Whole Grain Mustard
Delicious.
I think there is this perception that condiments are hard to make or not worth the time.
It has been my experience that that isn’t really true. I’m a pretty huge proponent of homemade salad dressings and don’t even get me started on homemade mayo.
Homemade ketchup is a lot of work, but leagues better than the store-bought stuff. I’m not a huge ketchup fan though so that one was a bit lost on me.
But allow me to introduce you to the one condiment that is completely easy to make at home, cheap, and delicious: Mustard.
Whole Grain Mustard
Yield: 1 cup of mustard
Prep Time:
Total Time:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup brown mustard seeds
1/4 cup yellow mustard seeds
1/4 cup beer
1 tablespoon brown sugar or honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
Helpful Equipment:
Food processor - I like the mini version for this.
Directions:
1) Add mustard seeds, vinegar, and beer to a glass container and let sit for at least 8 hours or up to two days.
2) Add sugar and salt and pulse mixture in a food processor until it reaches desired consistency.
3) Use immediately or store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a few weeks.
Recipe from the DIY America's Test Kitchen cookbook.
The Seeds
I’m not kidding in the slightest when I say that the hardest part of this recipe will be finding both kinds of mustard seeds. I had to look around at a few different places before I was able to snag both. If you do find them though, especially if you can find them in bulk form, they will be pretty cheap.
If you can’t find any locally, there’s always the online option. You can easily order both varieties at Penzey’s spice. For about $7 you could get a pound of mustard seeds which would make a lot of mustard.
Yellow seeds are kind of brown.
A few grocery stores in my area had the yellow seeds, but the brown ones were trickier to find for me.
I’m not really sure why this is. Most mustard recipes call for both so you’d think they would just sell them together!
Brown seeds are kind of black.
The Soak
This recipe is dumb simple, but it does require a bit of planning because you need to soak the mustard seeds.
Specifically, you need to soak them in vinegar and beer (any beer will do the trick).
Eight hours is the minimum recommended soak time, but I just did overnight which worked great.
A long soak.
Leave them at room temperature and just cover them so nothing gets in the mustard.
Also, don’t soak them in a metal bowl. The vinegar will react a bit with the metal and you’ll end up with a slightly metallic tasting mustard.
When you come back the next day, the mustard seeds will be plumped and soft.
I recommend eating one seed just like this just to get the awesome raw flavor.
Softened.
Making Mustard
Once your seeds are soaked, go ahead and add your brown sugar or honey and a pinch of salt.
Then just pulse the mixture in a food processor. I think a mini processor is perfect for this.
The nice thing about making this yourself is you can customize the grind. You could pulse it until it was very smooth if you wanted. Personally, I like a really whole grain texture to my mustard.
Just a quick spin.
Applications are endless.
For my money a good burger becomes a great burger with a good layer of this stuff.
The best way to use it!
If you’re curious, the burger pictured above is actually my homemade mushroom burgers which I’m in love with these days. I’ve made them multiple times since I originally posted them.
Don’t tell Grey Poupon, but this stuff was better and cheaper and required all of five minutes of my time to make.
Homemade mustard is a huge win in my book.
Gerry @ Foodness Gracious - "I love hitting up the farmers markets for stuff. In fact I actually se..."
Nick - "Thanks for the comment Billy! Glad you like the pizza. :)..."
Anne - "In the Fall (late September/October) they start bringing in Hatch Chil..."
Billy - "Hey Jeff - So you used an all clad pot. Was it made of stainless steel..."
This looks better than a recipe I’ve had for years and only made once. It required some cooking, rather than soaking. I bet this’ll be great in a homemade salad dressing! If you have any Indian food stores nearby, you’ll find black mustard seeds at a good price there. Plus a lot of other stuff if you’re a sucker for Indian food like me.
How’s the knee, Nick?
[Reply]
Nick replied: — September 20th, 2012 @ 11:50 am
Just graduated from therapy yesterday! Still have some healing to do, but definitely on the mend. Thanks for asking. :)
[Reply]
Wow, I didn’t think it was that easy! I’ve tried to find Brown mustard seeds around my area too, but no one seems to carry them. Looks like Penzy’s is the way to go. Definitely going to try this. Thanks a bunch!
[Reply]
I would never have thought to make my own mustard, but then hubby’s the only one who likes it, so maybe I’ll give it a try for a special occasion some time. Thanks!
[Reply]
Awesome recipe! I never realized it was so simple. Thanks for sharing!
[Reply]
I love homemade mayo and dressings so this is right up my aisle, but I’m curious about longevity of this, any idea of it’s refridgerated shelf life? We like mustard but in small doses, so a batch would take a while to work through in my house…
[Reply]
Nick replied: — September 20th, 2012 @ 11:51 am
Well, the original recipe says to enjoy within 4 days, but I’m not really sure why… I think it will keep for much longer than that. I’ve been eating mine for over a week now and it’s still awesome.
[Reply]
Your comment on homemade ketchup being too much work surprised me. Depending on just how “homemade” you want it, this recipe is very simple and quick! http://nourishedkitchen.com/homemade-ketchup/
[Reply]
Nick replied: — September 20th, 2012 @ 11:52 am
That does look much easier than the version I made Kate. Thanks for the link!
[Reply]
Can the beer be left out of the recipe and still be good. Any non alcoholic alternatives?
[Reply]
Nick replied: — September 20th, 2012 @ 11:52 am
Sure. I would just up the vinegar by 1/4 of a cup and you might need to add a tiny bit extra sugar to counteract the extra vinegar.
[Reply]
Is this mustard spicy? Or does that come from some other addition?
[Reply]
Nick replied: — September 20th, 2012 @ 1:53 pm
I thought it was pretty spicy. Not like… chili pepper spicy though.
[Reply]
Mustard isn’t hard to find, you just have to go to the seedy areas of town. [crickets chirping]
[Reply]
Love it! This looks soooooooooo easy and will make a great homemade christmas present, thanks!
[Reply]
I made the mustard yesterday and its a big hit. Very easy. I don’t have a little food processor so I put it in single serve blender and it blended it without any problem. I found both mustard seeds at the Savory Spice Shop. They have a few locations in the Denver area and they have an online store where you can order from and see if they have a store near you.
[Reply]
Did you refrigerate immediately after processing?
[Reply]
Nick replied: — May 29th, 2013 @ 12:45 am
Meh… doesn’t matter. You should refrigerate it eventually but it is fine at room temp for a few hours. I did refrigerate mine though.
[Reply]