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I've tried two somewhat improvised recipes for mustard, and so far they've both seemed pretty lacking. I did small batches to prevent waste.

#1 was:

  • 1 tbsp water
  • 1 tsp white wine
  • 1 tbsp cracked brown mustard seed
  • 1 tbsp mustard powder
  • (wait 10 minutes for heat reaction)
  • 1 tbsp white vinegar
  • 1 tsp grated horseradish
  • salt

#2 was:

  • 2 tsp water
  • 2 tsp white wine
  • 1 tbsp cracked brown mustard seed
  • 4 tsp mustard powder
  • (wait 5 minutes for heat reaction)
  • 1 tsp cider vinegar
  • 1.5 tsp grated horseradish
  • salt

Both times, after about 6-12 hours in the fridge, they tasted like almost nothing. I got a bit of the horseradish heat, but very little of anything else. It was plenty thick, so it's not like a too high liquid / mustard ratio.

I really just wanted to check here, but I have a strong suspicion that 12 hours is not long enough to wait to judge the true flavor. I've heard that it can take a few days for it to be good, but I've never read anything about what's bad about it right away (too hot, bitter, etc). Is that my only problem here or does my recipe need further tweaking?

Tesserex
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2 Answers2

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When you make an acidic mustard paste it can take a long time before you get the pungency of mustard, but the benefit is it will last longer in the fridge.

If you used just cold water and not wine or vinegar, it will get mustardy more quickly, but the product will also have a shorter shelf life.

Escoce
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    Escoce, if you wanted quick mustard, could you make your recipe with just the water until the mustard flavor develops then add in the wine and or vinegar? – Debbie M. Jun 11 '16 at 05:56
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    @DebbieM. that's actually the idea I was going for based on something I read. Start with just water or other non-acids to get the flavor reaction going, then add vinegar after the waiting period to lock it in place by slowing the reaction down. I read that the longer you wait the milder it is. – Tesserex Jun 11 '16 at 06:16
  • @DebbieM. I don't see why not, keep tasting it until it has the pungency you want, then stabilize it with acidics. – Escoce Jun 11 '16 at 16:13
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    @Tesserex you may not have waited long enough, this is where tasting is important. It can still take quite a long time depending on your mustard. Yellow (or white) mustard takes less time to fully express, but brown or black mustard can take hours or days. – Escoce Jun 11 '16 at 16:15
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I don't count mustard time to being ready in hours, but rather in days, usually 3-5 for brown mustard. And I leave it on the counter at room temperature until it's where I want it, then it goes in the fridge. Homemade mustard at 12 hours is pretty awful.

LMAshton
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