Anybody making mayonnaise?

[XeniA]

Here are the recipes:

Friend's recipe:
1 hefty tablespoon of Dijon mustard
1 egg
Salt / pepper
Juice of 1 lemon
Olive oil

"Joy" recipe
1 egg
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp salt
pinch of cayenne pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
--
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 T. lemon juice
--
1/2 cup vegetable oil


Procedure is add first 5 ingredients together and mix well. While still mixing, slowly add in first 1/2 cup oil and mix until starts to thicken. Add lemon juice and mix. Slowly mix in other 1/2 cup oil and mix until thick. Scrape down sides as needed.

I'm sure I somewhat goofed and/or altered the recipe when I first made it (made it for a second time last night -- very good, still standing this morning, but different). I am quite sure I only used an additional 1/2 cup veg oil rather than an entire cup (that was the goof part). Last evening's I reduced the salt by half, added in the mustard which I'd initially omitted, but only half of what was called for, and used all the oil called for (about half of which was olive oil and the other half sunflower oil).

Because I was using the mini-mixer which doesn't give me the ability to add ingredients while it's still running, I added the oil in in parts rather than in a stream. Still worked just fine, so take the standard "drop by drop" instructions with a BIG grain of salt!

[Aquarius]

I like using the whisk for it. It gives you a better feel for the consistency, and how the emulsion is going. And you can add oil in very very slowly too. I've done it in the blender before and it separated within 2 hours. With the whisk it doesn't separate for a few days.

[pentolaccia]

it's very hard to make mayonnaise!

[Little Miss J]

I have only made mayo a couple of times and I just mix with a whisk too aquarius but my reasoning is less dishes.

Before I made my own I had only really tried the bought stuff which I don't like. But it never last a couple of days so I don't think mine seperates! I think its one of those things that seems hard when you look at the recipe and has a reputation for being a little tricky so lots of people don't have a go (?! hope that made sense).

[XeniA]

Whisking by hand would have been exhausting!! Maybe it gives you a better feel for consistency and how the emulsion is going, but looking through the sides of the bowl, and/or tipping it to see how liquid it still was, and/or taking the top off and actually feeling the consistency with a spoon didn't exactly feel like working in the dark to me!

And yes, you CAN add the oil in drop by drop ... but if that's not really necessary, why do so?? Why make something the particularly difficult way when the easier way is equally authentic?

As for the separation with the blender, my two attempts certainly prove to me that that isn't necessarily the case since both have maintained their full, emulsified body for a matter of days.

Little Miss J (!), your last point was exactly what I was trying to say: it has a reputation for being hard to get right which is intimidating, and yet actually it's really easy! And boy, is that taste superior or what? My hubby was actually just spreading plain mayo, solo, on crackers last night!

Pentolaccia? This thread is all about the fact that maybe it's NOT very hard to make mayonnaise! Try it?

[Banana Brain]

I'm going to go make some mayonnaise. Right now. Seriously. Because I'm insomnic and need something to do, so I just googled a recipe and I have enverythign I need. So yeah. Off I go.

[XeniA]

Hey Banana Brain --

What a nice quote you chose from Julia Child, by the way ...

Sorry about the insomnia but hope your mayo-making went well? Tell us about it?

I've now made it 5 times, I think. Thus I stopped writing about it because each time it's just been so predictable and succesful that it's getting boring!

Goofs, though? Doubled the recipe once -- mistake for my little stick blender and bowl since it was way too much. Just kinda looked like a one-egger wouldn't be enough, yet it is.

Also, next to last time overdid the lemon and the mayo. Hubby never stopped whining. Last time I was extra careful and it was just great.

Going to make sandwiches now!

[kyles]

I don't eat mayo anymore (can't do moderation) but I loved making it. I always used a whisk or a wooden spoon. Laborious, but fun. A good way to keep a pesky dh or child amused, every one takes turns!

Once you've got the method down, the next step is hollandaise - on my first attempt I got very messy scrambled eggs, but I got better at it!

[mish]

Originally Posted by Ayrton

I ask only because I've just made it for the very first time (food processor, basically following instructions in "Joy") and found it amazingly good and amazingly easy. I expected it to be terribly tempermental and to fail completely. Instead, two days later it's still standing there all emulsified and scrummy and I'm real impressed with myself ...



...however, I'm curious: when my best friend showed me first how to make mayo (casually whipped it up one evening at my place and took my fear of making it away) it was just great the first evening, but the next day it had split completely and was just a nice oily egg soup.

Who knows the why's and wherefore's of this mayo-making business??? Why did hers do that and mine went well? Beginner's luck?

I made homemade mayo, once, years ago, when I had a Farberware food processor and followed the directions that came with. Never had a problem. I put it in a screw-type jar and put it in the fridge. Silly question, maybe, but, did you refrigerate the mayo? A tip I read/heard somewhere re mayo, is to keep the jar in the fridge, turned upside down. Sorry, I don't know if it applys to homemade, or recall what purpose it serves; however, following the food processor instructions, I didn't have a problem.

[Andy M.]

You must refrigerate mayo.

The upside down trick is to get the mayo in an almost empty jar to settle near the top of the jar so you can get it out easily.

[Banana Brain]

Originally Posted by Ayrton

Hey Banana Brain --

What a nice quote you chose from Julia Child, by the way ...

Sorry about the insomnia but hope your mayo-making went well? Tell us about it?

I've now made it 5 times, I think. Thus I stopped writing about it because each time it's just been so predictable and succesful that it's getting boring!

Goofs, though? Doubled the recipe once -- mistake for my little stick blender and bowl since it was way too much. Just kinda looked like a one-egger wouldn't be enough, yet it is.

Also, next to last time overdid the lemon and the mayo. Hubby never stopped whining. Last time I was extra careful and it was just great.

Going to make sandwiches now!

Here is how it turned out. Yellow, too watery, only slightly thick, barely sticks to a fork. And it tastes very lemony. So I guess I'll say badly. I think my flaw may have been that instead of measuring out two tablespoons of lemon juice, I simply swueezed in a whole lemon.

[XeniA]

Originally Posted by KellyM

The weather comes to mind. You may have noticed that "Joy" basically tells you not to bother making mayonnaise if a thunderstorm is in progress, or even if it looks like you might have one.

Just a quick P.S. months later: last night tried to make mayonnaise which is now a very common, no-thought-required thing to do in our house because it has been ... until yesterday ... unfailingly succesful, thick and wonderful.

But! Yesterday it just would NOT emulsify, and suddenly I remembered that comment in Joy. I swear, just as I was re-reading the warning sentence ("Don't even attempt to make mayonnaise if a thunderstorm is in progress or threatening nearby as it won't bind"), I heard the first of many claps of thunder.

Amazing, and to me, fascinating. (I still have the mixture itself in the fridge thinking maybe I'll be able to salvage, however, rainstorms are predicted for another four days...)

[Mel!]

i make my own mayonaise, too. But i only make enough, for one day, each time.
Try giving your Mayonaise, a stir with a fork, the next day, and see if it goes back to looking good, again.

Mel

[XeniA]

Originally Posted by Mel!

i make my own mayonaise, too. But i only make enough, for one day, each time.
Try giving your Mayonaise, a stir with a fork, the next day, and see if it goes back to looking good, again.

Mel

Your comments are interesting: how, exactly, do you just make enough for one day each time? After all, a single egg only gets so small ! (Then again, there is the possibility that a "one-day amount" for you is a full cup?!)

As for stirring it with a fork, trust me, my egg-n-oil soup will NOT miraculously fix up just with a fork. Remember, it can't "go back" to looking good if it never looked good in the first place!

I'll give it a day or two and try another egg yolk. And if all else fails, I'll chalk it up to a learning experience!

Thanks for your thoughts!

[Mel!]

Yeah, a day amount for me, is one egg. I plan it, so on the days i make it, i have a few recipes and sandwichs which require mayonaise.
If u want u could try putting in less vinegar, (or lemon juice, if that is what u use.) and a little more oil. This might cause it to stay like mayonaise and not to turn soupy the next day.

Mel

[Nicholas Mosher]

I know that as a storm approaches barometric pressure drops. In a temperature controlled home, this means less air per given volume, meaning less air whipped into the mayo. Just a wild guess.

I usually make it by bowl/whisk, because cleaning my blender stinks. I hate taking it apart and trying to get all the mayo out from all the little crevices and hiding spots. Definetly gives you pop-eye forearms too.

Lecithin (sp?) in the egg yolks help keep things emulsified. If it starts to break just add another yolk and pray! I usually just make enough for what I'm doing, as no emulsification lasts forever (well, without glowing chemicals) - and I think fresh is best. When you're whisking by hand it's easy to tell how much more oil you need, whereas in a blender it's easy to use too much and have the sauce tumble down.

I'll definetly have to try the stick-blender/jar trick! I can't believe I've never thought of that.