The Mayo Caper

After studying the condiment aisle filled with plastic containers, I decided to rebel by making my own condiments. The mayonnaise jar in our fridge was almost empty and I decided to start there. I scoured the internet for recipes. 

I’d heard how difficult mayo can be. There’s the situation where the mixture just won’t emulsify. I’ve read about a way to rework the ingredients to give emulsification a second chance. I’ve also read that one is advised to throw the failure away and start over. This information deterred me. As a Depression baby, I am ingrained with frugality and can’t bear thinking about throwing food away.

I was also intimidated by the descriptions of using a wire whisk to beat the oil one drop at a time into the other ingredients. How long would a person have to wield a whisk to incorporate the oil? Five minutes? Ten minutes? Even longer?

So I came to the internet search expecting confirmation of these concerns. To my amazement, however, I learned about mayonnaise made in one or two minutes using an immersion blender. My immersion blender has become a major kitchen appliance, right up there with the stand mixer, and I know how easy it is to use. No whisking is required. One merely has to hold the blender and watch the miracle emulsification occur.

Whisking was no longer an issue, so I just needed a recipe and, if possible, advice from someone who makes their own mayonnaise. Mayonnaise recipes abound, so I just had to try them until I found one I loved.

My first attempt made a thin mayo and tasted overwhelmingly like olive oil.  I learned that lesson, and ditched the olive oil in favor of safflower oil for my second batch.  Linda’s son Ben shared his recipe and I used those ingredient. This batch was a little thicker in consistency, but it didn’t seem zippy enough in light of my lifetime consumption of Miracle Whip, 

The third time’s the charm, and this third recipe seemed almost perfect to me. There's more acid, both vinegar and lemon juice, so the taste is zippier, not Miracle Whip zippy, but coming close. The consistency needs tweaking just a bit. I had difficulty mixing it into my coleslaw dressing, but it spreads nicely for Dennis’s sandwiches. Before beginning to tweak the consistency, I need to know more about the chemistry of emulsion and that calls for research.

How can one resist the plastic tide? One plastic jar at a time, that’s how. I won’t be sending any more Miracle Whip jars through the so-called “recycling” which will end up in the dump. This will hardly make a difference, but it’s all I can do. There’s a bonus for me, though, because I’m having fun learning to make mayonnaise and look forward to learn about making mustard when the plastic mustard container in our fridge is empty.

Copyright 2019 by Shirley Domer