So much better than anything store bought. I make a fresh batch every weekend and it lasts all week in the fridge.

One whole egg and one additional yolk from another (from my own flock of free ranging, pastured, hens) into a mixing container. Into that add a couple of tablespoons full of distilled white vinegar, a half teaspoon of yellow mustard, a quarter teaspoon of salt, extra light olive oil (not extra virgin or even regular olive oil, as they have a decidedly non-mayonnaise type flavor that produces the wrong result) of a volume to match the total volume of what's in there. Now put a stick style blender in all the way to the bottom and blend. Continue to add more extra light olive oil as you blend till it assumes the consistency you expect from mayonnaise, and you're done.

PS Light olive oil is just olive oil that's been so much filtered as to eliminate the distinctive olive oil flavor, so it can be used in a more versatile manner.

Ok, I'll bight. Why the mustard?

Emulsifier.

I don't know, but most recipes include a little.

Making it yourself is not only much better tasting, but much healthier when you consider that even a popular brand like Hellmann's is interested in maximizing profits by using the cheapest-ass ingredients that can still be classified as fit for human consumption, such as soybean oil.

I recommend only using eggs from truly free range hens to minimize the risk of salmonella.

Exactly why I plan to give it a try ! Thank you !

You're welcome.

Bet that makes a great egg salad sandwich!

Sure. Just made chicken salad with it last weekend.

I'm going to give this a try.
And if you don't have access to free range, you can buy pasteurized eggs.

That I don't know. You can buy store bought brands of eggs that take pride in regularly testing their chickens and eggs for salmonella, however. Before getting my own flock, I used to buy from such a company, called The Country Hen.

Here's what their packages look like. See if you can find it. Inside the carton they used to include an insert describing their testing procedures, and their confidence that they only sell eggs from salmonella free chickens.

Y'all might find this article interesting: Link

Thanks, its good. The wifes using it for deviled eggs right now. Briskets resting.

Brisket sammiches tomorrow with the rest.

Awesome! Glad you liked it.

http://naldc.nal.usda.gov/download/36509/PDF

"Commercial-free-range" is a joke. When I say free range, I mean TRULY free range, i.e., at dawn they're released into a pasture, and they put themselves to roost at dusk where they're locked up for the night. What passes for "free range" in commercial egg production is basically the absence of cages, with access for thousands of birds to enter a small strip of dirt out of doors for an hour a day.

This is how my hens spend their days.



And here's a picture of a typical "commercial-free-range" egg farm.

About the title - can you leave it in the ground over the winter like parsnips?

As you know, Wikipedia titled that picture "Commercial cage free hens indoors", not free range.

Here is the pic Wikipedia labeled "Commercial free range hens outdoors".



That article noted the perception of higher nutritional quality in free range eggs, but the results are mixed.

There is a lower incidence of Salmonella in free range eggs, but it's still there.

Cleaning standards have improved and results in a lower incidence of Salmonella in commercial eggs, too.

I don't care what it was titled, the legal standard for "free range" on the label is essentially cage free, plus a minimum of one hour access to outdoor ground each day on natural earth (which usually translates to a small hatch being opened for them for an hour, regardless of whether they use it). That's a very low standard, and the vast majority of commercial "free range" egg producers go that far and no further in the direction of what most people imagine when they think "free range." Most imagine something like what I do.

interesting direction this thread has gone. I would imagine the level of risk goes up as the hens stay outside longer. wind, rain, storms, cold, etc including predators, breaks in the fence, even contamination from free flying bird visitations bringing disease. the benefits of being outdoors are obvious also.

having worked on a ton of commercial laying and broiler houses, I know keeping them inside all the time is a part safety measure, and part production measure.

we grew up with free ranging layers, and always kept an eye out for cars, wild predators, and domestic dogs, etc, plus having to roam around and pick up stray eggs.

I don't roam around picking up stray eggs. If you know what you're doing, the hens always lay in their nest boxes. They are protected by a chain link fence around their pasture from stray dogs. In three years, I've lost only one to predators, because I lock them up securely at night after they've put themselves to roost at dusk. The benefits to health and nutritional quality FAR outweigh (not even close) any economic advantages gained by keeping them cooped up 24/7.

Do you have the required 15-cm of perching space per hen? They look a little tight!

You're only seeing one of three perches on the roost. The top one is reserved for the popular hens.

kudo's to your system. no complaints here. it reminds me of about 1958.

your six or so hens with no rooster in the backyard is a different beast than 100,000 broilers or some 20,000 layers to deal with. carry-on, and be good to those chickies.

Thanks Gus. Currently, I've got eight hens and one rooster (an Australorp). I just hatched out two chicks in an incubator from him eleven days ago. Not sure of their sex, though.



Here's their sire.

I can't sex a chick either, hat's off to those who can, and do it rapidly.

we always raised rhode island reds and dominiques for the most part. a few white layers, game chickens and bantams sometimes got mixed in when we adopted a flock from time to time. but the rhode islands were the bedrock variety. good for eggs and for meat, and hearty.

Yes, I've found that to be the case with RIRs. Great foragers, too. Only drawback to them is that they just won't ever go broody, so you're stuck incubating the eggs if you want more. I want to buy some Brahma hens so I can delegate that job to them. The Brahmas are very much oriented as a breed towards brooding and raising their own chicks.

there's nothing quite like getting flogged by an old hen while she's protecting her brood.

Got it all over me, my experience with homemade mayo is it settles out, and gets pretty gross after a few days.

Sorry, Hellmans for me........best foods in the west.

Make it right and that won't happen. The mayonnaise in my picture was already six days in the fridge. That's all that was left of the original batch.

My dad used to make mayo at home. It was great and lasted just fine. If it's breaking then the ingredient proportions are off or there's an emulsifier problem.

I agree.

Can you make homemade Miracle Whip?

Or a bad ground.

Sure, but you'd need a chemical lab.

Some teens just use an old sock.

36 posts..18 are trh...can we say attention whore?

I tryed it 35 years ago, maybe I'll give it another spin.

Gotta run it through a Fram filter!

Gonna give this recipe a try. Got my own free-range eggs to use too. Thanks TRH.

Should be good on a BLT with the fresh 'maters coming on!

Hell I might try it with plain ol dangerous store bought eggs.

Looks delish!

Just reposting this because someone asked me for my old mayo recipe, and here's the thread where I posted it.

No comparison, Ol lady has been making it for years. None better

Do you have a recipe for ketchup?

Back to the original statement, wouldn’t the acid in the vinegar pretty much eliminate this risk?

I make fresh Caesar dressing all the time with no worries, because of the lemon juice.

Wife started a new job as nanny for the family at a big farming/trucking operation. They run free-range hens for the staff to take home the eggs. They’re always telling her to take more.

This is her excuse to do so.

Actually, I eat very little mayo. This time of year on bacon and tomato sammiches is about it.

But i think I will give this a try.

Makes no sense here as I may eat mayo once a month, if that.