By Marc J. Elzenbeck
For decades I thought mayo was the province of professionals and was too intimidated to try my hand. But looking at store shelves full of white stuff made with industrial oils at $10 a jar provided the final oomph. (What is a canola? Where does it grow?)
Turns out, mayonnaise is one of the easiest things you can make, so gratifying it really is like magic. And it is fast. Almost faster than buying it. We’re talking five minutes, ten if you dawdle and use a hand whisk, and it’s far more like a fun chemistry experiment or alchemy demo than “cooking.”
I don’t consider myself a chef or even a cook, just a dad who picked up a few basic tricks over the years to appease friends and family. Buffalo chicken wings, cheeseburgers, salmon grilled to the exact moment the fat inside pops, that sort of thing. My job is to make things that get eaten fast, are sneaky-nutritious, and don’t get thrown out. So. One of the surprising things they ask for now is home-made mayonnaise. It’s cheaper, it’s better, and you can easily tweak it into the spicier, saltier, or more acidic and colorful ends of the taste spectrum.
The rule of thumb is one large egg with yolk to one cup of room temperature oil, like cold-pressed light olive or avocado. Add the juice of a lemon, a tablespoon of preferred vinegar, and a 3-finger-pinch of salt per each egg. Adults prefer a heaping teaspoon of Dijon mustard, maybe some finely ground pepper; teenagers, in my experience, do not.
If whisking in a bowl, stir the yolk and companions into a creamy froth. Then pour the oil in from a cup gradually as you oscillate those wires as fast as you can. The reaction will “set” and you’ll know when it’s done. Now, if you have a hand immersion blender, you can cheat by putting all the ingredients into a wide-mouthed quart Mason or Bell jar. I cheat. Fire it up on low and gradually proceed from top to bottom. After a couple passes, or about 30 seconds, you’ve got mayo. I usually do a few more passes on high speed for maximum fluff. Using both lemon juice and vinegar, over-thickness has not been a problem.
Pop the lid on, keep it in the fridge, and it’s good for two weeks. Keep some tuna fish handy and a long spoon around for serving, and two cups will disappear before they expire. It’s nearly impossible to screw up if you stay within the ratios, but you’ll naturally start tweaking it to your crowd’s taste. Here’s the basic formula laid out in traditional recipe format, along with a couple of taste tips.
Homemade Mayonaise
Ingredients (makes about 1 cup):
- 1 large egg yolk (room temperature)
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tbsp vinegar (white, red, black)
- 1 cup cold-pressed light neutral oil (olive, avocado, grapeseed)
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard (optional)
- Pinch of finely ground black or white pepper (optional)
Instructions:
- Blend the base: In a wide, low bowl, casually whisk the egg, yolk, and chosen ingredients. They’ll start looking and feeling frothy.
- If whisking, add oil slowly: Once you get froth, pour the oil in while whisking vigorously. As the mixture starts to thicken (after approximately ¼ cup is added), keep adding the rest gradually using the emulsion’s consistency as your “throttle.”
- If using an immersion blender: No source I’ve seen will admit this, but you can get away with putting all the ingredients of a 2-cup recipe into a quart Mason or Bell jar at once. You just blend it gradually from top to bottom, first on low speed, then on high. A couple passes and you’re done.
- Adjust for consistency: More high-speed passes, more thickness. If too thick, thin with a bit more lemon juice or vinegar. There’s a crowd-pleasing balance to strike here. The more tart, the faster it seems to disappear.
- Storing: Clean jar or airtight container. Refrigerate and use within 2 weeks.
More Tips:
- Room temperature ingredients: Probably the most important factor in achieving good emulsion.
- For a deeper flavor: Add a small amount of extra virgin olive oil at the end. If used as your primary oil, it tends to be bitter and comes out heavier. Whereas a touch of bitterness adds character, or “umami.” Another risk-free way to go even deeper with umami is to use truffle salt in your base. People won’t really notice. They’ll just eat more.
- If the mayo “breaks:” I’ve never had this happen, but they say you can start over with a new egg and use the non-emulsified or “broken” mix as your oil pour.
