Why make homemade mayonnaise?

If you purchase “most” store-bought mayonnaise, you are joining in the world’s largest human research project. You are the guinea pig.

You see, most mayonnaise is made with genetically engineered foods. They are made with cheap ingredients to make larger profits; they have chemicals that you cannot pronounce; and finally, the oils used are rancid, dangerous, and lead to chronic degenerative illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. The oils used increase your inflammation index.

The ultimate purpose of the following recipes is to make a guiltless and healthy mayonnaise without sacrificing taste. In fact, some have told us that this mayonnaise is, far and away, better than anything they’ve ever found in a store.

Equipment Needed

Many recipes tell you to use a blender. This in not the way to make mayonnaise. Sometimes the recipe works, sometimes if flops. It is best to use an electric egg beater/hand mixer.

Some purists demand a hand whisk, but this turns out to be way too much work.

In addition to a blender, for a backup I like to have a “frother” ready just in case the blender didn’t do its job. Once in a while, because of temperature, or impatience (you’ve added too much oil too fast), grabbing a frother (submersion blender) will repair the problem.

Keep your oils cold, they actually work best that way. If early on, while adding a few drops at a time your mixture doesn’t leave “tracks” (it simply stays a dull liquid), you’ll probably want to grab a frother (this is explained fully in our article “The Secret to Making Perfect Mayonnaise”).

You see, all you want is to get “air” into the mixture. A frother does this better than anything I know (except perhaps an electric whisk).

Here is your basic mayonnaise recipe:

Whisk the eggs rapidly in a bowl and add the oil drop by drop. Whisk in the lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Lasts half a week to a week in the refrigerator.

Note that the recipe calls for just “oil.”

The type of oil you use is very important.

Grapeseed Oil: polyunsaturated oil with a neutral flavor. Highly stable for high heats. One tablespoon has 3.92 mgs vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol). Grapeseed oil’s phytosterols levels (plant sterols that help lower cholesterol levels) are just below those of olive oil. Because of its neutral flavor, it’s perfect for mayonnaise. One of the troubles with a polyunsaturated fats is that they tend to get rancid when subjected to heat. Grapseed oil is an exception to that rule, however, still, being an omega-6, grapseed oil can contribute to raising your inflammation index. When creating a mayo using Grapeseed oil, you want to use at least half a cup of omega-3s to balance the omega-6/omega-3 ratio.

Safflower, corn, sunflower, soybean, cottonseed and canola oils should never be used in your mayonnaise. They are highly polyunsaturated, omega-6s that go rancid quickly (many are rancid by the time you buy them, but cannot smell the rancidity because they’ve been perfumed), and increase your inflammation index. Canola, once pushed off on us by health nuts, has its own problems; once deodorized it begins to turn into a trans fat, and recent research shows that canola oil creates a deficiency of vitamin e and that it can cause heart lesions.

Peanut oil and Sesame seed oil are quite flavorful oils high in oleic acid (monounsaturated fatty acid) still with considerable omega-6s (peanut oil having slightly less than sesame oil, 34% vs 43%). Both are relatively stable, but again you want to balance out the omega-6s with omega-3s in your mayonnaise.

Olive oil is the heart healthy, cancer avoiding oil of the Mediterranean diet. Breast cancer rates are much lower in the Middle East where most recipes call for anywhere from a cup of olive oil to a swimming pool of olive oil. The only problem with a mayonnaise made with olive oil is that its strong flavor can be overpowering. If used, you should consider using it half and half with peanut oil or sesame seed oil, and then balance that all with some omega-3s.

Palm oil is an amazing oil that is 50% saturated with 41% oleic acid, and some omega-3s. Palm oil has been described as half olive oil and half vitamin E/vitamin A oil. It’s charged with antioxidants, but if you make a mayonnaise using mostly palm oil, when you refrigerate it, it will solidify. Palm oil also has an overpowering flavor and its color is bright orange. If you are going to use palm oil in your mayonnaise, use a very small amount. If you can find some clarified palm oil, you’ll notice that it is tasteless and quite saturated and must be melted first to use in your mayonnaise, however, its vitamin content doesn’t even approach the stronger tasting original palm oil

Coconut oil is a saturated fat with over two-thirds of that in the form of a medium-chain fatty acid, with considerable lauric acid, something found in mother’s milk that is antifungal and antimicrobial. We’ve written a lot about coconut oil previously (just click the link to see the original article), and if you are going to add this to your mayonnaise, it must first be melted, and it is suggested to use very little again, as it causes your mayo to harden up in the fridge and melt quickly (liquefy) when used.

Flax oil, chia oil, hempseed oil, and Udo’s DHA Blend are your omega-3s. Flax is 9% saturated fat, 18% oleic acid, 16% omega-6, and 57% omega-3. These oils are perfect for balancing out the omega-6s in your life and in your mayo. The only oil I avoid using is hempseed oil, since our paranoid government has manufacturers denature the seeds so they cannot be sewn, and how they denature the seeds is not widely known, and personally, I don’t trust the process one bit.

Let’s get back to our mayo:

If you take the previous recipe, the Basic Mayonnaise Recipe above, and mix up that cup of oil using one third sesame seed oil, one third extra virgin olive oil (extra virgin is the least pungent form), and one third one of the omega-3s listed, now you’ve got yourself one healthy mayonnaise. However, it will still last only a few days to a week in your fridge so make this in very small amounts.

Using Grapeseed oil will extend the life in the fridge, as will using some palm oil or coconut oil. Additionally, adding honey and more lemon juice will extend the life of your mayo to three to four weeks.

But now, with the extra lemon and honey (and some apple cider vinegar) we’re leaving behind your regular mayonnaise.

The product MiracleWhip® was invented for people who liked their mayo with a little kick. It is slightly tarter and slightly sweeter than regular mayo. Adding more lemon and some honey (and some apple cider vinegar to your recipe) will make a nice MiracleWhip® clone, though many feel it’s just plain tastier.

So let’s take a look at some possibilities using a variety of oils, and our kitchen tested (and mother-in-law tested, so I am told) recipe for Super Healthy Mayonnaise.

First you’ll need three cups of oil.

We want to use at least one half cup of omega-3 essential fatty acids; your flax oil, chia oil, and/or Udo’s DHA blend. I have actually used one whole cup of chia oil (one cup of Udo’s DHA blend in one version), and though there was a slightly disruptive flavor in the mix, most who tried it got used to the flavor right away and loved the mayo.

However, a recipe with one third omega-3s (one cup) is something that really should be used by people who are quite ill and need these oils for their recovery. Our standard ratio, using just one half cup of omega-3s to two and a half cups of your other oils, is a very healthy ratio.

Versions of Three Cups of Oil:

One tasty version for you is two and a half cups of Grapeseed oil and a half a cup of your omega-3 of choice (most of the time I mix one quarter cup flax or chia with one quarter cup of Udo’s DHA Blend.)

Another version is one half cup of coconut oil, two cups of Grapeseed oil, and then the omega-3s. You can also mix some palm oil in with the coconut oil.

As you can see, the mixture is up to you, with just a few malleable rules.  

My latest mayo (which turned out absolutely delicious, by the way) consisted of one cup of sesame seed oil, one cup of extra virgin olive oil, one half cup of coconut oil, one quarter cup of flax oil, and one quarter cup of Udo’s DHA Blend. (Next time I’m going to do the same thing but with toasted sesame seed oil.)

As you can see, your oil mixture will always add up to three cups of oil.

Here is your recipe for Super Mayonnaise:

Ingredients (all ingredients organic):

From the brown text above, mix up one teaspoon of salt, with 2 tablespoons of vinegar and two teaspoons of dry mustard and set aside.

From the bottom section, prepare everything (except the Arrow Root Powder and lemon juice) in a small sauce pan. Juice your lemons and put the lemon juice aside. Place your three tablespoons of Arrow Root Powder in a small bowl. Heat the mixture in sauce pan when you are just about through blending the oils below.

If you’re using a bit of coconut oil, this will go into the sauce pan, and you can start warming it right away. When the coconut oil is melted, or when you’ve nearly finished whipping up the oils below, add the Arrow Root Powder with a small whisk, increase the heat, and bring to a boil stirring constantly.

Your oils work best cold, we’ve discovered, and for this recipe you will choose the oils you want considering all of the above text on oils.

Using an electric mixer (on a high setting), whip the egg yolks separately for about half a minute to get them started. Very slowly add your oil.

The Secret to Making Perfect Mayonnaise (how to get lots of air into your mayo).

Your second cup of oil can be added a bit quicker, but still, do NOT just pour it in the mixture. Mix it in slowly.ly.

Once the oils have been added, you can add in the salt, vinegar, and dry mustard combo (from the brown text). Add this slowly too.

Back to the saucepan: bring to a boil and stirring constantly till the mixture becomes a smooth paste.

Then blend SLOWLY into the mixing bowl with the mixer on a high setting. If you add this too quickly, you can spoil the whole thing (learn from my experience).

Finally, add the last ingredient, the lemon juice. Add this just as slowly as your oils. You’ll see the color of your mixture turn from a yellow color to beige. (The acid of the vinegar and lemon do this.)

The lemon juice not only adds to flavor, but keeps the dressing from separating and helps preserve it. Normally, homemade mayo will last only five days in your fridge. The combination of the lemon and honey will help it keep for up to a month, though I've yet to see it stick around that long.

So there you have it. The mayo made here is tangy and healthy. If you wish to make a less tangy mayo, it’s best to make it in smaller batches using the original recipe above, mainly because it won’t last very long.  

Of course you can always experiment with your mayonnaise adding some cayenne pepper, horseradish, or a variety of spices (such as rosemary). One of my favorites is a garlic mayonnaise. 

References:

Much of what we know about oils we learned here: http://www.westonaprice.org/knowyourfats/skinny.html