Mysterious mayonnaise

Filed in Blog by on October 29, 2012 11 Comments
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The mystery of the mayonnaise

There’s a bit of a conundrum taking place in the kitchen at zero waste towers.

Instead of buying mayonnaise in a glass jar (easy to recycle) I was lured by promises of saving money rather than saving the environment and bought a huge plastic squeezy bottle of our nation’s favourite brand when it was on half price offer.

The thing is, I’m beginning to wonder if it was a good deal after all.

Because nothing is a good deal if you have to throw some of it away:

No amount of keeping the bottle upright, shaking it viciously or applying Uri Geller practise to the laws of gravity is helping right now.

Take a look at this:

It’s the second bottle we’ve had where the mayonnaise stays at the top of the bottle!

It won’t be sweet talked, cajoled or even bullied into submission.

When I was a few decades younger than now and we reached the end of a ketchup or salad cream bottle my Grandmother would say “put a drop of vinegar in it my love”, add a few drops, shake and voila – enough condiment to feed an army on.

But times must have changed, because even vinegar isn’t working its charm.

It’s not just around the edges either; it really is stuck right up there (makes me wonder what it does to one’s arteries and intestines!)

Have you ever come across gravity-defying mayonnaise? I’d love to know how you dealt with it!

About the Author ()

I am a long time supporter of the Green and Sustainable lifestyle. After being caught in the Boscastle floods in 2004, our family begun a journey to respect and promote the importance of Earth's fragile ecosystem, that focussed on reducing waste. Inspired by the beauty and resourcefulness of this wonderful planet, I have published numerous magazine articles on green issues and the author of four books.

Comments (11)

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  1. Cut off the top with scissors when you’re able to use up all the rest of it? That’s all I’ve got.
    We make blender mayonnaise and don’t have this stuck-at-the-bottom problem; plus it’s very, very delicious, takes less than 3 minutes, and doesn’t use its own packaging at all. Just saying.

  2. Chris Levey says:

    We usually make sure the cap is on firmly, then holding the bottom of the bottle bring your straight arm to shoulder height and use centrifugle force by swinging your arm downward. This usually works or you could cut open the bottle and scope the mayo into a glass jar left from GU deserts. My daughter had a similar problem with the plastic sqeezey Marmite jars she stood this in hot water and inverted it into another glass jar, there was about a 1/3rd of a jar left in there. Now she buys the glass bottles.

  3. Mrs Green says:

    @Kate the Sustainable Princess: I guess a pair of scissors might do the (rather messy) trick! Would love a simple mayo recipe from you – I’ve promised myself I’ll make it but never got around to it. How long does it keep?

    @Chris Levey: We’ve tried all sorts of manoeuvres to get it to shift, but it’s having none of it! I don’t think we’ll be buying this style of bottle again and have learned our lesson about buying glass jars 😉

  4. synchronicity…i just finished a squeezer of olive oil mayonnaise by adding some –olive oil –to it and shaking the nerves out of it; glad to report that much of it came loose, and, adding just a bit of hot water and wine vinegar to the stubborn rest finally gave me a tasty salad dressing..

    last time i buy any squeeze-easy at sale price too…and now i am guilty of wasting plastic..i should have made home-mayo…one egg yolk, beaten, one spoon rice,apple or wine vinegar, one optional garlic clove crushed, add one spoon of dijon mustard, then oil ever slowly without stopping the motion, clockwise…it’s yellow, it’s yummy and nutritious as well.
    mother swore that if you miss a beat or run counter-clockwise, the sauce is spoiled..it lasts at least a week in fridge..stir anew when oil separates after siting in the covered ceramic bowl for days..so good on eggs or salads or steak or baked potato or noodles; mine does not get a chance to wait..

  5. Tara Detlor says:

    I add a bit of lemon juice, let it sit in a bit of warm water to make it less viscous (careful it’s not too hot or it may cook the egg product), then use the centrifugal force method already described by another. Good luck 🙂

  6. Sue C says:

    I have a very long thin spatula that fits in the neck and helps disturb the pendulous mass. Have you tried a knitting needle or a chopstick? You can twist the blue cap off in one lot to gain access without snapping off the lid.

  7. Mrs Green says:

    @nadine sellers: Nadine, your recipe sounds amazing; SO much more appetising than sho-bought gloop and I shall heed your mother’s warnings when I make it – thank you! And glad you managed to rescue most of your mayo from the plastic bottle!

    @Tara Detlor: Thanks for sharing your tips Tara; I love how our community reach out to share!

    @Sue C: A long spatula sounds like just the thing; I’ll give LMG the job of poking around with a chopstick; she” enjoy that 😉

  8. Have you tried adding milk to it? It’ll be runny but might be appropriate for a salad or something. My favorite “mayo” is a vegan version … it’s divine: http://livelearnloveeat.com/2010/10/13/tofu-salad/ I’ve been vegan for awhile so might have forgotten what real mayo tastes like but this vegan version comes close to my memory of the stuff. 🙂 Good luck with that gravity-defying spread!

  9. Mrs Green says:

    @Small Footprints: THe vegan recipe sounds delicious; full of protein too – thanks SF 🙂

  10. Oh, dear! I just looked back at this post and saw that you asked me for a recipe. I googled it and there are a lot of recipes, but none of them look quite like what I make. I’ll get one posted as soon as I can and send you a link. Sorry about that!

  11. @Mrs Green: Better late than never, I suppose…. :-/ I finally posted my recipe! And then promptly changed my dinner plans to include oven fries and pesto aioli. The other ones people have posted looking really interesting, too!
    http://sustainableprincess.wordpress.com/2013/04/19/easy-blender-mayonnaise/

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