Rescue my mayo

[KJT 27]

I made the Well Fed mayo recipe the other night, and it didn't quite work. This was my second attempt. The first time I made it, it curdled pretty badly, but I rescued it by mixing in an egg yolk, and it turned out perfect. This time it came out beautifully smooth, but it didn't thicken. It looks and tastes lovely, but it's pretty liquid. Can I fix it with an egg yolk again? Or should I just use it for creamy salad dressings and start over to get something spreadable?

I used cider vinegar this time instead of lemon juice. I'm not sure if that makes a difference.

[lilangel4824 40]

Did you refrigerate it at all? I made mine with ACV as well, and let it sit in fridge for 30 minutes and it thickened a little.

[Tom Denham 10036]

When my mayo doesn't work, I usually add more apple cider vinegar and it tightens up nicely.

[Wendyland 29]

I haven't done it, but I've read that you can still use your runny mayo in salad dressing where the thick consistency is less than an issue. I've only had mine not thicken once. I use the well fed recipe, but I use an immersion blender. I think mine didn't set up right because I dumped too much oil in at the beginning. It does really well if I just add in a tablespoon, blend a little, and then add a little more oil. I think the immersion blender method is a little more forgiving than the blender method, which really needs the oil added extremely slowly.

[Kim Christensen 155]

Making it with an immersion blender is key IMO. So so easy. Put your eggs, salt, vinegar in the bottom of the glass. Put oil on top. Put in immersion blender. PULSE. One quick pulse. Then another. Nothing but one second bursts until done. It works so well and is so easy.

[Aberrantatavia 346]

If mine doesn't work, I take the mayo out of the blender, dump another egg into the blender, and then add the mayo back. Thickens beautifully

[KJT 27]

Thanks, everyone! I guess I need to go home and play with it some more. (And possibly invest in an immersion blender.)

[Derval 3320]

This happened me yesterday - thin runny mayo. Rather than dump it, I poured it into a jug and started from scratch again. BUT as soon as the mayo "took" after about half a cup of oil, I switched to using the thin mayo in place of the oil. So I ended up with a batch and a half and super luscious mayo and no waste!

[Sharon Simpson Thumann 378]

If my mayo turns out thin I use it for salad dressing and just make another batch of mayo.

[Carolyn Koron Parise 36]

I used the Well Fed recipe. Thickened right up. Make sure the lemon juice and egg are room temp. and you put in a 1/4 cup of the OO then drizzle the rest. I did mine in a single serving blender. Turned out delicious!

[michelle_w 5]

I am going to conquer mayo if it kills me (and my budget!!). I was at Target yesterday, looking at immersion blenders and food processors. I could only purchase one. I ended up with the food processor for it's multi-function but I'm probably going to end up buying the immersion blender as well...JUST for the mayo making! I hate to have one-purpose kitchen tools but I also hate not having mayo.

What else do you use your immersion blender for?

[Derval 3320]

I have an immersion blender but I don't use it for mayo, usually soups and sauces. I use the jug blender on my processor for mayo.

[roupl 49]

I am going to conquer mayo if it kills me (and my budget!!). I was at Target yesterday, looking at immersion blenders and food processors. I could only purchase one. I ended up with the food processor for it's multi-function but I'm probably going to end up buying the immersion blender as well...JUST for the mayo making! I hate to have one-purpose kitchen tools but I also hate not having mayo.

What else do you use your immersion blender for?

You can use an immersion blender to puree soups while they are still in the pot, you can buy immersion blenders with a whisk attachment which you can use to make coconut milk whipped cream, you can make pesto...basically I use my immersion blender for small jobs when I don't want to go through the trouble of cleaning my 10 cup food processor.

[roupl 49]

Also, I LOVE this video. Fool proof mayo, seriously. You can't screw it up. The trick is to let all of your ingredients comes to room temperature prior to blending and use extra light tasting olive oil (or some other neutral tasting oil of your choice)

[jayelle 86]

I made my mayo in my food processor - I was able to dribble the oil through a slot in the top of the cover while the processor was running. Super easy!

[Renee 205]

What else do you use your immersion blender for?

SOUPS! I boil/steam veggies. Add homemade broth, spices. Blend. Eat.

Also works great for fruit purée (Bake some apples until they soften. Blend. Eat). Or fruit coulis (blend berries, add a bit of water for consistency)

[smacd 44]

Another way to rescue it is to get a clean bowl, add a spoonful of mustard, and then just slowly hand whisk the curdled-broken-unruly mayo back in. It's so delicious (especially if you use a good whole grain mustard) that I was kinda hoping my last batch would break so I could do it again!

I've been on a mayo experiment adventure and loving it.

It's a Julia Child's rescue tip if you want to Google it.

[SpinSpin 1948]

When I have a batch that doesn't work, I put an egg yolk in the bottom of my blender and then slowly drizzle in the broken mayo. Thickens up quite nicely, almost like Kraft thick, and is a lovely shade of creamy yellow. Actually, I have had the last few batches not work, and I have been adding an extra yolk in the beginning and no broken mayo!

[lilangel4824 40]

I made homemade mayo the other day and used my Ninja and it came out perfectly! Preceeded to make some ranch dressing wtih it which also turned out yummy!

[Michaela Elmore Cogswell 79]

skip the dribbling and use the video above and an immersion blender. It works EVERY time. The page the video comes from has a good write up explaining why.

[Sally Kingston 12]

I always use a food processor, because that's what I have, and have never had a problem. I drizzle it really slowly and have decided to just pretend it's meditation time or something, which makes it less frustrating.

[KelKel 34]

skip the dribbling and use the video above and an immersion blender. It works EVERY time. The page the video comes from has a good write up explaining why.

works every time ... except when I'm making it!!! I had a total fail with the immersion blender thing last night but I did it whisking by hand and it turned out BEAUTIFULLY, and I got an arm work out.

[Terez 227]

I use a food processor. I bought an immersion blender because I heard how much easier it is to make mayo with it, but the mayo was runnier than I like. The one I make with the food processor is thicker. Same ingredients and proportions.

I use my food processor frequently and it's quick for me to do the cleanup. Plus it's easier to scrape the mayo off the food processor blade than it is trying to scrape it out of the immersion blender cage around that blade.

[EileenRBe 212]

I've had the same difficulties with the immersion blender. The food processor works great for me. Sally. I love that about meditation time while drizzling.

[boobeary 9]

I just wanted to thank everyone's suggestions. I attempted my first mayo this afternoon following a basic paleo mayo recipe from paleospirit.com (lemon juice, organic mustard, cayenne and light olive oil with the eggs). I tried in the blender adding just a bit of olive oil. Nothing seemed to be happening then I read a NY TImes article about adding a teaspoon of water to the yolks before the water. I tried again doing this and tried using a whisk. It seemed to be going nowhere again, but I didn't let myself add to much more oil. I looked at these comments on the forum, added a yolk to the blender, added my mixture, and continued adding the oil very slowly. It ended up with the most amazing, creamiest mayo I've tasted! I don't know if I waited long enough to stir the first time so maybe it would have turned out? But just want to thank the forum for seeing me through this. DAMN, it's good.