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Ultimate Mayonnaise Recipes |
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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:
2 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1¼ teaspoons salt
pinch of white pepper
1 cup oil
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; 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 (a Miracle Whip®
Clone):
Ingredients (all
ingredients organic):
3 cups of oil (making at least one half cup
a form of omega-3 essential fatty acids)
4 egg yokes
1 teaspoon Celtic
Sea Salt® Brand, or Himalayan
Crystal Salt
2 teaspoons Dry Mustard
2 tablespoons Unpasteurized Apple Cider Vinegar
3 tablespoons
Arrow Root Powder (or corn starch or cake flour)
1 Cup Water
4 tablespoons Honey
1/4 Cup + 2 tablespoons Unpasteurized Apple Cider Vinegar
1 tablespoon Celtic Sea Salt® Brand
1/3 Cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
If you prefer regular mayo to the tangy Miracle
Whip® taste, simply cut the vinegar in
half, the lemon juice in half and no honey.
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.
It’s
best to add just a few drops at a time, whipping the mixture on a
high setting. The idea is to get lots of air into the mixture, and
if you pour too fast, it won't whip properly, and you'll have a very
thin concoction. Again, you can read our little page on
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
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