Monday, February 16, 2009

Homemade mayonnaise...not for the faint of heart.

I had found a recipe for homemade mayo a few weeks ago, and decided that when I ran out of the mayo we had, I would try it. So Thursday night, while fixing our lunches, Jeff told me that he had used the last of the mayo. I had told him to let me know.

Today I headed to Wal Mart to get a stick blender, which one of the recipes said I would need. I came home and began my recipe.

First attempt: I was following one recipe I had found and I broke out my new stick blender. I put one egg yolk and salt in a bowl. I proceeded to TRY and blend until sticky. Yeah, it did not work. There was not enough in the bowl to really BLEND. So I dumped it out and tried again with the same recipe.

Second attempt: Same recipe but different equipment. I used a mixer this time. I mixed, and I mixed and I mixed. Adding oil all the while. After about an hour and it still did not look like the pictures on the recipe I was following, I decided to try another recipe.

Third attempt: New recipe. I spent about 30 minutes or so looking for a new recipe. I found one that used just a regular blender, and seemed easy. So I tried it. It finally emulsified the way it was supposed too. I tried it though, and did not really like the way it tasted. I had used olive oil and it tasted TOO much like olive oil. So I tried again.

Final attempt: I used the same recipe as on the third attempt, but used vegetable oil. This time it turned out really good.

Next time I think I will try using about 1/4 cup olive oil and 1/2 cup vegetable oil, to give it a little bit more flavor. Other than the massive amount of time it took me to figure out what worked, it was well worth the effort. Besides the Daytona 500 was on, it gave me an excuse not to act like I was interested!

The final results recipe:


1 egg

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (smoked garlic powder from Blue Moon Farms)

1 Tbsp lemon juice

3/4 cup vegetable oil

dash of salt and pepper to taste

Combine egg, garlic, and salt/pepper in blender until well blended. Slowly pour oil into blender in a thin stream while still blending. I noticed it did splash quite a bit, while pouring in the oil, but it could have been my blender.

The ingredients all emulsified perfectly with this way, AND it was super easy to do. Only took me about 5 minutes total.

The original recipe called for 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic which I did on the first attempt with this recipe. (With the olive oil.) On the second attempt, I used the garlic powder.

Like I said before, next time I plan on using 1/4 cup olive oil and 1/2 cup vegetable oil. Like my potato chips, I will keep playing with it until I am happy.

****Edited to add*********

In answer to your question Janelle, it is supposed to keep in the fridge for about 2 weeks. It did not make a HUGE amount either so I do not see us having any problem using it up before it goes bad.


4 comments:

Janelle said...

Wow, how very industrious of you! I've never tried that so I'm wondering, how long does it keep? Do you have to use it up in a few days?

Lisa Brawner said...

sounds great. You did alot of work ..whew!!

Unknown said...

I've made homemade mayo before, years ago. It does take a loooong time to mix, but it usually tastes pretty good.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Natalie, Your home-made mayo made be delicious--but I'll NEVER eat home-made mayo AGAIN. I grew up with that stuff since my mother made it constantly. YUK!!!! Never again!!!! ha ha

Hugs,
Betsy