How to Make Mustard

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How to make mustard
Photo by Hank Shaw

What do you mean you can make mustard at home? It was all I could do to say, “Uh… how did you think it was made? By mustard elves under a tree?” Thankfully, I am older and nicer than I once was. Instead, I said, “Why yes, and it is really, really easy to make.”

I had this conversation with another food blogger, and I tell you this because even for even a food person to not know how to make mustard tells me that it must appear to be magic to most people. But I gotta tell ya folks, it ain’t. If you have mustard seed and water, you can make mustard. It’s that easy. And pretty much every culture in the Northern Hemisphere has done so: Mustard is to the North what chiles are to the tropics.

Mustard is a condiment of a thousand faces. Some are smooth, others almost entirely made from barely cracked seeds. Vinegar is often used, but wine, beer, grape must, and even fruit juices are used to moisten the seeds. Sweetness is usually achieved by adding honey; an American “honey mustard” can be a 1:1 ratio of mustard to honey. A Bavarian sweet mustard, however, uses only sugar and water: no acid, no honey. Italians put fruit preserves in their mustard, a practice I wholeheartedly endorse.

Mustard is one of Europe’s few native spices, although mustard also has been used in Chinese cooking for around 2,500 years as well. Ancient Rome was quite the hotbed of mustard-making, and it is Rome that gives us our name for mustard: It is a contraction of mustum ardens, or “hot must;” the Romans often added crushed mustard seeds to unfermented crushed grapes. I’ve recreated a different Roman recipe for mustard that uses almonds, pine nuts, mustard seed and red wine vinegar. The ferocious bite of this mustard — it should be made with black mustard seeds, the hottest variety — is mellowed by the richness of the nuts. It’s a great accompaniment to roasted meats.

The basic idea behind making mustard is this: Grind seeds and add cool liquid. At its most basic, this is all mustard is. Both Chinese and English mustard (think Coleman’s) is nothing more than water and mustard powder. But there are some things you need to know to make great mustard.

First, you need cold liquid. What gives mustard its bite is a chemical inside the seeds reacting with cool or cold liquid. You also need to break the seeds to get at the fiery chemical — it’s like cutting an onion. Heat damages this reaction, however, so to make a hot mustard use cold water, and warm water for a more mellow mustard. Mustard sauces lose punch when long-cooked, and should always have a little extra fresh mustard tossed in at the end of cooking.

This reaction is volatile, too. Left alone, your mustard will lose its bite in a few days, or in some cases even hours. But adding an acid, most often vinegar, stops and sets the reaction in place — this is precisely what happens with horseradish as well. Adding salt not only improves the flavor, but also helps preserve the mustard, too.

Once made, mustard is nearly invulnerable to deterioration. Mustard is one of the more powerful anti-microbial plants we know of, and, considering it is mixed with vinegar and salt, it becomes a heady mix no wee beastie can survive in. It is said that mustard will never go bad, although it can dry out.

You have three choices when it comes to which variety of mustard seed you use: White, brown and black. White mustard undergoes a different, milder reaction than do brown or black mustards, which are far zingier. American yellow mustard is made with white mustard seed and turmeric, brown mustards are in most of your better mustards, and black mustard is used in hot mustards or in Indian cuisine.

black mustard seeds.
Photo by Holly A. Heyser

Incidentally, the wild mustard all over California is black mustard. You can thank Father Junipero Serra for that one: He used mustard, which grows like a weed, to mark his travels in Alta California 250 years ago.

The famous Grey Poupon mustard — Dijon has been a center of mustard-making for nearly a millennia now — is traditionally made with stone ground brown mustard and verjus, the tart juice of unripe grapes. I prefer this style of mustard, and most of my homemade mustards are grainy like Dijon. I grind my seeds with a spice grinder, but you could get all old school and use a mortar and pestle.

The best mustards, in my opinion, combine brown or black mustard seeds with yellow mustard powder: The two sets of chemical reactions complement each other and made a more complex mustard.

Always add water or a non-acidic liquid first, let the mixture sit for 10 minutes or so, then add the acid (vinegar, verjus, lemon juice, etc).

Add salt to taste, but it’s typically about 1 to 2 teaspoons per cup of prepared mustard.

Finally, let your mustard set in the fridge or in a cool place for at least a day before you serve it. Bitterness is a byproduct of the mustard reaction, but that bitterness fades after a day or so. Pure mustards can be kept at room temperature, but mustards with other ingredients, like the Roman nut mustard I mention above, should be kept in the fridge.

So there you have it. Easy-peasy. Now you really have no reason to ever buy mustard again.

Photo by Holy A. Heyser
Photo by Holy A. Heyser

[recipe_name]Basic Country Mustard[/recipe_name]

[summary]What could be easier than making your own mustard? No, really. It is stupid easy. Grind some mustard seeds, mix with mustard powder and some liquid and you’re done. There is no earthly reason to ever buy mustard once you learn this basic recipe. Endless variations exist. Change the liquid and you change the mustard. Grind the mustard seeds a lot or a little and you change the texture — or skip the whole seeds altogether and use just mustard powder.

Which type of mustard seed do you use? Yellow is what we Americans are most used to, but brown is spicier, more mustardy. Black mustard is stronger still, and it grows wild over much of North America; gather the seeds in late summer or early fall.

Want herbs in there? Go for it. Like honey mustard? Pour some in. Want your mustard even spicier? Add chiles or freshly grated horseradish. I even made a mustard with fresh grape juice from my backyard wine grapes. I called it Deep Purple. Weird-looking, but delicious.

The one caveat to making mustard at home is to wait. You cannot eat it the day you make it. Mustard needs to marinate to dissipate its bitterness. Try it: Eat a little dab right after you make it, then a day or two later. The difference is dramatic.[/summary]

[yield]Makes about 1 cup.[/yield]

Prep Time:[preptime time=12H] 12 hours[/preptime]

  • [ingredient][amount]6 tablespoons[/amount] [item]mustard seeds[/item] [/ingredient]
  • [ingredient][amount]1/2 cup[/amount] [item]mustard powder[/item] [/ingredient]
  • [ingredient][amount]3 tablespoons[/amount] [item]vinegar[/item] (cider, white wine or sherry) [/ingredient]
  • [ingredient][amount]1/2 cup[/amount] [item]white wine[/item] or water [/ingredient]
  • [ingredient][amount]2 teaspoons[/amount] [item]salt[/item] [/ingredient]

OPTIONAL

  • [ingredient][amount]2 tablespoons[/amount] [item]honey[/item] [/ingredient]
  • [ingredient][amount]2 tablespoons[/amount] grated [item]fresh horseradish[/item] [/ingredient]
  • 1/4 cup minced fresh herbs (really any kind)

[instructions]

  1. Grind the whole mustard seeds for a few seconds in a spice or coffee grinder, or by hand with a mortar and pestle. You want them mostly whole because you are using mustard powder, too.
  2. Pour the semi-ground seeds into a bowl and add the salt and mustard powder. If using, add one of the optional ingredients, too.
  3. Pour in the vinegar and wine or water, then stir well. When everything is incorporated, pour into a glass jar and store in the fridge. Wait at least 12 hours before using. Mustard made this way will last a year in the fridge.

[/instructions]

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About Hank Shaw

Hey there. Welcome to Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, the internet’s largest source of recipes and know-how for wild foods. I am a chef, author, and yes, hunter, angler, gardener, forager and cook. Follow me on Instagram and on Facebook.

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109 Comments

  1. Can you “can” the mustard that you make without losing all the flavor? I have a great recipe from my husband’s grandfather that we love but it has to be refrigerated after made and if I am making it as holiday gifts I won’t have enough refrigerator space. “Canning” the mustard sauce (hot water bath) seems like a good solution but I don’t want to end up with yellow sauce that doesn’t taste like mustard. Thanks, Mary

  2. Hi
    i once ground brown mutard seeds, mixed with hot water and left to settle, covered with water one day
    but the next day, when i drained the top water, i got a paste with an awful sulfur smell that i was scared to taste
    what went wrong you think?

    cheeeeers
    Toni

  3. Jordan: Use yellow mustard seeds next time, which are milder. You could also heat the Guinness a little, which will tame the mustard down, too.

  4. First of all Hank, thanks so much for posting this! I LOVE mustard and have wanted to make my own for a while now. I followed your instructions above, choosing only to replace the water with Guinness (I had mustard made with a stout a few months ago and loved it). I let it sit in my fridge for a day and the results, while totally delicious, are unbelievably spicy! I kinda love it, but it’s hot enough to upset one’s stomach if you eat to much of it. Which is a problem for me because I want to eat ALL of it! 😛

    Any idea what I might have done wrong? Did I grind my brown seeds too much? Does using a Stout beer change the chemical process? Is there anything I can do to tame down the heat while still keeping it as mustard? (I’ve read a bunch about people adding honey/mayo/etc… I would rather not do that….)

    Please save my mustard! 😛

  5. Black mustard seeds are easy to find in Indian markets. I recently bought some at India Sweets and Spices on Los Feliz in Atwater Village (for those of you in L.A.). You can find large bags and small jars.

  6. This is a link to the stone mortar and pestle used by Rick Bayless on his program. I was thinking it was Alton Brown but I was wrong. This is a heavy lava stone mortar and pestle that should meet the needs of any aspiring mustard maker that wants to do it by hand…..why you want to is beyond me, I use an older krups coffee grinder that I relegated to herbs and spices many years ago – a MUST if you like your spices fresh. Good luck and happy Mustard Making !
    The link: https://www.gourmetsleuth.com/Articles/How-To-Select-Cooking-Tools-647/mortar-and-pestle.aspx

  7. Sorry, Ally, that is just not correct. Black mustard is very different from brown mustard seed. It is tough to find in markets, so many people use brown in place of black. But I’ve linked to sources of black mustard in this post, and I can assure you they are a different species.

    That said, I do like the “olive mustard” idea. Will have to try it!

  8. First, in regard to different seeds, black is referred to as brown, because black are very rarely available any more since the processing is more difficult and brown is a fair substitute, so they have become interchangeable. White mustard seeds can range in colour from cream to yellow, so in essence are the same, not just interchangeable.

    I have read over and over on the net that brown are stronger. This is simply not true. Most spice merchants say the opposite. The confusion is well, plain confusing! It depends on what is meant by strong. Yellow seeds, as was mentioned, have a raw taste which is very strong. Black are spicey strong. Yellow are milder in that sense only. If you’ve ever chewed a dry lentil, green have a strong raw beany taste, while brown are slightly more peppery. This is the type of difference, and your palate might percieve one or the other as “stronger”.

    Since they are so cheap it’s worth buying both in bulk and experimenting to get a handle on this. Dry roast in a pan and taste each in their mild form to isolate some factors – without the hotness of mustard, it’s easier to identify the nuances of each.
    Chew raw to guage the different herbal factors and heat strength.

    As for apple cider vinegar – absolutely! In some ways this is more like verjus than grape vinegar, strangely. It’s particularly suited to honey mustards, and herb mustards.

    One great variation not mentioned is olive mustard. I prefer to use plain black Spanish style olives in brine rather than pickled olives like green or kalamata so that the ‘vinegar’ taste is up to me. Some extra olive oil added to the mix along with the pureed mushed or chopped (whichever you prefer) olives makes a beautifully round rich mustard. Suits chicken and vegetables.
    If smeared on during cooking it becomes roasted and wonderfully nutty, can form a delicious crust.

    Last question … am I a mustard seed nut? Ooooh yes.

  9. great site, thanks!

    now to make my first ever mustard – black mustard seeds, coconut toddy vinegar.

  10. Thanks for a very informative post on Mustard. I googled it this morning because I don’t, sorry, didn’ t know anything about it although I enjoy using it.

    This post has everything I wanted to know, except do the different seeds have different tastes?

    Maybe one day we’ll be able to smell and taste as well as see and hear on the net !!

    thanks again

    Rob

  11. Wondering if someone has a recipe for American mustard. I love mustard but can’t do spicy.

    Thank you,
    Joanna 🙂

  12. Thanks for this post! I love mustard and will definitely try making my own. How would you recommend going about adding beer or spirits? Do you cook them down?

  13. Hank,

    In this description you say to mix mustard and water and sit for 10 minutes and then add vinegar to set the reaction. In your country mustard recipe you mix mustard and water and vinegar all at once. Is there a reason for waiting to add the vinegar?

    Been playing with mustards this weekend:
    Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale Brown & White Mustard
    Tangerine, Coriander Brown & White Mustard
    Pomegranate Brown Mustard
    Merlot Jelly White, Brown and Black Seed Mustard
    Honey White, Brown and Black Seed Mustard
    Thyme White, Brown and Black Seed Mustard
    Rosemary White, Brown and Black Seed Mustard

  14. For those in Sacramento, the food co-op in midtown has brown, black and powdered white in the “bulk” area for around 60 cents an ounce.

  15. This is great info! My favorite snack, especially for football, consists of Martin’s hard pretzels, Shenk’s cup cheese, and mustard. I can’t reproduce the concrete hardness of the pretzels, and I have no idea how to make cup cheese, but it would be great to make my own mustard. Definitely going to try this!

  16. fantastic looking mustard mate, gonna have to try your recipe for this! Great info about the hot vs cold liquid too, I didn’t know that.