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Homemade mayo - how long is it safe?


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I made some homemade mayo with pastured eggs and washed the outside of the shells before cracking. I keep it in the actual fridge, not the door. I've seen some recipes say it's good for 3-4 days, some for a week.

Anyway, I'm sort of paranoid about food poisoning, which is hilarious, considering the chemicals I used to eat on a daily basis without so much as batting an eye. But it's a mental thing; if something is past its use-by date, my brain starts screaming "Salmonella! E. coli! Listeria!" my tongue will swear it tastes funny, and I can't eat it without gagging.

I have mayo that is 8 days old. My husband insists that it tastes fine. I know whole eggs are good much longer than a week, but is that because they aren't cracked? How long do you keep your homemade mayo?

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I've eaten homemade mayo that was almost 3 weeks old without it tasting bad or causing me any trouble.

By the way, when I worked in a grocery store back in the 70s, we often stored eggs in crates on the floor of the store where the temp was about 72 degrees and kept selling those eggs for a month. Modern ideas about the requirement of refrigeration and freshness dates have changed a lot over the years.

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I use the rule of thumb of the mayo is good for as long as the egg is good. So I date by the date of expiration of the egg. I made Mayo last night with an egg dated Feb 13. So to me my Mayo is good until then. I will test it maybe a day or two after but this is my rule of thumb. I have not gotten sick.

Just as a side note here - I am someone who is very paranoid as I have been in the hospital and hooked up to a dialysis machine because of an infection from e-coli bacteria. I do not wish to have a repeat of this.

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OMG, my husband is a freak about this!!! I say: if it smells and looks good, eat it. But then again I work with food, and have taken several food safety classes... maybe that would help ease your worries?

Hubby on the other hand will toss ANYTHING by the sell by date, not even the expiration date. O.o I mean really, did those tea bags develop some sort of mutant killer virus one day after the expiration date?!!!!!!?

I have mayo that my sister made 2 weeks ago, and I'm still slathering it on everything :) Good Luck!

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Melissa from The Clothes Make the Girl says it's good until a week after the eggs would expire (store-given expiration dates are usually very, very conservative). http://www.theclothesmakethegirl.com/2010/06/03/the-secret-to-homemade-mayo-patience/

And if your husband ever eats cake batter/cookie dough before it goes in the oven, he doesn't get to complain about the raw eggs in the mayo ;)

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People tend to be paranoid about the mayo because of the raw egg. So long as you keep it refrigerated and out of the danger zone, it should be fine until after the expiration date of the egg. The acid (lemon juice or ACV) makes the environment too acidic for bacteria to thrive.

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Every time I doubled the recipe, I ended up throwing some out- twice now I have gone to eat it-probably a week after being made and it was bad. I now just make a single batch and haven't had to worry- it's gone before it could go bad. Having said all that, I admit I did not check the dates of the eggs I used- so it may be that I used them past their best time. But boy, is that stuff GOOOOOD !!!!:)

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I never bother with the dates on egg cartons. If it's past the use-by-date, I just test them to see if thet're ok. I fill a jug or a bowl with water and carefully put the eggs in it - any that still touch the bottom get used, any that actually float up from it get binned but I honestly can't remember the last time that happened :) so if the eggs are still good, I'll use any mayo that was made with them (well obviously not those ones but ones with the same date) A week or so past their date, I've never found any problems.

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I made my first batch of the homemade mayo and have yet to eat it. I'm worried about the raw egg in it. I know I just need to get over it and try it out. I used it to make the Italian dressing from "Well Fed" and am planning on eating it with my salad tonight. It still concerns me I'll be sick with raw egg in it.

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When I was a teenager, some of us made milk shakes with one or two raw eggs included to help us bulk up and look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. The eggs never hurt us even though bulking up took me 30 years to achieve.

I worried about raw eggs in my mayo at first, but I've been making my own mayo for going on 3 years now. With this experience under my belt, I am much more worried about the health consequences of store-bought mayo with all the unpronounceable ingredients in it.

Someone suggested that the lemon juice/vinegar in homemade mayo "cooks" the egg or resolves the issue of rawness somehow. Maybe like seviche is fish cooked in lime juice. I don't know, but I hope you enjoy your mayo!

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I love this post. I'm also freaked out by foods at their expiration date. I've only made mayo once and only ate it once. I got too freaked out. The acidity makes sense and I wish I knew that sooner! I might make some tomorrow since I feel a little better about eating it now. I can't tell you the number of times I decide not to make a recipe because I don't have a substitute for the mayo :)

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Holy crap...Just made some mayo and I've NEVER had it come out perfectly. The first time I made it, a hot oily nasty mess....the second time (and last) it was soupy and never really got thick. That was about a year ago. Today I figured I'd give it a go after reading this post and AMAZING! It was perfect within seconds. My stick blender even had a hard time incorporating the last bit of oil because the mayo was so thick. I am SOOOOO excited. I've read on here that a lot of people use apple cider vinegar instead of lemon....which was only difference for me. I'm sold...and it tastes better too.

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Just wanted to chime in to say that my first attempt was/is amazing! I'm not doing too badly on eating it all, either - it's a great veggie dip with some herbs for ranch dressing!

I also wanted to add that my fears about the raw egg were rather relieved as I made it because of how warm my immersion blender made it as I was cooking it. I mean, the container I was mixing it in was really warm! Between that and the acidity of the lemon juice (or apple cider vinegar), I was totally cool with it.

But I am a ceviche eater...oh, it's soooooooo good...mmm...especially the one I had on my second-to-last day in Chile years ago...

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Hmmmmm, so I probably need to google this, but I have a friend with chickens so she gives me eggs... She said the eggs have a natural coating on them that means you don't need to refrigerate them. (I beleive Alton Brown has said something similar) anyway without the grocery store sell by date... How long should I hold my Mayo? Assuming I ever succeed in making it... Two failed attempts so far.

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I never refrigerate my eggs. My sister, who is a microbiologist working in food safety, told me that as long as there is the right amount of acid in your mayo (just follow a standard recipe) or you cook the eggs, there's no issue with safety. My mayo never lasts long enough to go bad, but I've had it up to 3 weeks before.

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I used to worry a lot more about things like raw egg ingredients, because I was on a lot of immune-suppressing meds in the past. I'm still on one immune suppressor, at about the same level as a transplant recipient would take to prevent rejection issues. I eat the homemade mayo (my sister makes it). A batch honestly doesn't last me more than 2 weeks, because I loves it so :)

I've had no problems at all, eating it regularly for about 6 months now.

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I never refrigerate my eggs. My sister, who is a microbiologist working in food safety, told me that as long as there is the right amount of acid in your mayo (just follow a standard recipe) or you cook the eggs, there's no issue with safety. My mayo never lasts long enough to go bad, but I've had it up to 3 weeks before.

I am totally going to scour the thrift shops for a really cute bowl to keep my eggs from pastured chickens in. I always get two pretty sea foam colored eggs and the rest are brown. How pretty will that look on my counter. Totally fits with my color scheme. :)

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I made mayo yesterday and it is thick, thick, thick and tastes the closed to 'that' brand as I have made so far! I used the recipe from Well Fed and did a few adjustments. Here is what I did--

1 1/4 cup extra light tasting olive oil

1 whole egg and 1 yolk

1 tsp prepared mustard, plus a few shakes of dry

1/2 tsp salt

a dash or two of paprika

1 T lemon juice

1 T apple cider vinegar.

YUM! and THICK! Very pleased with it. I like the lemon juice, but my last batch was too lemony, and I am not a big fan of all vinegar, so I decided to try with one T of each and for me, it was the perfect balance, as well as using enough salt. I am a happy mayo maker!

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