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I recently made a batch of homemade mayonnaise, having found myself with left over egg yolk from another recipe. I decided not to flavor the mayonnaise with any mustard. The mayo ended up tasting like mostly oil. I decided not to use mustard since the store brands never taste like mustard. How can I adjust the flavor so that my mayo tastes like the typical mayo you get in stores (particularly Hellmann's brand)?

For the record, here is how I prepared the mayo:

For every 1 egg yolk I have, I added 2 table spoons of white vinegar to activate the emulsifier. Then I slowly dripped in vegetable oil until the mixture started to look a bit like yellow mayonnaise. At that point I started adding and stirring into the mixture large portions of vegetable oil until I got to my desired thickness (I like the thicker mayo). I should note that the color was still a very light yellow, perhaps not enough vinegar.

derobert
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Nil
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    But...why would you want your mayonnaise to taste like Helman's? The point of home-made mayonnaise (or of top-quality mayonnaise) is that it should be *better* than Helman's! I would add mustard, though not too much. I also recommend lemon juice (unless it's already sour enough) and pepper. I assume you have already added plenty of salt. – Cerberus Jan 16 '14 at 03:51
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    @Cerberus I have a particular pallet and I've grown accustomed to Helman's flavor. I would like to know how to curve the flavor towards Helman's and from there tweak it to where I find it optimal. Also, the price of Helman's is quite a bit more than say Kraft and I can't bring myself to pay the difference, especially when I can make Mayo at home at a substantially reduced price. As for the mustards, I know that different kinds of mustards result in different tastes, so I don't know the right combination. Last time I added honey Dijon mustard and it tasted like the old mcdonalds honeymustard – Nil Jan 16 '14 at 07:40
  • @Cerberus the honey mustard from like 20 years ago...Not that's a bad thing. I loved that honey mustard, not like that spicy honey mustard they use now. I think their old recipe must have included mayo. – Nil Jan 16 '14 at 07:41
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    Mustard powder is a better option than actual mustard imo. – Stefano Jan 16 '14 at 09:45
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    Checking the my Hellmann's jar, you'll need to add lemon juice and sugar. Also, whole egg, not just yolk. – derobert Jan 16 '14 at 09:57
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    While little talked about, I suspect the quality of the oil has a big influence on the commercial products; not sure how you would even find out what characteristics the oil in a commercial mayonnaise has or how to reproduce it at home. – SAJ14SAJ Jan 16 '14 at 12:50
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    I think you'd be better off adjusting your taste to *real* mayonnaise flavor. Also, a great side benefit of making your own mayonnaise is that you realize that it's almost all oil. Use good oil; use garlic; use whatever spices and herbs that you like. Homemade food means you're making what *you* like. The mass-market products are optimized for production cost mostly. – Pointy Jan 16 '14 at 22:55
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    @Pointy there are a large number of different mustards made from different mustard pland seeds and a variety of different combinations. I'm looking for someone to point me in the right direction. I need an answer that is a little less vague than the ones given in the comments so far. I was hoping some else had experiment before and knows how each kind of mustard affects taste i.e. makes it more bitter or sour, makes it spicier, maybe one kind of mustard is more bland than another, which particular ingredient (whether it be mustard, lemon, garlic) contributes to that store bought taste etc – Nil Jan 16 '14 at 23:22
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    @Nil There is http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/hellmanns-best-foods-mayonnaise-recipe.html ... that came from Google. Haven't tried it myself. It looks sane, compared to the ingredients listed on the Hellmann's bottle (though I'd use the full egg, because the bottle says they did). Also an immersion blender, if you have one, is great for making thick mayo. – derobert Jan 17 '14 at 02:57
  • Here's a recipe that is similar to the Japanese brand Kewpie, which many folks love: http://www.chefsteps.com/activities/chefsteps-mayo-no-4 – Michael Natkin Jan 18 '14 at 06:43
  • @Pointy there is merit in both. And making something that has all the qualities of a storebought product, then improving on it taste and/or health wise sounds fun :) – rackandboneman May 12 '15 at 10:53

4 Answers4

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I have to make both mayonnaise and aioli every day at my job. We sometimes do R&D on off days and we spent quite some time trying to imitate our favorite gourmet mayonnaise. I think that we were successful, here are some tips:

  1. Lemon juice comes closer to that crisp tartness that I taste in even cheaper mayonnaise. Try using the juice from lemons, limes, or both and see where that gets you.

  2. The store bought brands don't taste like mustard, but let me emphasize that mustard is vital to getting you closer to that taste. There is a specific "tang" to store bought mayonnaise that doesn't come from the acid -- you can get very close to this tang with mustard. I use a good quality dijon when I make mayonnaise and the difference is noticeable. Keep adding dijon in small amounts and observe the change in taste. I end up 2 - 3 tablespoons to my batch.

  3. Experiment with fresh garlic and/or garlic and onion powders.

  4. Try adding white pepper instead of black pepper and see where that gets you.

  5. I add a little water at the end. I find that it tones down some of the intensity of the acid and dijon.

Also, you don't have to add your acid in the beginning. In fact, I almost always add mine after the initial "setting" of the emulsification. It is easier to control the thickness and flavor of my mayo; I use my acid for my first thinning and then add oil to adjust from there.

JoshieSimmons
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    Also: A common trick in lactovegetarian/vegan cooking to make something taste more "eggy" is using black salt (kala namak) ... careful with that stuff if not familiar with it! – rackandboneman May 12 '15 at 10:56
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Industrial mayonnaise is much less yellow because it uses less egg yolk. In fact, a single egg yolk can make up to 6 gallons (!) of mayonnaise if you add warm water in the process (vinegar should do the trick) before adding more oil.

SteffX
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    While this may be true, it doesn't explain how to make it **taste** more like store bought mayo. Are you suggesting that the OP use fewer egg yolks? Is that the only change? – Catija Aug 02 '16 at 21:12
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Further to JoshieSimmons answer, It's worth pointing out that emulsions of any kind amplify the flavor of the oils in them. You might, for example, have an olive oil that is delicious on its own, over bread, but is overpowering in a mayonnaise, or emulsified dressing. To imitate the 'non' taste of a commercial mayonnaise, you would have to use a neutral oil (sunflower is good), a very mild mustard to help emulsifying, and less acid than most recipes for home-made. Balance an increased amount of oil with water, rather than vinegar / other acid. Taste as you go, first time round.

Robin Betts
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Want the taste of store bought? Add a ton of bad stuff to it, like a ton of E-Number Additives :P

Also the emulsifying process, has nothing to do with the Vinegar, it is the Egg Yolk and Oil, Mustard stabilizes it, i recommend spending 30 Seconds whisking just the Egg Yolk and Mustard, then slowly add the Oil, and wait seasoning it till the end, as well as adding Vinegar / Lemon Juice, that way, emulsify way better, if you need to make smaller batches :)

Also the more Yellow Colour, is usually made by using "Turmeric" as it is healthy, adds Colour, but not really any flavour, just like they do with Curries or other things they want to be "Yellow" :)

Ole
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    E-numbers equals bad stuff? Seems you are a bit misinformed about what E-numbers mean. Turmeric is E-100(II) – roetnig Jan 09 '18 at 10:17