Mayonnaise!

Intro: Mayonnaise!

Why pay a lot of money for bad mayonnaise when you can make really gourmet mayonnaise in a few minutes at a fraction of the cost? Here's a simple recipe requiring no technique, commonly available ingredients, and my favorite kitchen power tool- the hand blender!

You'll need:

a widemouth jar of one half to one pint capacity

a cup of oil- any oil. I almost always use extra virgin olive oil, but canola is a good, healthy choice. Some people like half olive oil and half canola. Light olive oil is a good choice if you want a lighter flavor.

a half a large lemon, squeezed through a strainer (or 2 tablepoons prepared lemon juice)

a quarter teaspoon of salt

an egg

a half teaspoon (or more) of crushed garlic

a teaspoon of powdered mustard, or a tablespoon of prepared mustard, or a teaspoon or more of your favorite hot sauce. (Or, for those who like- yuck!- Miracle Whip, two teaspoons of sugar)

STEP 1: Ingredients

Seperate the egg and put the yolk in the jar. Don't know how to separate an egg? Put in the whole egg. Really. Doesn't matter. I'll do an egg-separating Instructable later.

STEP 2: More Ingredients...

Add the rest of the ingredients EXCEPT the oil, and mix.

STEP 3: Now Comes the Oil....

Add a QUARTER of the oil. No more.

STEP 4: And Now, the Magic Happens

Insert the hand blender, and mix, moving the blender around. It should first form a creamy paste, and then suddenly thicken up. If not, don't worry. Keep going...

STEP 5: Uh, Now the Magic Happens...

SLowly add the rest of the oil while you keep mixing. At some point the mix will thicken up abruptly. FInish adding the oil, give a final mix, shake off the blender...

STEP 6: Et Voila!

... and you should have a jar full of delicious, ready to use mayonnaise. Taste, and adjust the seasoning to your own preference.

On the left is the red-pepper flavored aioli we just made; on the right, a mustard flavored version. Both will keep in the fridge.

The hot peppered on in particular is great with seafood- that's what the French serve on the side with Boullibaise. Try it with fried fish, mussles, sardines, anything. The other is great with tuna, burgers, just experiment.

A note on food safety: Since this uses a raw egg, I only buy organic, vegetable fed eggs to help insure against salmonella.

Comments

[BobA94]

I'm going to try this recipe this weekend. But no, canola oil isn't a healthy choice.

[JermaineM10]

omg, ought to try this. Just gotta get a hand whipper tool like you and then the ingredients. Would love to try it out. May be good for smaller batches when I grab a tuna can and loaf of bread. Can't wait to try it. SEE if it will suck me out of the Miracle Whip fits!

[tropical rainforest]

An old wives tale, yrs ago we made mayo by hand and if a woman was having her period the mayo would not thicken! I've witnessed this and the guys would have to beat the mix.

[gfry]

WOW...I should have read this more carefully LOL. I put all the oil in my blender and then all the rest of the ingredients. Turned the blender on for 5 mins and got nothing but yellow runny oil. My bad. Complete failure. Trying it again when i get more eggs. To sum up...read the instructions b4 attempting :)

[Mutantflame]

Thanks! I tried this today and it worked great. No more shop bought stuff for us!

[sideways]

Nicely done instructable. I would disagree with the savings factor. Store mayo costs me $2/quart. A decent oil and the eggs to make a quart myself actually cost more than that. Also, home-made, because it doesn't have preservatives & is not pasteurized, spoils inside a few days. It is raw egg, after all. I have never used up my 1-cup batches of home-made before it spoils. But perhaps I use much less mayo than others. But home-made sure tastes better, and it's fun to experiment with different oils for different flavors. I use a blender or a food processor for mine but only because I don't have a hand blender. The hand blender is probably a lot easier to clean than a countertop blender.

[Mattrox]

if you want crap mayo 2.00 will do from the shop but if you want the nice you have to go up to 3.00 most people have both eggs and oil at there diposal

[sideways]

Well, I buy "crap" mayo because fresh homemade doesn't have anywhere near the shelf life. I might use 2 tablespoons of mayo a week, if that. I've made homemade and it tastes much better, but I have to throw away 80% because I don't use it up before it spoils. This isn't because of crumbs or dirty fingers. It's because it contains *raw eggs*.

[Mattrox]

make less then duh

[sideways]

There is a required ratio of egg/oil needed in order for the emulsion to form. It is one egg per cup of oil, give or take a bit on the oil. To "make less" still requires cracking open an entire egg, even tho only part of it will be used. The rest of the egg will spoil before it's needed for anything else, at least around my house. There is also the work/mess/time factor....I don't consider it efficient use of my time to make a tiny batch that requires just as much washing up as a large batch. The whole point of my original post was to point out that, while home-made usually tastes much better, the savings of doing it one's self may be negligible for some people. Even more so if one factors in the value of their time making it and then washing up afterwards.

[mje]

There's always a trade off, isn't there? You can buy 99 cent burgers at the fast food drive through, or make your own. You can buy hothouse tomatoes that taste like tennis balls, or grow your own. You can get fish sticks or salmon fillets. Everyone has their own personal trade off between flavor and convenience. For me, there's simply no comparison between this homemade mayonnaise and the tasteless stuff in a jar.

[Mattrox]

i agree cuz what if your out of mayo and guests are coming over you could quickly whip up a batch and(if it tastes nice) you can tell them you made it. Also mje did you no you can make somthing called aioli. the same way, this is the recipe 4 large cloves of garlic 2 tablespoons of lemon juice 2 egg yolks 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley 1/2 teaspoon of salt freshly ground pepper to taste 1 cup of olive oil(or grapeseed oil but not extra virgin olive oil) place all ingredients except the oil in a food processor. Process until well mixed. While the processor is running add oil very slowly, only a teaspoon at a time, until all has been added. The mixture will be thick and creamy. Store in airtight container in the fridge.

[timbit1985]

To be frank sir...Aioli is made with extra virgin olive oil.

[Mattrox]

It doesn't have to be, and quite frankly I prefer plain old canola oil. Aioli is simply mayo with garlic.

[timbit1985]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aioli.

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/egg-recipes/aioli-1

[Mattrox]

Sorry about the above comment, I sound quite grumpy!

Anyway I live in a family of ten, so most food disappears within a day. So really I can't argue with you!

Wow! Three years ago. Talk about bringing up the past!

[Mattrox]

also to help it not to spoil don't let crumbs or dirty fingers into the jar

[richardsan]

looks like it's been awhile...can anyone comment on this process? a french chef/ bistro owner made his mayonnaise by using a slab of raw potato stuck on a fork, and stirring with that...?

[timbit1985]

Just because he's french, and owns a bistro doesn't make him not crazy.

[Computothought]

I love homemade mayo also. I usually mix it by hand to get some exercise.

1 large egg yolk
1/2 tsp cheap table mustard
1/4 tsp vinegar
1/4 tsp lemon juice
pinch each of salt, pepper, and onion powder.
1 cup salad oil (I like olive oil best, but cooking oil will do.)

Stir everything together well, but the oil. The add the oil sparingly at a time till all is incorporated. With a good whisk, it does not take that long.