Thursday, December 2, 2010

Making Homemade Mustard Part 1

Most of the gifts we give for Christmas are homemade jellies, jams and other delicious treats. This year I wanted to make something a little different to add in to their basket of goodies. I decided to make different varieties of mustard. After looking long and hard on the internet for mustard seed in bulk, we decided to take a little day trip to Philadelphia. There is a great spice shop with good prices in the Italian Market. There are also a couple of good Italian cheese shops....and we always need some good cheese for the holidays to serve with my jams and jellies!!


It took me some time to find recipes and then decide which ones I wanted to make. I finally narrowed it down to four different mustards.....which will probably turn in to five! Making mustard takes takes some time. I didn't realize that it needs to sit in a cool dark place for 2 days to 8 weeks, depending on the recipe, to age before it reaches the desired pungency level. Mustard is very strong when it is first made. I picked recipes that required about a 2 weeks maximum time to age.

The first mustard is a coarse ground Yellow Mustard. This recipe required soaking the seeds in vinegar and water for two days before processing.
  • 1/2 Cup Yellow Mustard Seeds, 3/4 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar & 1/3 Cup Water: soak mustard seeds in vinegar and water for 2 days.
  • Add 1 1/2 tsp. Sugar & spices if desired. I added the suggested 1 tsp each of Tumeric and Ground Allspice.
  • I also added 1/4 Cup Mustard Powder to make it a little thicker.
  • Blend in food processor or blender. Then store in a glass jar in a cool dark place to age.
This recipe can also be made into a Honey Mustard by combining 1-1 ratio of mustard and local honey after the mustard has been aged. I may make half of it into honey mustard after it is ready, depending on the taste.


The second mustard is a Bavarian Whole Seed Mustard. This mustard recipe is made with a combination of yellow and black mustard seeds soaked in beer overnight.
  • 1/4 Cup Yellow Mustard Seed, 1/4 Cup Black Mustard Seed & 1/2 Cup Beer. Soak mustard seeds in beer overnight.
  • Add 1/4 Cup Cider Vinegar, 4 tsp. Brown Sugar, 3 Tbsp. Mustard Powder & 1/2 tsp. Salt (recipe called for 1 tsp)
  • I also added a little water while blending, it was a little too thick
  • Blend in food processor or blender. Then store in a glass jar in a cool dark place to age.

The third mustard is another Coarse Ground Mustard w/Red Wine. Here is the original recipe . I changed it quite a bit.
  • 1/2 Cup Yellow Mustard Seeds-  soak in 1/2 Cup Red Wine and 2/3 Cup Red Wine Vinegar for 4 hours.
  • I then added 1/2 Cup Water and 2 tsp Honey, 1/4 tsp Ground Allspice, 1/4 tsp of my Garlic Powder and 1 tsp. Salt
  • Next you are supposed to put all of the ingredients in the food processor or blender and process briefly. It was too watery, so I strained it and then processed it to grind the seeds a bit.
  • The mixture is then placed over simmering water in a double broiler for 10 minutes or until it starts to thicken.
  • The recipe then said to place in hot canning jars and refrigerate. Due to the fact that all of the other recipes I had read said to let the mustard sit in a cool dark place until it reaches desired pungency level, I let mine cool and placed it in the basement with the others. I will check it every couple of days to see how it tastes before I can it.
  • This mustard seems a little thin, I may add some Mustard Powder to it, depending on how it ages.

The fourth mustard is a Spicy Brown Mustard. This recipe was the quickest to make.
  • 1/4 Cup Black Mustard Seed, grind in a spice or coffee grinder
  • 3/4 Cup Yellow Mustard Powder
  • 3/8 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 3/4 Cup Water
  • 2 tsp. Brown Sugar, 1/2 tsp. Salt (recipe called for 1 tsp) dash of Cayenne Pepper, Ground Allspice & Ground Cloves
  • Put all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and mix. The mixture is put in a glass jar and stored in a cool dark place to age. (at least 2 weeks)

This is a double batch of each variety

When all of the mustards are finished and put in to smaller jars. I will do a Part 2 post on their taste and any additional adjustments that were made to the original recipes.

21 comments:

  1. To be honest, until now I didn't know what is mustard made of... thanks for the recipes.
    I hope that colors will stay that way as they are now in jars. They look very pretty.

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  2. What a fabulous idea! They look so pretty too.

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  3. I can't wait to show this post to my wife and hope you don't mind if we steal your Christmas idea.:) We have talked about making our own mustard for some time now but have yet to do so. Thanks for sharing this.

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  4. Thanks for the recipes, I've never thought of making my own mustard. I'll have to try it someday.

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  5. MojVrt, I had no idea what was in mustard either until I started looking for recipes.

    The Mom, Thanks, I hope that they stay that pretty!

    Mr.H., No, I don't mind you stealing my Christmas idea. Maybe you will come up with some other variations that you can share. Have fun!

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  6. Hey! You got your picture reel fixed! Nice!
    This is such a cool idea! Hope it all turns out well for you! Can't wait to see!

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  7. Oh! Yummy! Yet another page get's bookmarked! So much to do now...what a great gift idea too!

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  8. Oh wow, this is so beyond awesome!! I love the idea of homemade mustard! I'm thinking about all the possibilities like adding garlic!!

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  9. I remember making mustard years ago, but I'd forgotten all about it. This is a great idea. We don't use a lot of mustard, but it would be nice to have some homemade, and nice to give some away. Thanks for sharing!

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  10. This looks very yummy! I may have to order some mustard and do the same. :)

    -Mary

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  11. Thanks everyone, I hope that this post inspired the creative cook in you. It would be great to see some other homemade mustards!

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  12. The mustards look very nice in the jars. I'll bet they taste great! My mouth is watering just looking at the picture! I really enjoy a good mustard!

    I love your practice of homemade jellies and things for gifts. It's so much more personal than something from a Big Box Store!

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  13. Robin, I've never made mustard and love it! Great post. Now I'm sure we'll be making some this season. Thanks.

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  14. Robin, what a wonderful idea and gift! not to mention a great post. I'm excited to hear how they turn out - taste test.

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  15. This is so cool! I never thought of making mustard. I am going to try to plan better for next holiday season and make up some baskets of home made goodies as gifts. This will be on the list. In the mean time, I can experiment.

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  16. Robin, I can't tell you how happy I was when I read this post on my Reader the other day! I wanted to make my own mustard about 20 years ago but didn't. A friend not only discouraged me but laughed at me and began calling me Pollyanna. I thought I was stupid for wanting to try this and actually allowed someone's toxic opinion to challenge my own desires and interests.

    Well, I've learned a great deal in those 20+ years and even gave up on "friends" like that one. I can't tell you how pleased (and enjoyable) your post is. And the gift ideas may be stolen by more than Mr. H. Just sayin'....

    Gorgeous photos on this post, Robin.

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  17. Lynda, At least you have an experienced mustard making side-kick. I can't wait to see what the two of you come up with.

    Diana, I hope that they end up tasting as good as they look!! I did taste them before I put them downstairs to age...they were good but strong

    GrafixMuse, Make sure that you post you experiments...It will be interesting to see what others come up with.

    Lynn, I am happy that this post inspired to do something that you wanted to do in the past!! We are older and wiser...or just older and don't give a hoot what others think :)

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  18. What a great idea! We give homemade gifts from the kitchen too, and this sounds great. Our newest addition for this year is smoked cheese. It's really yummy. Will show this post to Hubby. Thanks for the info!
    ~~Lori

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  19. Lori, Smoked cheese sounds great! Have you ever posted how you make it?

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  20. Robin, love that you give homemade treasures as gifts!

    Thanks for sharing these mustard recipes!!! Totally stealing them!

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  21. The colors are just beautiful, what a wonderful idea to try. I can get bulk mustard seed through my co-op, I guess I will add making mustard to my growing 'to do list'. ;)

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