Mayonnaise success!

After a couple botched attempts at making mayonnaise earlier in the year, I had put it off because I really have this thing with failure.  I don't like it!  LOL  I had resigned myself to just buying it from the store, but each time I picked up a jar of mayo that I knew was filled with GMO soybean oil, I cringed.  Finally, I set out to do more research on the subject and discovered a couple things I was doing wrong (in my opinion anyway).  First, I was using recipes that were above my culinary palatte-meaning I didn't like the way they tasted to start with-way to fancy.  Second, I wasn't using all room temperature ingredients and thirdly, my bowl was too big.

Armed with this new information, I set out to make mayonnaise for a thrid (or fourth, I can't remember) time.  I found that a hand or immersion blender with a whisk attachment is perfect.  Other recipes use a blender.  I'm all for whatever works.    Also, if you are using a hand blender, you will need a container with a small diameter but one that is tall enough to keep the splatters in.  My hand blender came with a cup type thing that I think was intended for smoothies.  Another helpful tool would be a non-slip mat.  With one hand on the blender and one hand on the oil, the cup will start spinning and throw oily egg yolk everywhere if you don't have one (or con a child into holding the cup for you).  And, yes, I did throw oily egg yolk all over my kitchen (and the next day I did the same thing with egg whites).  I look at it as God's way of keeping me on track with my kitchen scrubbing duties.

Ingredients:
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp white vinegar
1 pinch sea salt
1/3 to 1/2 cup GMO-free canola oil

Keep in mind that many recipes use balsamic vinegar and/or olive oil, but I didn't care for the taste of those.  This is a plain version for sure.

Put the egg yolk, vinegar and salt in your bowl or whatever vessel you are using and whisk it slightly to combine those three ingredients.  Next comes your oil (and the tricky part).  To begin with you want to add the oil and blend it in drop by drop to create an emulsion.  One of the biggest problems is that when you start, it is so hard to add the oil slowly.  I solved that by using the Pampered Chef decorating bottle with the piping tip.  When I tip it, only a small amount comes out and once I get the emulsion going, I can squeeze the bottle to add the oil faster (but not too fast).  The bottle holds approximately half a cup, so I'm limited to making that amount for now.  I don't suggest that everyone run out and get the decorating bottles, but I do think that it's important to look around at what you already have in your kitchen that can serve as double duty.  I'm sure there aren't any Pampered Chef consultants who are out there selling those bottles as oil droppers, although maybe they should as I've never decorated a cake with them. =)

Here, the emulsion is just starting.  You can see that the oil is completely mixed with the egg yolk.

Still going.  The whole process to add the oil took about 5 minutes for not quite half a cup of oil.  The slower the better is the key on this.

Voila!  Homemade mayonnaise.  When making this, I tasted it at the end and thought it needed a touch more salt, so I added it and whisked it in with no problems.  I think that more vinegar could be added too if you found that it needed it, just be sure to mix it thoroughly.

This mayo uses fresh (non-pasteurized) eggs, so it is only good for a few days.  Although, my personal, live on the edge opinion is that if you are using farm fresh eggs, you have a bit larger timeframe than if you are using grocery store, already 3 week old eggs.  I'm not too worried about it though since I'm only making half a cup at a time.  This amount would easily be used up if making egg salad or even on sandwiches for the family if everyone uses it.  It shouldn't last long!

A big thank you goes to my 10 year old photographer.  I couldn't do the oil, blender and take pictures all at the same time.