Blender Mayonnaise
Jul 21, 2024
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Sometime back, in another recipe, I made note of my opinion (paraphrased) that everyone should make home-made mayonnaise once, but that the process is too tedious to repeat on any regular basis. With the advent of blender-based recipes, and the availability of inexpensive "stick" (immersion) blenders, however, I've had to revise my position.
I still have no intention of trying to make all of the mayonnaise that we use; because of the limited refrigerator life of the product, I'd be making it several times a week! ... plus, the process creates some pretty greasy dishes and implements...
As a result of the improved ease with which mayo can be made with the modern kitchen tools, I decided to experiment with different oil stocks, for the purpose of determining which ones I'd likely use most of the time.
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The basic recipe is inspired by, and has only trivial differences from, the one found here.
Suggested Equipment:
- Blending equipment, your choice - I use my "stick" blender, but a counter-top blender should work well too.
- Common kitchen measures and tools
Ingredients:
- Raw eggs are a possible source of Salmonella bacteria - which can cause several kinds of "food poisoning". If you don't have access to commercially-pasteurized eggs, and still want to make mayo, you might have a look at what a search engine returns on the string "how to pasteurize eggs". For legal reasons, I can't recommend any particular process.
- If need be, you can substitute 1 tsp of prepared mustard here.
- This is a general guideline. You can use more, or less, or leave it out altogether.
| Item | | Amount |
|---|
| Vegetable oil |
Light cooking or salad oil preferred, divided |
1 |
cup |
| Egg |
Large, Pasteurized1 |
1 |
ea |
| Vinegar |
Your favorite. I used apple cider, here |
1 |
Tbs |
| Lemon juice |
Reserve |
1 |
Tbs |
| Salt |
Common |
½ |
tsp |
| Mustard |
Dry, ground2 |
¼ |
tsp |
| Paprika |
Dry, ground |
⅛ |
tsp |
| Cayenne |
Dry, ground3 |
⅛ |
tsp |
Directions:
The process is the same, no matter what kind of vegetable oil you use.
Add the pasteurized egg (sans shell!) to your blender container.
Measure all dry ingredients, plus the vinegar and ½ cup of the vegetable oil into the container.
If you're using a "stick" blender, most will have both a "low" and a "high" speed. Use the "low" speed selection for the entire process. If using a counter-top blender, start out on the "high speed" setting. If using the "stick" blender, work it like a plunger, up and down, to push displaced material back into the working mix. If using a counter-top blender, stop periodically and scrape the sides of the vessel down with a rubber spatula.
Blend until the mixture is smooth and makes soft peaks. If using a counter-top blender, reduce speed to "low". Continue blending on low speed.
Alternately add 1 tsp of the lemon juice and ⅓ of the remaining oil. Repeat this action until all of the lemon juice and oil have been used.
Continue blending a low speed until the mixture forms a stiff gel, similar to what you may observe in commercial mayonnaise. At that point, cease blending, and decant the finished mayonnaise into a sealable storage container, and refrigerate.
This recipe makes about 1¼ cups. My experience indicates that the mayo should be refrigerated for a minimum of around 2 hours before use, allowing the flavors to fully develop and mingle. RecipeSource says that mayo made like this can be kept, refrigerated, for up to 4 weeks; however, the USDA holds that homemade mayonnaise made with pasteurized eggs can be held, refrigerated and in a covered container, for a maximum of only 4 days. I've been unable to identify any method of shelf-stable (unrefrigerated) preservation, outside of a factory, that doesn't ruin the mayonnaise.
As stated in the introductory remarks, one purpose of developing this recipe page is to evaluate various kinds of vegetable oils for use in making the mayo, and to publish my findings. The oils I tried, and my evaluations follow:
Olive oil (extra-virgin): I tried this oil against the advice of several other authors, and found their negativity to be somewhat justified. The oil made a perfectly good mayonnaise, as far as appearance and texture are concerned, but it seemed to impart a significant bitterness to the end product.
Soybean oil: This oil made a very good mayonnaise, and has the advantage of being widely available and affordable. Most "generic" vegetable oils are, in fact, soybean oil.
Canola oil: This oil, too, made an excellent mayonnaise, and recently, its availability and affordability have improved significantly
Corn oil: It is possible to create a usable mayo with this oil, but it carries a distinct "greasy" texture, and somehow seems to mask or mute the flavors of the other components, that one expects to taste in the end product.
Peanut oil: This makes an end product very much like the corn oil mayonnaise.
Sunflower seed oil: Makes an acceptable mayonnaise if neither soy nor canola are available. Not particularly noteworthy for good or ill.
Blended olive and soy: On the recommendations of other authors, I tried out a blend of 30% extra-virgin olive oil and 70% soy oil. Using this blend significantly reduced the perceived bitterness from the olive oil, but not enough to rank it above a mayo using pure soy.
Blended olive and canola: Very much like the result for the olive and soy blend. An acceptable, but not great mayonnaise.
In conclusion, I have to say that having access to modern kitchen tech made it possible to even consider this series of experiments. The results, in my very subjective opinion, clearly point to the desirability of using either soy or canola oil, over the others tested, as a basis for making home-made mayonnaise. I have used and enjoyed both in most of the ways that we use mayo in our home.
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