Making Mayonnaise in Challenging Circumstances

Because I apparently have no life, I spent several hours today making mayonnaise.  Four different batches of mayonnaise.  I don't know what we're going to do with all of it.  Some of it probably will have to be tossed.  We just won't be able to use it all within the next two weeks.  But it's important to figure out what works now so we don't waste time and resources later.

So I've been making mayonnaise from our fresh eggs at home for years.  The recipe is right below.  Easy peasy.

Mayonnaise
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dry mustard
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
1 egg, the freshest possible
1 cup oil

In a blender, combine the first four ingredients well.  With the blender running, add in the oil in a very thin stream.  We're talking very thin, like this should take at least a minute or two.  After all the oil is added, continue to blend another 30-40 seconds.  Keeps for two weeks in the refrigerator.

I almost always use peanut oil.  I tried olive oil once and my husband hated it.

In the interest of being better prepared, I wanted to know if I could make this mayonnaise without a blender.  I figure mayonnaise is not a new invention, right?  People must have had it pre-electricity, right?  So I followed the above recipe, using a wire whisk instead of a blender.  And instead of adding the oil in a thin stream, I added about a quarter teaspoon at a time, and whisked rapidly between additions to incorporate the oil.  No matter how I tried, I could not get the mayonnaise to be as thick as it was with the blender.  But it worked okay and I would do it if I needed mayo and didn't have electricity.

But still wanting to be able to make a nice, thick mayonnaise without electricity, I tried out this device.

Revablend non electric portable blender

 

In theory, it should have worked very well.  But it was no better than the wire whisk, it took longer to pause to open the lid in order to add the oil in tiny amounts, and my shoulders are sore from rolling it to make it blend.  And it took longer than the wire whisk.  So that was a complete fail.

Also, in the interest of being a little better prepared to make mayonnaise even if I didn't have chickens, or they were in a molt or not laying for some other reason, I wanted to know if mayonnaise could be made with powdered eggs.  I used both my above recipe, substituting in powdered eggs and the requisite amount of water, as well as the following recipe proposed by someone somewhere on the 'net.

1 heaping tablespoon powdered egg
1 tablespoon water
1 pinch sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 - 3/4 cup oil

I combined everything just like I did for the first recipe--all the other ingredients and then the oil added in a very thin stream.  I tried the recipes three times, on two different days.  Both were barf.  They looked bad and smelled bad.  And yes, someone actually dared to publish the above recipe and say it works.  I really don't like it when people do that.  But it goes to show that it is really important to not just be an armchair prepper.  We really need to try things out and make sure we can replicate the results ourselves.

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Ketchup
Powdered eggs  11.17.18