Camp Mayonnaise from Powdered Egg
Shelf-stable mayo whipped up in a jar with powdered egg, oil, and vinegar. No cooler required.
- calories
- 200
- weight
- 1.1 oz
- cal / oz
- 182
- protein
- 1 g
- serves
- 8, scales
- prep
- 8 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 8 min
- water
- 45 ml cold
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Lunch
- No cook
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Bikepacking
- Vegetarian
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- Dairy free
- Eat in the bag
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Powdered whole egg | 3 tbsp | stands in for the two raw eggs; no cooler, no salmonella math |
|---|---|---|
| Cold water | 3 tbsp | for reconstituting the egg powder |
| Neutral oil | 1 cup | canola or light olive, carried in a screw-top bottle |
| White vinegar | 1 tbsp | |
| Lemon juice | 2 tsp | bottled or from a squeeze packet |
| Mustard powder | 1 tsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1/2 tsp | |
| Sugar | 2 tsp | |
| White pepper | 1/4 tsp | |
| Salt | 3/4 tsp |
Method
- Put the egg powder and 3 tbsp cold water in a wide-mouth jar or a deep camp cup. Stir until no dry lumps remain and let it sit two minutes to hydrate.
- Add the vinegar, lemon juice, mustard powder, garlic powder, sugar, white pepper, and salt. Stir.
- Pour the oil on top. Do not stir it in.
- Drop a stick blender to the very bottom of the jar and run it in short bursts, holding it down. The base turns pale and thick within half a minute.
- Once the bottom is thick, raise the blender slowly to pull the rest of the oil down into the emulsion.
- No blender: whisk the base hard and add the oil a few drops at a time until it takes, then in a thin stream. It works, it just takes ten minutes and one sore arm.
This started as a copycat of the mayonnaise at a sandwich chain, which meant raw eggs and a refrigerator. Neither travels. Powdered whole egg rehydrates into something that emulsifies about as well as the real thing and keeps at ambient temperature for months, so the whole build moves to the picnic table.
The order matters more than the technique. Everything acidic and dry goes in first, oil last, and the blender stays pinned to the bottom so it works on a small pocket of liquid at a time. Break that rule and you get oil with egg suspended in it. Made without a cooler, the finished jar keeps about a day in warm weather, so mix what a lunch will actually use.
Packing
Combine the egg powder, mustard, garlic, sugar, pepper, salt, and sugar in one small bag at home. Vinegar and lemon juice go in a dropper bottle, oil in its own bottle. In camp you are mixing three containers, not nine.
Variations
- A teaspoon of chipotle powder or smoked paprika makes it a sandwich sauce worth the effort.
- Skip the egg entirely and whisk the seasonings into 3/4 cup of shelf-stable mayo from a squeeze bottle if you would rather not emulsify anything.
https://www.maritimeglutton.com/5-minute-copycat-subway-mayonnaise-recipe