Homemade mayo.... safe?

[Mary St]

I really like the idea of making my own mayo on the program. But after decades of scary headlines about the dangers of raw eggs, I'm a bit nervous about making mayo. How do you ensure the raw eggs are safe?

[mae tanner]

Hello, @Mary St!

Homemade mayo is, in my opinion, the BOMB! So super easy to make and tastes way better than store-bought versions in almost every case--and, you can make a great variety of sauces & dressings from a simple base recipe. I love the easy addition of good fat to my meals!

That being said, there's really no way to completely ensure that the eggs you use are uncontaminated (stats say that 1 in 20,000 eggs are contaminated), but there are ways to reduce the likelihood of getting sick from eating homemade mayo: 

*Buy refrigerated eggs and keep them refrigerated. Store them inside on the shelves, not in the door as the door is the warmest part of the fridge.

*Wash hands and surfaces prior to & after handling raw eggs (You're probably familiar with all this--I just don't want to assume, well, anything!)

*Refrigerate products made with raw eggs as soon as you make it or immediately after you eat/serve it.

These are all pretty basic rules of thumb, and if you are very concerned about this, try making mayo with coddled eggs. Here's a link as to how to do this if you're not familiar with this way of preparing eggs:

https://www.afamilyfeast.com/how-to-coddle-an-egg/

The website also has a recipe for homemade mayo, but it is not compliant, so I recommend using 1 whole coddled egg and 2 coddled yolks for a compliant mayo recipe that calls for 2 cups of oil.

For the record, in my years of making homemade mayo, I've never had an issue with me or my family getting sick. We make a LOT of mayo at my house, and we always use it up before it turns--most homemade mayo will last a week or more in the fridge.

Good luck, and reach out if you have any questions!

best,

~mae

[Mary St]

Thanks Maw, that makes me feel better about the mayo. I'm going to try it Sunday when I start the program!

[Amura]

Also mayo recipes call for an acid (either lemon juice or vinegar), it's not for taste only. Acidic enviroments are safer.
So do not skip it  

Low temperatures are certainly essential.
But even so I would encourage you to eat your homemade mayo as soon as possible, preferably within 1-2 days. 
(I know my fellow whole30ers feel this is "extreme" but, in my opinion, it's because you've only been making mayo for a handful of years. In my country homemade mayo is traditional, a quite normal thing to do in every household - to the point where there are laws regulating mayo! And nobody would keep mayo for over 2 days. Just in case.) 

[littleg]

We've been making homemade mayo for at least 5 years.  I buy the best eggs I can find (like local cooperative, farmers market, neighbors, etc) and do wash them before using.  We have our own chickens now and I still wash mayo-eggs.  I ate it while pregnant (made hubs eat it for 2 days before I'd eat a new batch ), feed it to my toddler (he'd eat the whole jar), have made it in many cooking classes (people L.O.V.E. it )...

People get sick in restaurants, from packaged salad, from cantaloupe, etc.  We also keep it for way longer than 2 days.  I'd say an average jar is used up within a week but I'm sure we've gone out to two weeks.  Smell it... you'll know if its gone bad.

But homemade mayo is delicious!

[LindaLee]

I've been eating it since doing my first Whole30 in 2013...never an issue!

[AllyB]

We made a lot of homemade mayo.  The mayo comes out better if you use a room temperature egg....which scares most people.  We have our own chickens and get fresh eggs and have never had a problem.