I have so much crap on my desk! Being gone for three weeks it piles up. Books I have to at least familiarize myself with, dried soy beans and a tofu press, the manuscript I've got to fix, knives and rolling pins and some weird Fagor three-way cooker to figure out, emails to respond to, the ineluctable ... not modality of being ... but the ineluctable compulsion to check twitter feed. OY!
But I never get tired of mayonnaise you make yourself. I don't care if it's with a hand blender or whisk. Helmann's is fine—I use that too, but it's not anywhere near homemade mayo. Two totally different products, and that's and why I love it. Its goodness is something you can't buy. You have to make it yourself. I've posted on it before, I hid it within a Deviled Egg post,and I'll post on it again. But I'm reposting this one because of Donna's gorgeous pix. She will tell you we just got lucky. The light coming in the kitchen was just right. "I just focused and clicked the shutter," she'll tell you. I know different.
Originally posted on May 21, 2008
Finishing up the revisions of a manuscript and going over some fat-based sauces has returned me to the mayonnaise. Like the popover, it’s the story of a great transformation. Yolk, lemon juice, salt and oil.
There simply isn’t anything like it when you make it yourself—you can’t buy this stuff. But I’ll bet you have everything you need to make it right now. I’ll include a recipe at the end of this post.
Two things are critical to remember for those who have never made a mayonnaise. You need enough liquid (water or lemon juice) to maintain the emulsion, so don’t skimp on this. Second, begin adding the oil very slowly, just a couple drops of oil off the end of a spoon into the yolk while whisking, then another few drops. This establishes the emulsion. Then you can add the oil in a more steady stream.
Donna took these pictures several weeks ago using natural light in our kitchen and frankly, they’re why I wanted to post about mayonnaise. But I hope they inspire you to make your own.
You will have taken a tasteless fluid oil and transformed it into an ethereal sauce through craftsmanship and care. Add a tablespoon of minced shallot, and maybe a little extra lemon juice for an extraordinary dipping sauce for an artichoke, or blanched and shocked cauliflower, or to put on some boiled new potatoes. It’s magical stuff. Or just put it on a BLT--it'll be the best sandwich you've had in a long time.
Here’s the recipe adapted from Charcuterie.
URGENT UPDATE AND MSG TO BECKS & POSH AND RIPERT: From Shannon at momwantsacure: "Ha!! I just proved Eric Ripert and Becks & Posh WRONG!!!!! Tell them that menstruating women can make a fabulously perfect mayonnaise!"
If you liked this post on homemade mayonnaise, check out these other links:
- My post on the Badass Perforated (aka egg) Spoon, use melted butter and three egg whipped over gentle heat for Hollandaise and eggs benny!
- Bittman's Everyday, Anytime Egg Combination Generator.
- Who wins the mayo versus Miracle Whip in the Egg Salad Battle?
- 11 other uses of mayo from Readers Digest, which includes cleaning piano keys.
© 2012 Michael Ruhlman. Photo © 2012 Donna Turner-Ruhlman. All rights reserved
Mayonnaise
Ingredients
- 1 large organic egg yolk
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp water
- 1 tsp lemon juice (or 2 for a lemony mayo)
- 1 cup vegetable oil
Instructions
- Combine yolks salt, water and lemon juice in a 2.5 quart bowl. Fold a hand towel into a ring on the counter and set the bowl in this ring to hold it steady while you whisk. Using a sauce or balloon whip (whisk), stir the ingredients together.
- Add the oil slowly while whisking vigorously. It helps to measure out your oil into a cup that pours well in a wire-this stream; alternately you can start your emulsion by drizzling the oil off a spoon, then pouring the oil after the emulsion has begun. Add a few drops of oil as you begin to whisk; when the emulsion becomes creamy, you may increase the speed with which you add the oil to a thin stream. From the beginning the mixture should be thick enough to hold its shape and look luxuriously creamy. Add the oil too quickly and it will break, that is, it will turn soupy. When all the oil is incorporated add remaining lemon juice to taste. If the mayonnaise is too thick, it can be thinned by whisking in a little water.
- If it breaks, put a teaspoon of water in a clean bowl and start the process over by drizzling in the broken mayonnaise while whisking.
George
How long can you keep any leftover mayo in the fridge? Not as long as commercial, I'm guessing?
ruhlman
a few days, as long as you don't add shallot, but after that flavor is off.
Ryan Silva
Something interesting to note from the Good Eats episode on mayo: "acid does its best bug killing at room temperature. So leaving this out for 8, 10, even 12 hours is sound sanitation. After that, straight to the refrigerator for no more than a week." -- Alton Brown (note this is based on the Good Eats recipe, which is more acidic than MR's). But I personally am not too worried about my egg yolks.
Zalbar
Speaking of Hellman's I've found out their secret. It's a dollop of dijon while whisking/blending. I was so shocked when I added that for oomph and it tasted exactly like Hellman's with more lemon flavour.
Give it a try sometime.
Ryan Silva
I personally don't really make it my goal to replicate Hellman's when I'm making mayo (that's a little limiting in my opinion), but adding mustard can be a good idea not just for flavor but for the natural emulsifiers in the mustard. Not that the egg yolk doesn't have enough emulsifying power on its own.
Zalbar
I wasn't going out of my way to replicate it, was a surprising fluke accident.
Dorothy
There's a method for mayonnaise with an immersion blender that's magically fast and fun to make with little effort.
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/10/two-minute-mayonnaise.html
ruhlman
yes, I do a video of that method in the above deviled eggs link! works great for small amounts!
Jason Smith
I tried the immersion blender for a larger amount and ended up with a broken emulsion. I was able to salvage with more egg yolks, but typically don't do this method anymore.
ruhlman
agree, i can only make it work for 6 ounces oil
Tamidon
It's a fun science lesson for kids, taking 3 liquids and making a semisolid. Doing it with the stickblender can really blow their minds
Pat
Two questions: Would you please discuss aioli sometime? (I've never been able to get mine thick - it's always a thin runny sauce, although tasty.) And - we've always wondered - why are you in Cleveland? You could live anywhere: California wine country where there is great produce and organic meats year-round, or Italy, Spain, France, upstate New York -- why Cleveland?
Mike Romeo
Haven't you seen Major League? If not, I think Drew Carey said it best...Cleveland Rocks.
Read House.
Againstthegrain
I love making mayo and never, ever buy the jarred stuff anymore. I also never use "vegetable oil" to make mayo - don't even stock those oils in the house, though I do understand the preference for neutral flavored oil. My standard oil is pure (refined) olive oil because some family members object to the strong taste of EVOO in mayo, but I've also used avocado oil, macadamia nut oil, walnut oil, or blends of sesame and melted coconut oil at times, which can make lovely mayo for some purposes.
For larger batches of plain olive oil mayonnaise, I add a bit of whey, too (I get the whey from straining live culture unflavored whole milk yogurt or allowing raw grassfed whole milk to sour and separate into curds and whey). Then I cap the jar of mayo tightly, and let it sit at room temp all day or overnight (about 8 hours or so), then it is stored in the fridge. This way the mayo keeps for many weeks (if we don't use it all up, that is). Simple lacto-fermentation with live beneficial bacteria (probiotics) is a traditional & natural food preservation method with a long history and many health benefits. I also use local "backyard" eggs that come from healthy pastured chickens that are very fresh - we consume these eggs raw all the time.
Darren
Anyone ever used powdered egg yolks to make mayo? Kind of hard to find actually. There are 50 pound boxes of the stuff, but it's $300. Just wondered if it was a good thing to have on hand and works well.
Deanna B.
With artichokes coming into season I've been making homemade (anchovy) mayonnaise like crazy. Every time I make it I think about the day I had to make it in Skills 1 and it would not emulsify. I'd made it hundreds of times before the class and it just wasn't happening that day. I think I went through a dozen eggs before it worked. I was mortified.
Dana
I made the lemon shallot mayo and served it with roasted asparagus I had rolled in procuitto slices for my DIL's bridal shower. Huge hit - none left!!
DiggingDogFarm
I make a small batch about about twice a week.
I tiny squirt of fish sauce in place of the salt and dijon in place of the lemon juice.
Alan Hays
"ineluctable"??? Inescapable or unavoidable works just as fine....My God man...are we giving George Will a run for verbiage overkill? I actually had to look that word up?!? 🙂
Kim
I love making mayo; however, I no longer can because of an egg allergy. Is there anything else that will work in place of an egg? (I know--it's a crazy question, but I'm desperate.) I also can't substitute anything that is corn-based. Thanks.
Mantonat
Soy lecithin is available online these days, thanks to the molecular gastronomy folks. You may need to experiment a little to get the flavor and texture right, but lecithin is the ingredient in the egg yolk that makes the emulsification work so well. (There may even be some recipes online if you poke around a little).
Kim
Thanks! I will start to experiment.
David Warren
Hi, every mayonaise recipe I have come across calls for egg yolks. I was given a recipe by a lady who went to Perdue University. Her recipe uses whole eggs, yolks and whites, lemon juice, salt, dry mustard and oil. Now I make this with an imersion blender and she did it in a regular blender all the time. Both methods produce an excellent product. So my question is Why does it work so well when all the recipes I have found only calls for egg yolks.
susan holding
I nominated your blog for an award. Here's the link:
http://littlefrenchbakery.wordpress.com/2012/04/24/versatile-blogger-nomination/
Chae Contraras
A central aspect on the U.S. financial state is the economic flexibility afforded into the private sector by enabling the personal sector for making almost all financial choices in pinpointing the path and scale of what the U.S. financial state provides. That is increased by rather very low amounts of regulation and govt involvement,[54] too for a court procedure that commonly safeguards home rights and enforces contracts. These days, the usa is home to 29.six million tiny enterprises, 30% of the world's millionaires, 40% on the world's billionaires, too as 139 of the world's five hundred largest providers. From its emergence being an independent nation, the us has encouraged science and innovation. Therefore, the us has become the birthplace of 161 of Britannica's 321 Wonderful Innovations, like items which include the airplane, web, microchip, laser, cellphone, fridge, electronic mail, microwave, Liquid crystal display and LED technologies, air con, assembly line, supermarket, bar code, electric motor, and ATM.
playstation roms
I gotta bookmark this internet site it seems very helpful handy
Dewey Linneman
There is definitely a lot of potential for restaurants to market themselves on Pinterest. Which is why we wrote up a blog publish about the topic too . The network is still growing rapidly (although the rate of growth has definitely slowed a bit), and yet it is still "new" enough that early adopters can receive a competitive advantage.
Leida Garsee
Is it possible to copy and paste news articles for my blog or is that copyright infringement?
Best Workouts
Your posts usually possess much of really up to date info. Where do you come up with this? Just stating you are very resourceful. Thanks again
g star sale
Ha ha... I was just browsing around and took a glance at these responses. I can't believe there's still this much attention. Thanks for crafting articles about this.
HCG Drops
I was reading through some of your posts on this website and I believe this web site is very instructive! Keep putting up.
Donnetta Bertini
My coder is trying to persuade me to maneuver to. net from PHP. I have always disliked the theory due to expenses. But he has tryiong it's unlikely that any the a smaller amount. I've been using WordPress in numerous websites for around a yr and feel nervous concerning switching to a new platform. I possess heard excellent things about blogengine. net. Is there an easy method I may import almost all my wordpress posts engrossed? Any help would be really loved!
yard signs in Southern California
Hi I like your blog site. Do you want to visitor post upabout mine at some point? If that's the case please inform me via e-mail or simply reply to this remark because I signed up for notices and will realize should you choose.
cost to lease a porsche cayenne
I have been checking out some of your posts and it's pretty nice stuff. I will surely bookmark your site.
chevelle facebook
come on and get some chevelle merch
cheap infrared heaters
It's not that I want to replicate your web site, but I really like the style. Could you let me know which theme are you using? Or was it especially designed?
Alicia
I have been absent for some time, but now I remember why I used to love this site. Thank you, I will try and check back more often. How frequently do you update your blog?
Tobias Klapec
Hello bros loves your terrific write-up thanks a lot and pls don't cease!
Summer Tee Shirts
Very efficiently written article. It will be useful to everyone who utilizes it, including myself. Keep up the good work - can'r wait to read more posts.
cheap flight
Hello there I like your blog site. Would you like to invitee post in my own sometime? If that's the case you should tell me by means of email or perhaps reply to this opinion simply due to the fact My partner and my spouse and i actually enrolled in notifications and will understand if you do.
car service
Awsome site! I am loving it!! Will be back later to read some more. I am taking your feeds also.
right here
Thanks
Chester Goh
The United kingdom Royal Mint gives released numerous additional denominations associated with platinum sovereigns, including 1/2 sovereigns with a strong recognized value involving 10 shillings
Johana Grieves
Its as if you read my personal mind! You may actually know much about this specific, like you wrote your book inside it or some thing. I think that you can do with a few pics drive an automobile the information home somewhat, but besides that, this is actually magnificent web site. A wonderful read. I'll undoubtedly be rear.
here
Thank You!
Pozycjonowanie stron
Some really excellent posts on this site, thank you for contribution. "Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others." by Cicero.
Filmy Polskie
Respect to op , some superb information .
Filmy do pobrania
I really like your writing style, good information, thankyou for posting : D.
Nia Placeres
Thanks, I've recently been searching for info about this topic for a while and yours is the best I've found out till now. But, what concerning the conclusion? Are you certain about the supply?
Edwin Schink
Thanks with regard to helping out there, superb information. The a number of stages of man are generally infancy, childhood, adolescence, and obsolescence. by Bruce Barton.
Katalog Stron
you are in point of fact a good webmaster. The site loading pace is amazing. It seems that you are doing any unique trick. Also, The contents are masterpiece. you've performed a wonderful task on this topic!
30 day trial luminess
HHpiLh any opinions
how to work out lower abs
Thanks for your publication. I also believe that laptop computers have become more and more popular currently, and now will often be the only kind of computer found in a household. This is because at the same time actually becoming more and more affordable, their processing power keeps growing to the point where they may be as potent as desktop from just a few years ago.
Noel Treamer
I are actually absent for a long time, but now I recall why I utilized to love this excellent website. Thank you, I'll try and check back often. How frequently you up-date your web site?
Kasey Recidivi
I may speak much for this theme.
Webmini
you are in point of fact a just right webmaster. The web site loading speed is incredible. It sort of feels that you're doing any unique trick. Moreover, The contents are masterpiece. you have done a great process in this subject!
Darmowe Filmy
I wanted to thank you one more time for your amazing web site you have designed here. Its full of ideas for those who are really interested in this specific subject, particularly this very post. You really are all really sweet in addition to thoughtful of others as well as reading your website posts is a superb delight to me. And what a generous gift! Tom and I are going to have excitement making use of your points in what we must do in the future. Our collection of ideas is a kilometer long and tips are going to be put to good use.
Ressie Broadrick
Methods pertaining to Unlock Iphone4 grms Any individual who copes with an iPhone should have to tend to be disclosed available for you and in order that they needs unlock apple iphone 4g grms ideas, generally regarding the distinctive software products which may be together risk-free. Yet, it is reasonably disheartening so that you can open people's i smartphone should you won't have the best newer apple iphone4 detaching your shut throughout usage. Web site involved with classified ads all around you, in spite of the, without getting precise recognizing available, totally ensnared, therefore numerous options a number of massive earnings about next to nothing. korvax
Webminiacz
Fantastic goods from you, man. ENRIQUE IGLESIAS I LIKE HOW IT FEELS FEAT. PITBULL & THE WAV.S | 007VideoRecordingGames|Official Blog I have understand your stuff previous to and you're just too fantastic. I really like what you've acquired here, really like what you're stating and the way in which you say it. You make it enjoyable and you still take care of to keep it wise. I can't wait to read far more from you. This is really a wonderful ENRIQUE IGLESIAS I LIKE HOW IT FEELS FEAT. PITBULL & THE WAV.S | 007VideoRecordingGames|Official Blog informations.
here
Thx!
Taisha Zanchi
I wanted to say Appreciate providing these details, youre doing a great job with the site...
ironman gravity 1000 inversion table
Very interesting points you have remarked, thank you for posting.
gravity inversion therapy table
I visited a lot of website but I think this one has got something extra in it. "It's no longer a question of staying healthy. It's a question of finding a sickness you like." by Jackie Mason.
Benjamin Sancher
Hello! Quick problem that's absolutely off theme. Do you discover how to make your blog mobile helpful? My web page looks unusual when seeing from my iphone. I'm searching for a concept or plugin that could most likely fix this concern. If you might have any recommendations, please reveal. Thank a person!
Sung Eccles
Enjoyed examining this, very good stuff, thankyou. Nothing takes place to virtually any thing which that thing isn't made naturally to tolerate. by Marcus Aurelius Antoninus.
odszkodowania powypadkowe w uk
Hey! This post could not be written any better! Reading this post reminds me of my previous room mate! He always kept talking about this. I will forward this write-up to him. Pretty sure he will have a good read. Thank you for sharing!
Ambrose Blessing
Excellent conquer! I would want to apprentice while you amend your internet site, how may i subscribe to get a blog site? The bill helped myself a suitable deal. I have been a bit acquainted of the your transmitted provided brilliant clear concept
beton amprentat
You have noted very interesting details ! ps nice website . "Where can I find a man governed by reason instead of habits and urges" by Kahlil Gibran.
pardoseala epoxidica baie
I was studying some of your articles on this internet site and I believe this web site is very instructive! Keep on posting .
Roscoe Escorza
I simply want to mention I am beginner to blogging and really savored this web site. Likely I’m going to bookmark your blog post . You absolutely come with really good stories. Appreciate it for sharing your web-site.
quiet title
Thisis a tottaly sweet webisite that I found today.
More Bonuses
This is a topic that is near to my heart... Best wishes! Exactly where are your contact details though?
fifa 11 coin generator ps3
Hey there! I've been following your website for a long time now and finally got the courage to go ahead and give you a shout out from Kingwood Tx! Just wanted to say keep up the excellent work!
Ralph Casasola
Khmer Karaoke Celebrities My spouse and i was encouraged this internet site by my own cousin. I am uncertain whether this kind of post is published by him because nobody different know these kinds of detailed regarding my difficulty. You tend to be wonderful! Thanks! your write-up about Khmer Karaoke Stars Sincerely Schaad Rolf
http://www.chaisedebar.org/
I am impressed with this web site, very I am a big fan.
coach outlet online
I was very pleased to find this web-site.I wanted to thanks for your time for this wonderful read!!
Erwin Rankins
HelloHey thereHeyGood dayHello thereHowdyHi thereHi! Do you use Twitter? I'd like to follow you if that would be okokay. I'm definitelyundoubtedlyabsolutely enjoying your blog and look forward to new updatesposts.