I make homemade mayo on a regular basis. It’s one of those things that is necessary for our household. My husband Scott is a die hard fan of the mayo as well. Honestly, now we can not even eat the organic mayo from the health food store because it tastes extremely fake to myself and my husband. We’ve definitely been spoiled.
I personally have never had an issue making mayonnaise. It always turns out great tasting and emulsifies into a thick, creamy spread. I have heard however that a lot of people’s mayo does not emulsify correctly.
I think I’ve figured out why.
It’s All In The Technique
I believe the technique to achieving a thick and creamy mayo that resembles store bought mayo is all in how you work your food processor. It really does not matter if your food processor allows you to keep the machine running while pouring in liquid (like this one) or if you have to remove the lid every time you need to add more oil (like this one). I’ve made mayo both ways and they’ve worked just as well however the food processor that enables you to keep it running while adding liquid is definitely easier, cleaner and less time consuming.
The Secret Technique
It’s really simple… are you ready for it? The secret technique to getting your mayo thick and creamy is to pulse the machine in second intervals while slowly (a very thin stream) pouring your oil in. That’s it.
I have left the machine running on low before and the mayo was not as thick as it normally was. I truly believe it’s a combination of allowing the oil to slowly trickle in while pulsing the machine. I don’t know the science behind it but it gives me thick and creamy mayo every. single. time.
You’ll know you achieved perfect emulsification when you hear the mayo make a “glop glop” sound. You may have no idea what that sound is as you are reading this but if you just remember the words “glop glop” and the way it sounds when you say it, you’ll hear it when you are almost done making your mayo.
Glop-glop = creamy, thick goodness.
Once I finish adding all the oil in, I get it a five second long run to make sure all the oil has been completely mixed in and then I add it to a glass dish and put it in the fridge.
You have to be patient while you’re pouring and your arm may get tired holding up the oil but it is totally worth it!
What About The Recipe?
I promised my FB fans that I would post the recipe of my mayo today. I truly can not take credit for the recipe because I’ve been using The Healthy Home Economist’s recipe which was adapted from The Nourishing Traditions Cookbook.
The recipe calls for-
- organic dijon mustard (find it here)
- one pastured egg
- one pastured egg yolk
- a pinch of sea salt (I use Himalayan pink salt when making the mayo… find it here)
- 1 1/2 TBL fresh lemon juice
- 1 cup combination of organic expeller-pressed sunflower oil and olive oil
The original recipe also calls for liquid whey. I usually do not have liquid whey on hand (I know, shame on me!) so I always omit. The whey gives it a more pro-biotic kick and allows for the mayo to be kept longer in the refrigerator. Our mayo’s life span is about two weeks in the refrigerator (without whey) but sometimes it goes way quicker than that.
My favorite combination of the oil is 3/4 cup sunflower oil and 1/4 cup olive oil. The olive oil produces a much stronger taste. I’ve found this ratio tastes the best (trust me, I’ve tried many different variations).
I’ve also replaced the sunflower oil for refined coconut oil but it wasn’t my favorite. I was not a big fan of the coconut oil getting hard in the refrigerator. Of course, coconut oil is way healthier than sunflower oil but we’ve all got to pick our battles and our compromises, right? If not, you would go absolutely nuts trying to adhere to every little thing you believed was healthy. Not fun!
Do you make your own mayo? Does it always turn out thick and creamy?
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My mayo making experience is a mixed bag. I had amazing success with the stick blender method in a wide mouth pint jar until the last two times I tried it and it was a total flop. I have no idea why. After my last flop I was determined to fix it because the oils I use are hella expensive as is the feed my chickens eat to produce the beautiful eggs I use. Then I read (someone's??) recipe for mayo and at the end she said there was no way to fix it if it broke rather than emulsifying. Stubborn me, that just made me all the more determined. Hehe… So, I whizzed up another whole egg in my blender and slowly, dripping not pouring, added the jar of flopped mayo and voila! Perfect mayo.
I was raised on Best Foods and I have to say, it's the hardest habit I've had to break as I've become almost completely transitioned to real and traditional foods. I've been at it for a couple decades, one step at a time but even this year I broke down and bought a jar of Best Foods, even though I know how nasty soy oil is. Like I said, it's been hard to make the break.
All olive oil mayo is way too strong tasting for me and every member of my family, even using Chaffin Orchard's late harvest buttery olive oil. I've used various combinations of mixtures, even bacon grease, but for this last batch I used about 1/2 C macadamia oil, 1/4 C coconut oil and 1/4 C olive oil. The texture is dreamy, even straight from the fridge, which I'm sure you know is not always the case when using coconut oil. The flavor is not quite perfect but it's damn close! So close that I'm immune to the seduction of BF. Our relationship is over. Done. I'm feeling pretty sassy about it too.
We have had great luck adding the oil drop by drop at first. Once the mayo has started to thicken up, we can add the oil in a steady stream.
The trick with using olive oil is using a very light olive oil. Virgin and extra virgin are too strong.