Homemade Mayonnaise

Making mayo at home is not as crazy as it sounds. I feel like that's a pattern on this blog. Many things sound super complicated but when you actually found out how to make them, they're super easy. I decided to make my own because of the same reason I make everything else, I wanted real food. It's also really cool to see how it's made and it's a lot fresher. The taste of fresh mayo does not even compare to store-bought. This recipe is from Alton Brown, who is a culinary genius! If you cross Mythbusters with Food network, you get Alton. You don't need any unusual equipment to make mayo, all you need is a whisk and a bowl.

The only thing I will say about the homemade mayonnaise is, there is no way to make this "low-fat". Once you see what ingredients go in mayo, you will question just how they can sell it in a store and call it low- fat or even fat-free. There's gotta be some crazy science behind making mayo only 10 calories per tablespoon. So, I would suggest using the real thing, but just use less of it.

Ingredients

-1 egg yolk, at room temperature
-1/2 teaspoon of fine/table salt
-1/2 teaspoon of dry mustard, which you have leftover from making mustard I hope!
-2 pinches of sugar
-2 teaspoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice, room temp
-1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar, also room temp
-1 cup of flavorless oil, usually canola. If you want to make this a little bit healthier you can use olive oil. The only trick with that is you don't want to use the very-good-for-you extra virgin olive oil because it is TOO flavorful and it will overpower the mayo. But if you use the plain olive oil that looks a little more yellow than green in the bottle, it should still be better for you than canola but it won't overpower your mayo.

Directions
-First, add your yolk and all the dry ingredients into a bowl.

-Then, whisk them well. The dry ingredients will act as an abrasive and break down that yolk well.

-In a smaller bowl, combine the lemon juice and vinegar. Then add half of that into the big bowl with the yolk. Whisk.

-Now is where the tricky but not incredibly hard part comes in. You are going to drizzle in the oil VERY slowly. What you are trying to do is create an emulsion, sort of when you make a salad dressing. You don't want the oil and vinegar to be 2 separate things. You want them to combine well and stay combined. The best way to do this is to drizzle the olive oil drop by drop at first, and constantly whisk. DON'T STOP WHISKING! Then, once you see that you have a good emulsion and it's pretty well mixed in, you can start adding the oil a little faster but don't dump it in. You need to be patient. If you want to see how Alton does it, click here.

-I do what he recommends in the video and put my oil in a squirt bottle, but you don't have to. If you have somebody else in the house with you, ask them for help because your arm will probably be hurting a little!

-So anyway, drizzle in half of the oil. Then add the other half of the lemon and vinegar mixture and continue to drizzle in the last half of oil. Always whisking. Then you should end up with this! It's glossy, creamy and well mixed in.

This will keep in the fridge for about a week. Remember, there are no preservatives or chemicals in this so you can't leave it outside of the fridge for too long and it doesn't keep it in there for months like the store-bought mayo.

Use this mayo in this gorgeous coleslaw
Making tuna salad? Learn how to choose the best canned tuna here
Try this Greek salad filled with veggies
Another great idea is mixing this with some lemon juice for a dip for kale chips

Servings: 9 fluid oz, or 18 tablespoons.
Nutritional Info: About 111 calories per tablespoon.