Saturday, July 25, 2015

Mayo in 9 Minutes

Yes, there is a learning curve when you choose to make food from scratch instead of buying it at the store.  But seriously:  can you really get to the store and back with a jar of mayonnaise in 9 minutes?  When people say they don't have time to make food at home, they might forget the time it takes them to go to the store, pick out the food, wait in the check-out line (or, horrors, use the self-check-out which always malfunctions), get home, schlep the food into the house, and (pant, pant), put it away.  And (if you're me), take the shopping bags back out to the car trunk. I don't actually hate grocery shopping, but I make sure the stuff on my list is really worth it, really necessary, and I try to recognize the energy it takes out of me for that errand.



Recently, I had the timer set for hardboiled eggs when I pulled out my food processor to make a batch of mayo.  So I noticed that it took me 9 minutes, start to finish with photo included, to make mayonnaise.  Bonus:  I can use local eggs and reuse a jar.



Simple, Fast Homemade Mayonnaise - recipe from More with Less with my notes
Makes a generous pint

Use a food processor.  Process briefly:
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp. paprika

Scrape down the sides.  Add:
2 Tbsp. lemon juice (I use bottled)

Start up the processor again and pour in, in a very thin stream, very slowly:
1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil

Stop the processor.  Add:
2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar

Start up the processor again and pour in, in a very thin stream again:
1 1/2 cups canola or vegetable oil

Mayonnaise!  Scrape into a clean jar and refrigerate.  Keeps indefinitely in the fridge as long as you use a clean utensil in it.

Recipe Notes:
1. The "very thin stream" looks like a chopstick or skinnier. About a quarter-inch.
2. Do not use olive oil.  The speed of the food processor will burn the oil and make the mayo taste bad.
3. Sometimes the mayo gets thicker than other times.  I don't know why this is (humidity? age of eggs? how fast I add the oil?), but it has never failed me.
4. Friends of mine use this recipe and add a garlic clove, probably in the first step.  They swear by it for tomato sandwiches.

18 comments:

Lisa said...

"Keeps indefinitely in the fridge" is the key phrase for me - I did not expect it to last indefinitely. So, maybe I'll try it some time!

Rebecca said...

Back in the day my mom used vinegar infused with basil in this recipe. Really delicious!

Lynn D. said...

Google stick blender mayonnaise. Two minutes. Easier clean up. You make it in the same jar you store it in.

Margo said...

Thanks, Lynn. I checked it out - at The Kitchn. The comments indicate that some people have trouble due to width of jar and lack of power in their stick blenders. I'd hate to have a jar of oily mess!

Hazel said...

I was going to suggest the stick blender method too. Guaranteed to impress when you whip up some mayonnaise as a dip when friends drop in unexpectedly (I add some chopped garlic at the end- less fiery for the uninitiated than adding it with the egg). And it means I'll make it for packed lunch sandwiches at 7am.

I have an elderly standard stick blender, nothing fancy, and it works brilliantly. It came with a plastic measuring container that I use, but a wide mouthed Mason jar would be fine, I think. My Kilner jars are not quite wide enough to allow the blender in. I have made it in a large Weck jar, if I'm making double, and a 2 pint Pyrex jug and they're ok too. I like being able to put the lid on the container I've made it in best though.

Like your mayo, very occasionally it comes out runny, and I've no idea why, but it's never not worked at all.
And if mayo does fail, you can use it to dress pasta, a la Tamar Adler :) I'd add peas and ,maybe some bacon, I think.

Unknown said...

Looks good! While we have our own fresh eggs, ironically we rarely use mayo, otherwise I'd make some...

Margo said...

Hazel, thanks for the details. I might just try it. . . do you use only egg yolks? What do you do with the whites?

Hazel said...

I use the whole egg. The original instructions I read said to, and anyway there are only so many meringues you can (or should) eat!
Having said which, I'd use a leftover yolk if I had one.

jenny_o said...

You are so right about needing to think about the peripheral parts of "picking up a few things" at the grocery store. Time, energy, money, environmental impact, family impact. And last, but not least, taste! This mayo sounds delicious.

Unknown said...

This is one of those things I keep saying I'm going to make. Hopefully this will inspire me to finally make the plunge.

Lana said...

The thing about our grown children is that they pretty much don't keep a supply of any kind of food in the house and would have to go to the store to get the ingredients for making the mayo! I just don't understand how they can function this way. They run to the store for 3-4 items all of the time. It would drive me nuts!

Sew Blessed Maw [Judy] said...

sounds really easy..

Sarah Barry said...

I love mayo. Might not take up homemade kind just yet, but eventually would love to try it.

Also, yes and yes. Shopping takes time and energy, and I agree few people really factor that in to their food prep time. Sometimes, when we are seemingly out of food, I tell myself to just cook up everything I can with what I've got. And I find that what seemed like nothing turns into a small feast!

Gina said...

I've been wanting to try to make mayo but I was intimidated. And I thought it had to be used within a few days.

Your recipe has me eager to try it. And summer is the perfect time since I'm making so much potato salad and other mayo hogging recipes.

Thanks,
Gina

Naptime Seamstress said...

Can you use coconut oil instead of the veg/canola oil?

I've used coconut oil in a honey mustard salad dressing - and while it got firm in the fridge, a couple of stirs and it was ready to spoon over a salad.....Do you think coconut oil would act the same way in this mayo recipe?

Margo said...

Naptime Seamstress, I've only used coconut oil when it was actually specified in a recipe, so I'm not confident enough to say it would work here in mayo. If I was you, I would make a half-recipe and see! If you do, please report back so we all know.

Polly said...

I am so fascinated by homemade mayo. I have been for a while, since I read Tamar Adler discuss it. My husband is an absolute raw egg-o-phobe and I'm not sure he could deal with it, but our eggs come from a local farmer and I feel sure they are safe. I just feel that this must taste so far superior to store-bought mayo that it's worth the work and the 'risk' (I don't think there's much risk).

Margo said...

Polly, homemade is good but the contrast between it and commercial is not as striking as some other foods. Also, tell your husband that salmonella usually just makes adults sick for a few days. Complications and death are very rare and usually just for people with compromised immune systems. Funny how those facts get overlooked in news media, huh?