Homemade Mayonnaise: Science, Techniques, Troubleshooting, Storage

[Chad]

I whipped up a batch of cayenne mayonnaise this morning. I had some leftover roast turkey and wanted a sammich. I was out of mayo. So I thought, "what the hell?" Can't be that hard can it?

Nope. It's a little thin, but damn tasty.

Now for the question. Every book I've checked says to refrigerate immediately. Makes sense to me. A raw egg emulsion at room temperature seems to be a one-way ticket to a lengthy survey of the bathroom decor.

But Alton Brown in "I'm Just Here for the Food" has a sidebar in the food safety section that says to leave fresh mayo out for 8-12 hours. Covered, I assume. His rationale is that the acids in the lemon juice and vinegar work best at room temperature and that they'll be more effective than refrigeration at doing in any nasty bugs that might be lurking. At best, he says, if you refrigerate, bacteria will stop reproducing but won't be wiped out like they will by the acids.

Collective minds, what say you?

Chad

[Dave the Cook]

Unless you left the shell on the egg, I'm with AB. (I admit to bristling a bit at the word "rationale," as what he says is true.)

Yes, covered, but that's to keep airborne stuff (and creatures) out. I don't think it has anything to do with acid doing its work.

[Chad]

Unless you left the shell on the egg, I'm with AB. (I admit to bristling a bit at the word "rationale," as what he says is true.)

Yes, covered, but that's to keep airborne stuff (and creatures) out. I don't think it has anything to do with acid doing its work.

Thanks, Dave! I generally trust AB on this kind of stuff, but this seemed a little weird.

Covered, yes. I was thinking more about keeping my cat, Chester, out of the mayo than airborne contagions, but Alton don't say nothin' 'bout no cover. Seemed an odd omission, so I thought I'd double check.

Rationale 1. the fundamental reasons, or rational basis, for something. 2. a statement, exposition or explanation of reasons or principles.

Didn't occur to me that there would be a negative connotation to the word.

Chad

[Dave the Cook]

Rationale 1. the fundamental reasons, or rational basis, for something. 2. a statement, exposition or explanation of reasons or principles.

Didn't occur to me that there would be a negative connotation to the word.

This is my problem, I think. "Rationale" is just too close to "rationalization" in the dictionary for me to distinguish.

I hadn't thought of kitties, but you're right there, too. Ever since I found a paw print in the butter, I've been more careful.

[jackal10]

Strange you should ask that. I'm just writing the Mayonnaise setion for egci.

It depends on the oil. If you have an oil that thickens in the fridge, such as an unrefined olive oil, it will split.

A refined oil, such as groundnut will be OK.

Escoffier, as always, is definitive:

"Unless it is exposed to too low a temperature, the mayonnaise...never turns, and may be kept for several days without the fear of anything happening to it. Mearly cover it to keep the dust away"

he also says

"It is an error to suppose that it is necessary to work over ice or in a cold room, Cold is deleterious to mayonnaise, and is invariably the cause of this sauce turning in winter. In the cold season the oil should be warmed slightly, or at least kept at the temperature of the kitchen, though it is best to make it in a modestly warm place."

[MsRamsey]

What is groundnut oil?

[=Mark]

The concept that mayo is a common cause of illness and that it will make foods more likely to spoil is a misperception. The sheer amount of oils coupled with acidity cause it to actually have antiseptic properties. If you've ever let a nearly empty jar out of the fridge for a few days you'll note it becomes translucent but does not spoil or mold. In essence you have acidified crisco.

[fresco]

What is groundnut oil?

Peanut oil

[fifi]

The room temperature/acid effect on bacteria makes some sense. They wouldn't be as affected at lower temperatures I don't think. I have to admit that I had never thought about the olive oil solidifying and breaking it. That explains what has happened to me in the past, I just never thought about it because it didn't happen that often. When I do make homemade mayo, I usually use it up right away.

[Enzian]

I was watching Alton Brown on Good Eats make a batch of mayo. He filled a regular store-bought mayonnaise jar with his homemade concoction and proceeded to say that We should use it within a week.

A week!?

That's not a lot of time to mow through some mayo, man! I make a ton of egg salad sandwiches, roast beef sandwiches, tuna fish sandwiches - I use a lot of mayo - yet a regular store-bought jar of mayo still seems to last an eternity on the door of my fridge.

Are there additives to the store-bought variety that can increase it's longevity so much, or is my beloved AB watching his 6 and erring on the side of his lawers?

[andiesenji]

It develops a metallic taste if it does not become rancid. Believe me you would not like it.

Make a smaller batch. However if you go to the trouble to make it you will find that you can use it up fairly rapidly.

[Bux]

Truthfully, we haven't had any homemade mayonnaise around in a while, which also means we haven't had any mayonnaise around the house. There are no commercial brands that really compare. Wait there was one that was acceptable, but it had a short shelf life. We've been tending to make tuna salad with olive oil and vinegar, that's all, but I do miss it on the occasional cold steak or roast beef sandwich.

I think Alton Brown is erring on the side of safety, both your health and his bank account. These days with rampant salmonela, I'm almost surprised anyone is suggesting making mayonnaise at all for fear of a lawsuit. That said, the shelf life is short when compared to the intert (dead) stuff in the supermarket jar. In addition to preservatives, my understanding is that the egg yolks are pasturized in the commerical stuff. It's just not the same product as you can make at home. I find most of it so sweet that the amount of sugar must act as a preservative. Make it in small batches and learn to throw out what you don't use in a reasonable time frame.

[Chad]

You might want to check out this thread on homemade mayo.

Oh, and Jack Lang's Non Stock Based Sauces in the eGCI. Jack (Jackal10) is pretty amazing. If this doesn't answer your questions, well, it's beyond the ken of modern science.

I'd suspect that if properly stored, your mayonaise will last considerably longer than a week. Alton's lawyers probably made him say that.

Chad

[Jason Perlow]

If I had a large jar of homemade mayo, I would make lots of BLTs, and have a lobster roll party.

[bleudauvergne]

That's funny, I was just thinking about mayo. I'm like bux in that we don't buy it, we only make it at home. But we make a small batch at least once a week. I'm reading these old old French cookbooks and mayonnaise in the sauce sections of these books. In my mind, I guess I've always known that mayo is a sauce but growing up I always classified the store bought kind as a condiment. Reading these old books has it taking on new possibilities in my mind.

click

When I make it I only just do a blender mayo with one egg (like whole egg mayo), and I don't max on the oil. I always incorporate at least a part of the oil with olive oil and sometimes add walnut oil or even a drop or two of sesame oil depending on what I'm using it for.

I like mayo maison dolloped on the plate with cold meats and pickles.

We recently had pierreade, which is the french variation of the hot stone which comes out with thinly sliced raw meats where everyone grills their own at the table. It was served with 4 different mayo based sauces, each with different herbs and flavorings.

Veggies are great dipped in it, actually anything dipped in mayo is good.

A few capers chopped it's a fabulous sauce for lobster, langouste, and shrimp - try it!

Deviled eggs are always good using mayo maison.

The cookbooks I'm using are recommending it's use as a salad dressing - you might explore what directions you could go with that.

Tuna salad, chicken salad, etc.

Interested to hear how others use home made mayo.

[Jinmyo]

Grated wasabi or horseradish. Great for grilled shrimp or chickpea frites.

[Jason Perlow]

Grated wasabi or horseradish. Great for grilled shrimp or chickpea frites.

Or, you mix the Pacific Farms stuff in with a touch of french mustard, and slather it over burgers or roast beef sandwiches.

[bleachboy]

Grated wasabi or horseradish. Great for grilled shrimp or chickpea frites.

Yum, I agree. Also great for a fish sandwich, although I'm a remoulade addict as well.

[andiesenji]

I think Alton Brown is erring on the side of safety, both your health and his bank account. These days with rampant salmonela, I'm almost surprised anyone is suggesting making mayonnaise at all for fear of a lawsuit.

I buy pasturized eggs at Vons, the only market that carries them near my home.

Trader Joe's carried them for awhile but they didn't move quick enough so they discontinued them.

A few upscale markets also carry them but none are close enough for me to visit on a regular basis.

They are great for making mayo and eggnog, Caesar salad, etc.

[daisygirl]

My husband makes homemade horseradish mayo at home and we store it in a glass jar with a tight twist cap in the fridge, and it's good for a month and sometimes longer. (If I really shouldn't keep it this long, someone please tell me, but the texture stays smooth, it doesn't have any funny smells/tastes, nor does it ever give me any reason to throw away.) So as much as people would worry about the raw egg content, I say just use your physical senses to guide you on whether to keep or ditch it. Besides, the acid (vinegar) denatures protein, so the egg is as good as cooked.

[bleachboy]

Besides, the acid (vinegar) denatures protein, so the egg is as good as cooked.

That's what Alton Brown said too. In fact, he recommended leaving it in the jar on the counter for a few hours to kill the bacteria. The reasoning is that acids (like lemon juice/vinegar) do better germ-killing work at room temperature.

A month would be pushing it for me, but I am in agreement on the point that if it smells and tastes OK, I don't have a problem eating it, regardless of what the FDA might say. I have never given myself food poisoning, so I guess it's a good policy. :D

[budrichard]

I can't remember the last time I had commercial Mayo. To avoid the potential salmonella problem, I boil the eggs for 4-5 minutes, scrape out the contents into the Kitchenaid food processor, that contains a little lemon juice and white vinegar and hit the Start button. after a minute or so, add your oil then salt and its Mayo, better than anything you can purchase. -Dick

[andiesenji]

My husband makes homemade horseradish mayo at home and we store it in a glass jar with a tight twist cap in the fridge, and it's good for a month and sometimes longer. (If I really shouldn't keep it this long, someone please tell me, but the texture stays smooth, it doesn't have any funny smells/tastes, nor does it ever give me any reason to throw away.) So as much as people would worry about the raw egg content, I say just use your physical senses to guide you on whether to keep or ditch it. Besides, the acid (vinegar) denatures protein, so the egg is as good as cooked.

The magic word here is "horseradish" - - - It acts as a preservative. Mustard does also.

The acid does kill the bacteria at room temperature and it does take several hours to work. However in the rare case of an egg that has been in storage for a long time and perhaps has not been kept at the optimum temperature after purchase, the salmonella can grow and produce toxins which are not destroyed by the acid or by cooking.

However that is very, very rare. The egg board in Calif. estimates that one in 50,000 eggs is affected by salmonella and of those, only 1 in 10,000 would have been in conditions where the salmonella would be able to incubate.

The safe way is to keep the eggs refrigerated, if you plan on grocery shopping and being out for an extended time, take a small ice chest along and put eggs, dairy and meat in it.

I keep one in my van all the time and just buy an 80 cent bag of ice to keep the stuff cool. No worries!

[jayt90]

I boil the eggs for 4-5 minutes, scrape out the contents into the Kitchenaid food processor, that contains a little lemon juice and white vinegar and hit the Start button.

I believe that's false mayo, almost like using hard boiled yolks for a fool proof concoction. Not the same flavour as raw yolks.

[Bux]

I didn't want to suggest how long we might keep home made mayonnaise in the refrigerator, lest someone else suffer for our bad habits. Our son-in-law who's a chef and whose food safety standards come from work in Michelin three star and NY Times four star kitchens in France and NY, just shakes his head when he looks into our refrigerator. At the same time, like most Frenchmen, he doesn't understand why American's keep their eggs in a refrigerator. On the other hand, salmonella hasn't been the widespread problem it is here.

In an old thread on eGullet it was suggest that refrigerating eggs has a disastrous effect on flavor and it may be one reason why eggs seem to taste so much better in France. If refrigerating eggs is detrimental to their flavor, I suggest cooking or pasteurizing them is also going to change the taste and not for the better. Recipes for a sauce made from hard boiled eggs and oil appeared in American newspapers and magazines after salmonella became a great concern. We seem to be backing away from the fear as we take a good look at the real odds, but the concern should be there and we should clean up our poultry raising standards.