And all you need is one of these:
Plus some lemon juice and/or vinegar, a little dijon mustard and 3/4 cup of oil. Oh, and a whisk and some elbow grease. I still can’t believe how easy it was to make!
I’ve been in denial about homemade mayonnaise for a long time now. I’ve read a million different recipes and even seen videos. But for some reason I thought that there had to be some trick that no one was telling me. I didn’t believe that it could really be that easy.
I mean, if it were that easy, someone in my family would have made it before. Right? At some point in my 32 years of life on this planet, someone I know would have made homemade mayonnaise if it were such a simple and delicious thing to do.
Well, I guess everyone in my family has been in homemade mayonnaise denial too, because it really is simple to make.
And, it’s absolutely delicious!
Mayonnaise is one of those things I’ve been meaning to experiment with for some time. But it wasn’t until I went out to breakfast with Amanda and discussed things like bacon (and how there’s no such thing as too much bacon) and the importance of homemade mayonnaise, that I decided it was finally time. Amanda assured me that it isn’t difficult to make mayo from scratch and that once I try it, I’ll never want it any other way. I believed her because, well, you’ve seen her food, right?
Coincidentally, the new Bon Appetit arrived in my mailbox a few days later and Molly’s column just happened to be about the joys of homemade mayonnaise. I decided that it must be a sign and I headed to the kitchen determined to coax some mayonnaise-like substance out of one of those eggs sitting in the fridge.
Since the ingredients consist only of egg yolk, lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, and salt, I figured I was pretty much good to go. But it turned out that for once in my life, I did not have any lemons on hand. So, I just substituted vinegar. I wasn’t too concerned about the flavor being perfect because I was still somewhat convinced that my first attempt would be a disaster.
I separated my egg, whisked in a little vinegar, mustard and salt then started adding the oil drop by drop. This was the part that had always mystified me. I was never sure how you could ‘pour’ the oil in a drop at a time. But Molly solved that problem by advising me to use a 1/4 teaspoon measure to add the first 1/4 cup of oil a few drops at a time. It worked perfectly!
Now I’m not going to lie. My arm got pretty tired after a few minutes of steady whisking. So I just took a break every now and again. But the whole process still only took about 10 or 15 minutes. And the end result was way better than I had anticipated.
It looked like mayonnaise!
It was silky and thick and a nice shade of pale yellow. If mayo can be described as beautiful, that’s what it was!
But the best part was the taste. Even without the lemon juice, the flavor was much better than my beloved Best Foods mayonnaise (or Hellman’s depending on which part of the country you live). I can’t wait to try it again with lemon juice. And again with fresh herbs. And again with garlic and olive oil. And again and again and again!
I’m sure that I’m one of the last few foodbloggers to make my own mayonnaise. But I’m also sure that there are many of you out there who are just like me, waiting for that little nudge to get out that whisk and give it a try for the first time. So I’m here to tell you that now is the time!
Now go make some mayonnaise!
Molly’s column, titled “Mayo Clinic” can be seen in the April 2008 issue of Bon Appetit and the recipe can now be found on Epicurious. But there are tons of mayonnaise recipes out there for you to peruse. Here are a few that look temping!
- Homemade Mayonnaise without Tears from Just Hungry
- Mayonnaise from Cooking with Amy
- Homemade Mayonnaise with Olive Oil from 80 Breakfasts
- Homemade Mayonnaise (video) from Food Wishes Video Recipes
Who knew that’s all there was in mayonnaise? I was trying to figure out where to get partially hydrogenated soybean oil and phosphoric acid.
Sounds good!
5:24 pm Apr 14th, 2008I forgot to mention that I used grapeseed oil for this mayo. Molly’s recipe used canola oil but I think any neutral-flavored oil would work. And if you want to go for a different flavor, you could use olive oil.
5:27 pm Apr 14th, 2008i’m gonna
5:57 pm Apr 14th, 2008i never have
you’ve convinced me
thank you…
thanks for all of the awesome words of kindness!
i can’t wait to see the flavored mayos you start busting out here soon. (it’s inevitable now that you’ve broken the mayo seal!) adding the oil a 1/4 tsp at a time sounds incredibly challenging and time consuming to me! i don’t know if i have the patience for all of that, but hey! it is a good way to measure out a drop at a time.
6:12 pm Apr 14th, 2008No, you’re not the last blogger to lose their homemade mayonnaise virginity. I keep meaning to whip up a batch to pair with french fries as a Pulp Fiction homage.
And you’re right about Amanda’s food. I have pangs of jealousy every time I click on whatwereeating.com!
6:23 pm Apr 14th, 2008My parents used to make mayonnaise in their food processor when I was growing up. I don’t even have the nerve to try that!
6:32 pm Apr 14th, 2008I saw this article and wondered if it really would (1) be that easy and (2) taste that much better. You have convinced me I have to give it a go!
6:43 pm Apr 14th, 2008I don’t even LIKE mayo, and this post has me about 90% convinced I need to try making it.
8:14 pm Apr 14th, 2008Sounds fantastic, I’ll have to try this. I love BLT’s and I bet this mayo would be great on them!
8:24 pm Apr 14th, 2008BTW, 32 years of age? I don’t think so missy, we are 33 now! hehe
Ruby Crap, you’re right. I am 33 years old. Ooops!
8:29 pm Apr 14th, 2008Great job! And it’s much more healthier than the ready-to-use from the supermarket!
1:06 am Apr 15th, 2008In Spain, where some theories claim mayonnaise (or mahonesa, from the city of Mahón) was born, it is very common to everyhousehold to prepare their own mayonnaise. I think the most popular version around here is: 0′4º (acidity degrees) olive oil, egg, lemon juice, salt. Then if you add 1/2 garlic clove it turns into a delicious aioli (alioli) to go both with meat, fish or rice (like paella!!) It’s easy to made it by hand, but it’s even easier to make it with an electrical mixer (not a food processor). Simly pour the egg and half the oil (100 to 200 cc)and start whisking (with the blade right at the bottom of the cup) until it mixes and emusifies, then start pulling upwards (very very slowly…did I say VERY slowly) and that’s it! Then add salt and lemon to taste and more oil to correct texture (30 seconds???).
There is a funny urban myth about women mayonnaise and “those days”. I remember, as a teenager, my mum would always tell me to prepare mayonnaise on “those days”, until one day I told her to stand right by my side…and I made a wonderful mayonaise, thus destroying the myth
Love the egg-motion series.
3:42 am Apr 15th, 2008Uhh, am I missing something? You didn’t post the recipe.
5:03 am Apr 15th, 2008I’ve made it to 28 without making or having homemade mayo. I think it would be good, but I don’t use mayo very often and worry that it would go bad before I could use it.
5:56 am Apr 15th, 2008I have never tried making my own mayo, Nic - this is tempting!
6:44 am Apr 15th, 2008We made mayonnaise in high school chemistry. I can’t remember what we were studying at the time, but I never tasted the mayo because it kind of grossed me out - raw eggs and all. But these days, I’ll gladly try homemade mayo, although I’ve never made it myself!
8:42 am Apr 15th, 2008Nicole, that looks So super yummy! Makes me want to run home and make more mayonnaise!! Mmmmm… that would be good on a tomato sandwich right about now!
9:19 am Apr 15th, 2008You’ve convinced me too. I did this once as a kid with my mother, but I have recollection on the taste.
Now that you’ve made mayonnaise, it’s time to try White BBQ Sauce.
12:34 pm Apr 15th, 2008http://whitetrashbbq.blogspot.com/2006/08/bbq-recipes-big-bob-gibsons-white.html
Your mayonnaise looks perfect! Making your own sounds like fun.
7:13 pm Apr 15th, 2008I really want to try this, but using a raw egg yolk has been what stopped me in the past. Did you use a pasteurized egg? I think I want to try this!
3:02 am Apr 16th, 2008I read that article from Molly, too, and although I was tempted to make it it, I guess deep inside I was waiting for another person to try it first. Haha. I think I just got my push to try it. Thanks!!! It looks great, by the way. And I wouldn’t doubt that it tastes better than the store-bought mayo.
8:50 am Apr 16th, 2008BrooklynQ: How did you know that I’ve been researching White BBQ Sauce?? Seriously. I was already at your site checking it out the other day and I’m planning on trying some grilled chicken with white bbq sauce soon. Check back in a couple weeks for the post!
HoneyB: I didn’t use a pasteurized egg but I did make sure it was fairly fresh. I don’t worry too much about raw eggs because then I wouldn’t be able to eat cookie dough!
If you are concerned and especially if you have a compromised immune system then give it a try with a pasteurized egg!
Joy: Well now you don’t have any more excuses
9:38 am Apr 16th, 2008wow!!!
11:27 am Apr 16th, 2008Thanks for the recipe,
I am just like you , i love mayo but was scared to make it at home but looking at your recipe i feel that i should give it a try too.
bye
Learning to make homemade mayonnaise like this was a rite of passage in my family.
6:45 pm Apr 16th, 2008My daughter will be taught this on vacation at the beach. Just like I was.
Yes, your arm gets tired. But it’s worth it.
Beautiful post.
Mary
Oh yum, look at how beautifully creamy that looks! Mayo is one of those things on my to-do list that I’m yet to muster the courage for, but after such a stunning review, I guess I’ll have to give it a shot!
9:50 pm Apr 16th, 2008I just go with the blender pulse. I need my elbow for tennis. Kidding!
I’m happy you’ve finally gotten into the hm mayo!
6:13 am Apr 19th, 2008Of course, I read this *after* I just picked up a small jar at the grocery store. I don’t usually eat it, and since I’m the only one in the house who does at all, it’s not something I typically have on hand. (I know, I’m strange.) But if this is all there is to it, in the future I’d rather just save the space in the fridge & make my own as needed.
Thanks for posting this!
9:16 pm Apr 20th, 2008Welcome to the Homayonaisse world! I whip up a batch in the food processor twice a month or so. If you’re using the food processor, double the recipe and use 2 whole eggs ( the lecithin in the egg whites helps the emulsion handle the violence of the food processor) . I toss in some Tabasco sauce for kick!
3:35 pm Apr 25th, 2008Janet and I made homemade mayonnaise last week and made Chocolate Mayonnaise Cupcakes!
6:26 pm Apr 28th, 2008I too, saw that article and thought…well…maybe. But with this post and a few others I’ve seen that were inspired by the article, I may just have to give this a try!
10:52 pm Apr 28th, 2008This always makes me smile, sorry. I come from the other side of the Atlantic (Belgium) and after “how to bake an egg”, this is the first recipe kids learn to do. It is so ridiculously easy to do and so much better tasting than anything you can buy in store. And, it is so quick to do too. And, it is the best condiment for your fries!
4:09 pm Apr 29th, 2008Sounds easy and uncomplicated…definitely worth a try!
I would however use pasteurized shell eggs (have P markings on shell) for recipes like this (wherein eggs are not cooked) just to be on the safe side. Eggs are a notorious source of food-borne illnesses. Inconvenient really as these type of eggs are double the prize of regular shell eggs and are not as readily available in most stores as their counterpart. But salmonella is not very pretty to deal with!
11:30 am May 1st, 2008I used a fresh local farm egg and made the mayonnaise this evening! It was great over our salmon. Now here’s the scary question… with raw egg yolk, how long will it keep? There’s a difference between being willing to risk eating a fresh raw farm egg and being stupid.
6:22 pm May 27th, 2008adkay: From everything I’ve read, you should only keep the homemade mayo for a couple of days.
7:54 pm May 27th, 2008Thanks, Nicole! That’s pretty much what I thought. Fortunately, it wasn’t a problem.
7:14 am May 30th, 2008Oh my dear, you have another mayo virgin in the house. I read your blog and decided to make some for the first time. I used my Kitchen Aid mixer with the whisk attachment. Then, finished with the immersion blender. It was so totally good I almost wept. Many thanks to Molly. I do believe we just gave Hellman’s a run for their money. I will be adding a post to my blog in the near future and I’d like to reference Molly’s recipe and your blog site. Is that okay?
This is so bacon worthy that I am cooking bacon and BLT’s are for lunch. Thank you again for the encouragement to create good food. Nella, a devout foodie
11:23 am Jun 1st, 2008Nella: Good idea using the mixer! I tried using the whisk attachment on my immersion blender but it didn’t work out too well! I’ve decided to keep doing it by hand and see if I can build up some strength.
Of course you’re more than welcome to reference my site in your post. The last time I made mayo, we tried it out on BLT’s and it was great! Thanks for the comment, it made my day!
1:52 pm Jun 1st, 2008If you have one of those tall long electric blenders it takes all of 1 minute to make mayo. It doesn’t have to be wisked by hand. In Spain we routinely made fresh mayo at a moments notice. Although I am partial to the taste of Olive oil as a base. It can be made with just about any oil or other flavorful ingredients once the oil and egg has firmed up. Just don’t OVER blend either, once it is firm, wisk in other ingredients gently and slowly. With a little practice and the electic hand beater (such as this kind: http://tinyurl.com/4cz83v) making mayo is a quick flick of the wrist and you are done.
My favorite recipe for homemade mayo:
Olive Oil based fresh mayo with fresh chopped garlic added in, served with large cubed boiled potatoes. I always like to add a couple of bay leaves to the boiling water for flavor.
Typical tapa at any bar or restaraunt…Patatas aji-oli.
Thanks for a great site.
Soul Medic
3:30 pm Jun 23rd, 2008I just found this blog, and this post. My first mayo attempt was absolutely delicious! I used a bit too much olive oil in my mix (2:1 canola:olive) but I was making egg salad, so the flavor is actually quite nice… perhaps not so much olive oil for my next BLT-bound mayo.
What a great blog find, thank you so much!
10:28 am Jul 13th, 2008We were just having this talk over at cookthink.com–some things are NOT worth making yourself, but mayo isn’t one of them. Check it out:
http://www.cookthink.com/reference/30/Homemade_mayo:_worth_it
Glad to see someone else is spreading the homemade may gospel
10:35 am Jul 23rd, 2008My husband is weird about mayonnaise, he only likes Best Foods but I’m going to try this out on him. I would think fresh with zero preservatives would be best! Thank you for sharing!
9:41 pm Jul 29th, 2008I’ve always used a blender, and I think the whisk method was easier. Less hassle.
5:09 pm Aug 6th, 2008Homemade mayo recipes seem to be popping up everywhere this summer! There’s really nothing like the taste of homemade cooking, be it anything from condiments to chocolate chip cookies. We tried our hand at a French-inspired version over here at Kitchen Caravan. Yum!
8:34 pm Aug 6th, 2008until last night I had never made mayonnaise…I picked a tomato and fresh basil from the garden, Niman ranch bacon I was all set to make a great BBT…(bacon, basil and tomato) sandwich when I realized that I had no mayo… can’t have a BBT without mayo… I did not want to drive to the store…I thought… I’ll just whip some up. I got on the internet found a recipe…I did not whisk it I used my vita mix on the lowest setting it took about 5 minutes. It was so much better then store bought !!. I was so excited about how delicious it was and how easy it is to make… why would I ever buy it again…then it occurred to me that it had no preservatives and may not keep…does anyone know how long it will last in a jar in the refrigerator???
5:29 pm Aug 8th, 2008Tammy: From what I’ve heard, you really shouldn’t keep the homemade mayo longer than two or three days. That’s the only reason I still rely on store-bought mayo most of the time!
11:31 am Aug 9th, 2008This looks wonderful. Hungry!
2:30 pm Sep 9th, 2008Eww..
8:10 am Jan 6th, 2009[...] did not look like this, or this. Maybe I was destined to live a life free of mayonnaise. And the taste. Well, better than [...]
7:45 am Apr 29th, 2009