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Oct 25, 2010

Homemade Mayonnaise (Carole)

Like you, I read lots of blogs.  One that I check out on a regular basis is Everyday Cheapskate by Debt Proof Living.  

This past week they posted 3 recipes for basic pantry items.  The girls and I decided that we would each take one of these recipes and make it this week and let you know how we liked it.  Since my jar of mayonnaise was down to the scraping stage, I got that one.

I remember making homemade mayonnaise years ago when I first bought my Cuisinart food processor.  It was not a huge success, messy to make and oily to eat.  So, this time around I was still a bit skeptical, but willing to try it out for the sake of you, our readers!

Here's the recipe:


Clone of Best Foods (Hellman’s) Mayonnaise
1 egg
1 tablespoon lemon juice (bottled ok)
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
dash white pepper
1 cup vegetable oil, at room temperature
Break egg into a 1-quart glass canning jar. Add lemon juice, vinegar, sugar, salt, white pepper and vegetable oil. Place handheld emulsion blender (turned off) all the way to the bottom of the jar, pressing down over the egg. Turn it on high speed. Hold in place for about 5 seconds until you see mayonnaise begin to form. Slowly lift the blender upward until it reaches the top of the jar, about 5 more seconds. Cover and leave on counter for about 8 hours, to give the vinegar and lemon juice sufficient time to kill any bacteria that may be present in the egg (or use pasteurized egg). Store in refrigerator for up to two weeks. Yield: 1 cup.

I got all the ingredients out, dug out my immersion blender and found a quart jar.  I dumped everything in the jar, put in the immersion blender for the required 10 seconds (that's right, 10 seconds!).  Instantly I had real-life mayonnaise!  I tentatively tasted it and it was SO CREAMY and luscious!  I must say it is beautiful.  Can mayonnaise be beautiful??  

Right now it's sitting on the counter working its way through the 8 hours that hopefully (I'll let you know. . . ) kills any bacteria in the egg and then it will go in the fridge for the night and onto our sandwiches in the morning.  

Happily, this recipe doesn't contain the "Concentrated Natural Flavors," and Calcium Disodium EDTA (whatever they are?) -- that are in my bottle of store bought mayonnaise.  Anytime I can avoid a mass-produced, processed food, I'm happy!

7 comments:

Jenna said...

Sounds super easy! Do you know how long does this will last in the fridge?

Carly said...

I have been all about making my own pantry foods lately... bisquick, instant oatmeal mix, hot cocoa... I'm excited to see what you three will be adding to my list!

(Although sadly neither my husband or I eat much mayo... but if we get cravings for some chicken salad sandwiches or something, it's nice to know I don't have to buy a whole jar!

Maria said...

This is awesome - thanks so much for sharing. Keep them coming!!

Janssen said...

Jenna - it will last two weeks in the fridge.

Packrat said...

Thanks! Looking forward to trying this.

Tianna said...

I don't have an immersion blender. I assume this will work the same in a food processor? What do you think?

Chrissie said...

I'm definitely going to try this! However, I'm wary of leaving it out on the counter for 8 hours because I've always heard Old Wives' Tales about leaving mayo out too long. Wouldn't the vinegar kill the bacteria just as well if it was sitting in the fridge?