Yes, I said I was taking a mini-vacation from blogging over the long weekend, but when our local fireworks show was rained out last night, I decided to make some paleo mayonnaise. I liked it (a lot), so I thought I’d share the recipe.
I’ve made mayo before with macadamia oil. It’s decent, but has a distinct nutty flavor. I’ve also made olive-oil mayo (didn’t much like the flavor) and I’ve ordered paleo mayo online (expensive, and I didn’t much like the flavor).
Someone left a comment suggesting I try bacon grease, so that’s what I did. Chareva saves strained bacon grease in Tupperware containers and uses it for frying. Her sweet potato fries are awesome. Apparently we’ve been eating more bacon than fried sweet potatoes, because she had three containers of bacon grease in the fridge. I was happy to find a way to use some of it.
Here are the ingredients:
1 cup of bacon grease (warmed enough to be liquid)
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 medium egg yolks (because our chickens lay medium-sized eggs)
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
I don’t know if I’d trust raw egg yolks from a grocery store, but I’m not concerned about the eggs from our hen-house. Anyway …
Put everything except the oil into a jar and blend briefly with a hand-held blender.
Then start drizzling in the oil while continuing to blend. It’s important to drizzle the oil in slowly – if you get rambunctious about it, you’ll get unmixed oil in your mayo.
After all the oil is mixed in, blend for another minute or so.
By the way, if you make your own mayo at home, it’s going to be yellowish, since egg yolks are yellow. I don’t know how the people who make commercial soybean-oil mayo manage to get theirs so white, but I suspect there are chemicals involved.
The final concoction had a mild bacon-smoky taste, but since I mostly use mayo on slices of meat, I’m fine with that. Perhaps someday I’ll try the same recipe with pure lard instead of bacon grease.
After the mayo cooled in the fridge, I used part of it to make tuna salad. Alana asked for some and snarfed it up. That’s my girl.
We now return to our regularly scheduled mini-vacation …
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On the subject of using bacon grease for mayo…
You know how bacon grease gets hard in the fridge? The same thing happens to bacon mayo in the fridge. It turns hard as a rock, and you don’t want to have to “melt” mayo to use it. Besides, when I used it right away after making it, before refrigeration, it tasted so much like bacon grease that it did not taste like mayo at all. It was NOT like mayo with a hint of bacon taste. Nothing against the taste of bacon grease, but when I want mayo, I want mayo-tasting mayo.
Here is my recipe for mayo, and I use a stick blender with all the ingredients added to a jar together – no dribbling in the oil a little at a time:
1 egg yolk
1 whole egg
1/2 Tbs. lemon juice
1 tsp. yellow mustard
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup MCT oil
1/4 cup coconut oil
I do not heat the coconut oil to melt it, but rather mix it in the the other oils first and then stir them until the coconut oil liquifies.
Making the mayo with 1/3 oil being coconut oil also helps it to have a nice consistency after refrigeration, due to the fact that coconut oil wants to get hard in the fridge. Using the amount I use keeps the mayo from turning hard, but it gives it just the right amount of firmness.
That looks worth a shot. I tried with just MCT oil once and it didn’t mix well.
What is MCT oil?!
It’s derived from coconut oil. The MCT (medium-chain triglycerides) part of coconut oil is supposed to be the most beneficial. It produces ketones and is a fat your body doesn’t like to store, so you tend to burn it.
Here are the ingredients to Julia Child’s mayo recipe:
3 egg yolks
¼ tsp. Dijon mustard
1 Tbs. wine vinegar
Little bit of salt to get things started
8 oz. oil
½ Tbs. lemon juice
I think she used light tasting olive oil.
If you use the refined olive oil instead of the extra virgin the taste is good! I can’t handle the extra virgin taste of olive oil or coconut oil.
I’ll have to give that a shot sometime. I’ve never looked for refined olive oil.
You might try looking for “lighter flavor” olive oil. That’s what I use and I think it makes delicious mayo. I use Dana Carpender’s recipe from her 500 paleo recipes book.
On the subject of using bacon grease for mayo…
You know how bacon grease gets hard in the fridge? The same thing happens to bacon mayo in the fridge. It turns hard as a rock, and you don’t want to have to “melt” mayo to use it. Besides, when I used it right away after making it, before refrigeration, it tasted so much like bacon grease that it did not taste like mayo at all. It was NOT like mayo with a hint of bacon taste. Nothing against the taste of bacon grease, but when I want mayo, I want mayo-tasting mayo.
Here is my recipe for mayo, and I use a stick blender with all the ingredients added to a jar together – no dribbling in the oil a little at a time:
1 egg yolk
1 whole egg
1/2 Tbs. lemon juice
1 tsp. yellow mustard
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup MCT oil
1/4 cup coconut oil
I do not heat the coconut oil to melt it, but rather mix it in the the other oils first and then stir them until the coconut oil liquifies.
Making the mayo with 1/3 oil being coconut oil also helps it to have a nice consistency after refrigeration, due to the fact that coconut oil wants to get hard in the fridge. Using the amount I use keeps the mayo from turning hard, but it gives it just the right amount of firmness.
That looks worth a shot. I tried with just MCT oil once and it didn’t mix well.
What is MCT oil?!
It’s derived from coconut oil. The MCT (medium-chain triglycerides) part of coconut oil is supposed to be the most beneficial. It produces ketones and is a fat your body doesn’t like to store, so you tend to burn it.
Here are the ingredients to Julia Child’s mayo recipe:
3 egg yolks
¼ tsp. Dijon mustard
1 Tbs. wine vinegar
Little bit of salt to get things started
8 oz. oil
½ Tbs. lemon juice
I think she used light tasting olive oil.
If you use the refined olive oil instead of the extra virgin the taste is good! I can’t handle the extra virgin taste of olive oil or coconut oil.
I’ll have to give that a shot sometime. I’ve never looked for refined olive oil.
You might try looking for “lighter flavor” olive oil. That’s what I use and I think it makes delicious mayo. I use Dana Carpender’s recipe from her 500 paleo recipes book.
As Rebecca and others mentioned, try mayo with Light-Tasting Olive Oil rather than EVOO. I use this simple whole egg recipe http://allrecipes.com/recipe/whole-egg-mayonnaise/ with White Balsamic vinegar, prepared Dijon mustard, and Light Olive Oil.
If the three flavors of olive oil are new to anyone, watch this ad from the Bertolli company in Australia. After a lesson from Chef Alfredo Caldo-Freddo, all will be clear :-))
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuZBGEDM33Y&feature=youtube_gdata_player
I didn’t realize there were so many types of olive oil. My concern, though, is that a lot of what’s sold as olive oil is a mix of olive oil and canola or some other oil.
As Rebecca and others mentioned, try mayo with Light-Tasting Olive Oil rather than EVOO. I use this simple whole egg recipe http://allrecipes.com/recipe/whole-egg-mayonnaise/ with White Balsamic vinegar, prepared Dijon mustard, and Light Olive Oil.
If the three flavors of olive oil are new to anyone, watch this ad from the Bertolli company in Australia. After a lesson from Chef Alfredo Caldo-Freddo, all will be clear :-))
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuZBGEDM33Y&feature=youtube_gdata_player
I didn’t realize there were so many types of olive oil. My concern, though, is that a lot of what’s sold as olive oil is a mix of olive oil and canola or some other oil.
Any chance you can put up the recipe for those sweet potato fries, provided it’s not somewhere in the archives already?
We haven’t posted it, but here it is:
Slice up sweet potatoes. Fry them in bacon grease until browned and crispy. Add salt.
Any chance you can put up the recipe for those sweet potato fries, provided it’s not somewhere in the archives already?
We haven’t posted it, but here it is:
Slice up sweet potatoes. Fry them in bacon grease until browned and crispy. Add salt.
Hi, big fan of your documentary here.
Just wanted to let you know that physicist Paul Davies mentions low-glucose diet (along with starvation) as one potential treatment for cancer in the following New Scientist lecture:
Cancer from a physicist’s perspective: a new theory of cancer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=yoQYh0qPtz8#t=57m
Thought you might be interested. Keep up the good work!
Thanks, I’ll give it a look.
Hi, big fan of your documentary here.
Just wanted to let you know that physicist Paul Davies mentions low-glucose diet (along with starvation) as one potential treatment for cancer in the following New Scientist lecture:
Cancer from a physicist’s perspective: a new theory of cancer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=yoQYh0qPtz8#t=57m
Thought you might be interested. Keep up the good work!
Thanks, I’ll give it a look.
Tom, Tom, Tom. What are you doing with bottled lemon juice? You think you’ve made good mayo? Sadly, no. You don’t know good mayo, until you’ve made it with freshly squeezed lemon juice. Bottled lemon juice is just plain nasty and should be banned. That said, thank you for the idea of using bacon grease for my mayo. 🙂
I found one lemon in the fridge. It was old and dry. So I made do.
Tom, Tom, Tom. What are you doing with bottled lemon juice? You think you’ve made good mayo? Sadly, no. You don’t know good mayo, until you’ve made it with freshly squeezed lemon juice. Bottled lemon juice is just plain nasty and should be banned. That said, thank you for the idea of using bacon grease for my mayo. 🙂
I found one lemon in the fridge. It was old and dry. So I made do.
Why should it be banned?
Okay, I was joking about the stuff being banned. People should be able to buy whatever they want. I keep “True Lemon” on hand for emergencies.
Just as I suspected: bacon (as well as bacon grease) is the answer to all of life’s problems.
My philosophy in a nutshell.
I use something called Extral Light Olive Oil for mayo (pretty sure I got that idea from Mary Dan Eades).
Just made some baconaise using your recipe, sort of… Didnt have quite enough bacon fat so I added a bit of the above mentioned light olive oil. It does harden up in the fridge but is, like you say, just bit softer than butter, and still useable for burgers and such. Don’t think it would work so good for tuna salad, etc. though.
Ours was great for tuna salad, but you have to let it soften a bit first.
Just as I suspected: bacon (as well as bacon grease) is the answer to all of life’s problems.
My philosophy in a nutshell.
I use something called Extral Light Olive Oil for mayo (pretty sure I got that idea from Mary Dan Eades).
Just made some baconaise using your recipe, sort of… Didnt have quite enough bacon fat so I added a bit of the above mentioned light olive oil. It does harden up in the fridge but is, like you say, just bit softer than butter, and still useable for burgers and such. Don’t think it would work so good for tuna salad, etc. though.
Ours was great for tuna salad, but you have to let it soften a bit first.
Love your whole take on things.
I have been making Mayo with the Costco lite 100% olive oil and and it looks and tastes just like the store bought.
The Mayo does turn white if it is whipped enough and keeps in the fridge for about a week just fine.
2 cups lite olive oil (approximate, add to color and constancy)
1 1/2 tbs lemon juice
1 1/2 tbs Brag raw apple cider vinegar
1 tsp dry mustard.
1/2 tsp fine nut salt.
1 whole egg.
I was unable to get a very stable emulsion using a mixer or stick whip, I had to extensively modify a small Cuisinart CH-4DC food chopper to get the mayo to look like store bought and have a good constancy.
Love your whole take on things.
I have been making Mayo with the Costco lite 100% olive oil and and it looks and tastes just like the store bought.
The Mayo does turn white if it is whipped enough and keeps in the fridge for about a week just fine.
2 cups lite olive oil (approximate, add to color and constancy)
1 1/2 tbs lemon juice
1 1/2 tbs Brag raw apple cider vinegar
1 tsp dry mustard.
1/2 tsp fine nut salt.
1 whole egg.
I was unable to get a very stable emulsion using a mixer or stick whip, I had to extensively modify a small Cuisinart CH-4DC food chopper to get the mayo to look like store bought and have a good constancy.
There’s also another solution to the mayonnaise “problem” in paleoland: abstinence. I don’t understant this compulsion to slather sauces, be it mayonnaise, ketchup or even chili paste, on everything. People, food has taste but by adding these extra sauces, you hide it and you will never learn how the distinguish between quality product and crap. I rant because I see it everywhere now, 20 years ago it would have been a big no, no here in France or Germany. I remember when my brother went for the 1st time to Britain, he brought home some strange concoctions like Worceister sauce, mango chutney and other bottled sauces. It was incredibly exotic. We knew ketchup at that time but it was used only for certain specific dishes and mayonnaise was exclusively done from scratch with peanut oil when we had visitors. Buying mayonnaise in jars was considered completely ludicrous, it’s expensive and tastes bad.
This rant was only to remember people that it’s not only the recommendations that have changed in last 50 years, but also the whole food culture and how we eat that has changed.
There’s also another solution to the mayonnaise “problem” in paleoland: abstinence. I don’t understant this compulsion to slather sauces, be it mayonnaise, ketchup or even chili paste, on everything. People, food has taste but by adding these extra sauces, you hide it and you will never learn how the distinguish between quality product and crap. I rant because I see it everywhere now, 20 years ago it would have been a big no, no here in France or Germany. I remember when my brother went for the 1st time to Britain, he brought home some strange concoctions like Worceister sauce, mango chutney and other bottled sauces. It was incredibly exotic. We knew ketchup at that time but it was used only for certain specific dishes and mayonnaise was exclusively done from scratch with peanut oil when we had visitors. Buying mayonnaise in jars was considered completely ludicrous, it’s expensive and tastes bad.
This rant was only to remember people that it’s not only the recommendations that have changed in last 50 years, but also the whole food culture and how we eat that has changed.
I feel like I’ve just been lectured by a vegan.
No, that was not what I intended to convey. The idea was that often the use of mayonnaise is there to make things pallatable that are not (dry tunafish, dry buns, cardboard like chicken breasts, you get the idea) and that thanks to low-carb and a better choice of ingredients, one doesn’t need these swallow-helpers anymore.
I see it every day at work at the canteen, people choose the normal menu item, which is generally a nice meat dish with its sauce and some veggie, but ask to not include the gravy or sauce made from the meat, because it’s too much calories, but then go on and put ketchup, mayo and/or mustard instead. So I have the question are these people genuinly retarded or do they only act that way, replacing a tasty well made sauce by real chefs by an industrial slurry, which is twice as fat or a sugary syrup-like substance that only has tomato printed on the label.
TL;DR eat real good mayonnaise in the right context, but you don’t need as much as you think you do.
I love to make dill tuna fish salad in cucumber slices ( I cut the slices thick and use a melon baller to create a divot). I also use it to make bacon deviled eggs. It’s a great way to add healthy fat to a diet and create some tasty portable snacks! Also, who doesn’t love a BLT lettuce wrap with a nice garlic aioli? Lots of uses for a good paleo diet.
I made this and stirred it into tuna salad as suggested. Had to make one change, though, used French’s mustard instead of mustard powder. Was surprised that it thickened up. Any way to make it more *tangy* like miracle whip? It was too much like mayo for my liking.
I made this and stirred it into tuna salad as suggested. Had to make one change, though, used French’s mustard instead of mustard powder. Was surprised that it thickened up. Any way to make it more *tangy* like miracle whip? It was too much like mayo for my liking.
I feel like there is a lot of room to experiment here. Someone mentioned that the emulsifiers from one egg could stretch to 48 pints of mayonnaise, but what about the reverse?
There’s a recipe I have for paleo bread made from coconut flour but it requires EIGHT egg whites per batch. So each time I make it, I’m left with eight egg yolks to discard or do something with. How would the mayonnaise end up if you used more yolks than was necessary? Something like eight yolks to 2 cups oil, for instance. Or maybe even eight yolks to one cup! Can it be done?
By reverse, do you mean can you make an egg from 48 pints of mayo? That sound like an expensive egg.
I use a stick blender inside a 1 c mason jar, and it takes all of 30 seconds. Fun chemistry lesson (suspension/emulsification! for the kids, too). I use the “light” olive oil (and the resulting mayo is creamy white). Bacon grease is tasty, but I never have enough.
I don’t think I’ve ever tried light olive oil. Again, my concern is the large number of bogus olive oils out there.
http://www.draxe.com/fake-olive-oil/
Where can I buy that handheld whisk blender in your photos? I’ve been hand-whisking, and it’s tiring! My stick blender always breaks the emulsion, but a whisk blender wouldn’t.
Chareva found that one at Wal-Mart. I believe she said it was $20.
I feel like there is a lot of room to experiment here. Someone mentioned that the emulsifiers from one egg could stretch to 48 pints of mayonnaise, but what about the reverse?
There’s a recipe I have for paleo bread made from coconut flour but it requires EIGHT egg whites per batch. So each time I make it, I’m left with eight egg yolks to discard or do something with. How would the mayonnaise end up if you used more yolks than was necessary? Something like eight yolks to 2 cups oil, for instance. Or maybe even eight yolks to one cup! Can it be done?
By reverse, do you mean can you make an egg from 48 pints of mayo? That sound like an expensive egg.
I use a stick blender inside a 1 c mason jar, and it takes all of 30 seconds. Fun chemistry lesson (suspension/emulsification! for the kids, too). I use the “light” olive oil (and the resulting mayo is creamy white). Bacon grease is tasty, but I never have enough.
I don’t think I’ve ever tried light olive oil. Again, my concern is the large number of bogus olive oils out there.
http://www.draxe.com/fake-olive-oil/
Where can I buy that handheld whisk blender in your photos? I’ve been hand-whisking, and it’s tiring! My stick blender always breaks the emulsion, but a whisk blender wouldn’t.
Chareva found that one at Wal-Mart. I believe she said it was $20.
I actually have a ton of luck with my stick blender. I doubled the eggs & halved the oil for a thicker mayo. I also add a pinch of cayenne pepper for a spicy bacon deviled egg snack. And I hope Michel Jacobson eats one & chokes on it!
He’d never eat anything with bacon in it.
I actually have a ton of luck with my stick blender. I doubled the eggs & halved the oil for a thicker mayo. I also add a pinch of cayenne pepper for a spicy bacon deviled egg snack. And I hope Michel Jacobson eats one & chokes on it!
He’d never eat anything with bacon in it.
Thanks for sharing this easy-to-make paleo mayo recipe! I would like to give this a try! By the way, I hope you’re enjoying your mini-vacation.
Thanks for sharing this easy-to-make paleo mayo recipe! I would like to give this a try! By the way, I hope you’re enjoying your mini-vacation.