This is gooood stuff.
Homemade mayo, though, that’s a horse of a different color. Creamy. Tangy. Delicious. No non-food ingredients. The perfect ingredient for homemade ranch or blue cheese dressing. One problem, though. It goes bad in a week! While we like mayo just fine, we are hard pressed to go through a pint in a week.
That’s where our friendly lactobacteria come in. I use whey from making yogurt (you can skim a little off the top of your yogurt or collect it if you drip your yogurt) to introduce the friendlies, let it sit on the counter for 7 hours or so, and voila! Mayonnaise with a built in defense system. Now it stays good for 3-4 weeks!
This recipe is adapted from The Joy of Cooking (1975), my all time favorite cookbook. Accept no substitutes.
*Note: You can make mayonnaise by hand, but I’ve never tried it. I always use my food processor because my beating arm is just not that strong. If you look at the food pusher, you should see a little hole in the bottom. That’s for adding oil to emulsions like mayo. When I say to add the oil in step 2, pour it through the food pusher.
Lactofermented Mayonnaise makes 1 pint
1 egg
1 T dijon mustard
dash cayenne pepper
1 t salt
1/2 c plus 1/4 c olive oil
1/2 c duck fat or olive oil (the duck fat will yield a more mild-tasting mayo)
2.5 T lemon juice
1 T whey (from fermented dairy like yogurt or kefir)
- Place egg, mustard, cayenne, salt, and 1/4 c olive in work bowl of your food processor. Process about a minute, until thoroughly mixed.
- Add 1/2 c of oil through the food pusher.
- When the oil is incorporated (approx. 1 minute), add the lemon juice and whey (again, through the food pusher).
- Add the rest of the oil through the food pusher and process until thickened and smooth.
- Let sit on the counter for 7 hours. If you have a hard time remembering your ferments (like me!), set an alarm in your cell phone. You’ll be glad you did.
This post is part of Frugal Days Sustainable Ways, Probiotic Food Challenge, and Gluten-Free Wednesdays!
OoOoh, this recipe looks awesome! We already do homemade mayo (I think from the same Joy of Cooking recipe) and do sometimes end up with it spoiling before it’s all used up. One question: do you think white vinegar will work okay in place of lemon juice? Citrus makes me puke, so I usually sub in vinegar but sometimes it tastes weird.
Citrus makes you puke? I’m so sorry, Kristal!
I used rice vinegar once because I didn’t have any lemon juice (lime juice would have been too weird!) or white wine vinegar (my vinegar of choice). Commercial mayo uses regular distilled vinegar, so I think that would be fine. Wonder why it sometimes tastes different.
I have made mayo many times with little success. I think I always add the oil too fast and I don’t have a food processor. This recipe has the oil in right away…do you ever have it come out too thin?? I would love to be successful and have homemade mayo.
How are you beating it? With a blender or a hand mixer? The trick is to add the oil as slowly as possible, otherwise it breaks (i.e., separates).
This mayonnaise recipe does come out a bit thin, but firms up once you stick it in the fridge.
I have used a blender and by hand. I haven’t tried a mixer though…
Is there something I can use besides whey? My other ferments I do with sea salt only and I’m trying to stay clear of dairy… would my kefir water work?
I’m not sure about water kefir, but my friend Chris at Lost Arts Kitchen says she has used sauerkraut juice with great success. If you do try the water kefir, let us know how it turns out!
I just tried sauerkraut juice in my last mayo batch and it worked great.
Have you tried the immersion (stick) blender method yet? It makes mayo making even faster and simpler: you add all your (room temperature) ingredients except oil to a wide mouth pint jar and pulse two or three times with the stick blender. Leave the blender standing in the jar and pour in your oil. Yes, all at once. Turn blender on and watch it turn into amazing mayo in seconds! You will want to bring the blender up as the emulsified mayo layer rises in the jar, you’ll understand when you see it happening. Easy peasy!
I will have to try this next time!
Thanks for the tip to ferment the mayo, thus increasing the shelf life. Would it be a problem if it sits out longer than 7 hrs? What if it went for 8 or 9 hours?
I really couldn’t say, Geri. I think it would be better to err on the side of less time on the counter than more time.
Can I use Yogurt I buy in the store? I don’t make my own…:)
Yes. It’s best to use a yogurt that says it has live cultures.
Could you use a food processor to mix it with???
Yes, that’s what we use.
Thanks so much!!