliar with Japanese mayo. I will have to look that one up! It will be fun to experiment with different variations.
Goatldi, if I could have found a mayonnaise with ingredients I'm happy with, I probably never would have tried this. That said, I'm surprised I never tried it before now.
So nice to have good sources for things. I feel pretty limited in that regard. Let me know how your mayo goes!
I've made mayo a couple of times with good results. However we're in the don't eat enough of it so there is too much waste. We work very hard on having as little food waste as possible, so it irks me to no end that it's more economical and less waste to have to purchase it. Home made mayo though really does have a lovely flavour and can be much nicer than store bought.
Nina, it amazes me how many people have commented that they don't eat mayo.
I hear you about food waste. That's something we never throw away. Whatever we don't eat, goes to feed somebody else, goats, poultry, or at least the compost!
No one has mentioned the 'raw egg' issue. I think that is what stops me. Comments on that, please???? I made mayo once, following directions to heat the egg just the right amount to kill anything, but still have a raw egg...it was tedious and time consuming.
Rosalea, that's an excellent question. The official answer is use only pasteurized eggs. I think in the end, you must do what you are comfortable with. I know that isn't much help, but it's the only answer I've got at the moment.
Thanks Leigh. I've wondered about the possibility of buying mayonnaise made from rapeseed oil, which is meant to be one of the oils with most health benefits. Didn't realise how easy it would be to make at home.
I don't know if rapeseed oil is widely available in US. Here in Ireland there are a growing number of local producers.
Margaret
Margaret, you're welcome! In North America we have canola oil, which I believe was developed from rapeseed. I've never seen rapeseed oil for sale in a store, although I see it's available on Amazon. :)
Yes, homemade mayo is super easy and if you provide your own choice of oil, probably more economical than commercial mayo.
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