Mayo spoils quickly

[Michelle81]

I have been making the basic mayo recipe and it spoils after 2 days. What am I doing wrong?

[SugarcubeOD]

What exactly do you mean by spoils?  Like actually goes off or separates? Do you put it in the door of the fridge?  Sometimes if that fridge is opened and closed a lot, the temperature in the door isn't consistent so maybe move it to a shelf? Contrary to that, if you have it on a shelf somewhere that's really cold and it gets temporarily frozen or way too cold, it could also go off.

Are you using good eggs with a long remaining shelf life?  Is your acid fresh?  Hard to really say without knowing what you're doing but I've honestly not heard this concern too often - usually people want to know how long mayo is good for and we tell them to the expiration of the egg but good luck getting it to last that long cause usually people eat it before that date ever comes and goes.

[Michelle81]

It doesn’t separate it just tastes awful. I don’t put it on the fridge door but on the shelf. I’ve tried adding more lemon juice. It still goes bad. The eggs usually have a month shelf life. I’ve tried organic, pasteurized and regular eggs. Should I add vinegar and lemon juice?

[ShannonM816]

38 minutes ago, Michelle81 said:

It doesn’t separate it just tastes awful. I don’t put it on the fridge door but on the shelf. I’ve tried adding more lemon juice. It still goes bad. The eggs usually have a month shelf life. I’ve tried organic, pasteurized and regular eggs. Should I add vinegar and lemon juice?

Does it taste good when you first make it? The kind of oil and acid that you use and any herbs or spices you use can definitely change how it tastes, so if you start with an oil you don't like the taste of, you're probably not going to like the mayo -- extra virgin olive oil, for instance, makes a mayo that has a very strong, bitter flavor, while light-tasting olive oil or something like macadamia nut oil or avocado oil will not have that strong flavor. This would be noticeable from the moment it is made, though, so if it tastes good when you make it and then tastes bad later, that's not what's going on.

What are you storing it in? A glass jar, or plastic? Plastic could retain flavors from foods you've stored in it in the past which might cause the bad taste. Check any container and lid you plan to use beforehand -- close it up, empty, for a while on your counter, and then open it and take a big sniff to see if there's any lingering odors. And if you're using metal, that can react with the acid from your lemon juice or vinegar and make some funky smells and tastes too.

[Michelle81]

It tastes great the first day but on the 3rd day tastes awful. I usually store it in a glass container with a plastic lid. I don’t notice the lid having a smell. I use juice from a fresh lemon or what looks fresh at the store. Should I try bottled lemon juice? The food processor uses a metal blade though and I use a stainless steel spoon to scoop it out.

[ShannonM816]

That is weird. The metal blade and spoon are fine, I meant more if you stored it in a metal bowl or if it was touching a metal lid on the jar.

I'm not really sure what to tell you. Double check that your fridge is keeping things at the right temperature, but I think you'd notice other things spoiling more quickly if it wasn't.