Homemade Mustard

[deangold]

I love Brad Leone's it's alive series on YouTube. One of his vids was mustard. I have modified his recipe a little, and I am not on my ssecond round of mustard: this time two different mustards.B= My basic recipe {Brad's uses verjus}:

110 grams mixed mustard seeds, half ground in spice mill. The finer the grind, the spicier the resultant mustard will be. Leave the seeds at least sand size. 
1 Tablespoon mustard powder
8 grams salt
1/4 cup fermentation brine {liquid from live pickles}
1/4 cup sauerkraut brine {must be live, not pasturized}
1/4 cup Bragg's vinegar {be sure to shake well before pouring out so you get the sludge at the bottom of the bottle mixed in. 
pinch of sugar {this aids the fermentation}

The first batch followed the recipe. I used leftover brine from one of our hot sauces which has mellowed from crazy spicy to feisty. 

The second batch I wanted more heat so I doubled the mustard powder, used 2 tbsp of wasabi powder, 1 tbsp red pepper flakes, 1 tbsp Aleppo pepper flakes, 1 tsp cracked black pepper. All the extra dry ingredients necessitated doubling the brine and the sauerkraut juice.

Combine the dry ingredients: the mustard powder {& wasabi,}  salt, ground and whole mustard seeds. Then add the liquid ingredients & stir with a spoon  until evenly mixed. Don't worry if it is a little loose or even a touch soupy as the mustard will thicken up as it sits. Then put in a ball jar {the standard recipe fills a pint jar 2/3. For the super spicy batch, I got a full pint jar and I took some out so I have a 4 oz and a 16 oz jar, filled 80%. On the second day, I added a little brine to each to thin. If I have to re-moisten I will use sauerkraut juice next. 

Loosely tighten the lids and let sit on your counter for as long as you i=like. Stir it daily with a spoon, adding more brine or sauerkraut juice if it seems dry. I typically let the mustards go 7 days tasting every day and adjusting liquid as needed, and at 7 days use the taste to decide when to refrigerate. As long as the flavor is developing daily, I leave it out in order to maximize the fermentation flavors. I hitnk my last batch went 10 days. Refrigerated, it lasts months.

This recipe is super easy if you have the various brines. It took much longer to write it up than to make it. It will blow away any store bought grainy mustard you can get and is super cheap if you do not have to buy the brines/juice separately. 

[ktmoomau]

I love his shows too, and was going to make this!!!! Thanks for the modified recipe.  I don't have a spice grinder- I have thought about buying one they aren't expensive- but I normally just use mortar and pestle, I assume that would work?

[deangold]

Yes a mortar and pestle is fine but they are hard to get uniformity on a hard spice like a mustard seed. You might need to crush a little more. Right now the hot is so hot I can barely taste it. 

Excuse me I need a glass of woder. 

[KeithA]

On 2/29/2020 at 1:23 PM, deangold said:

1/4 cup Bragg's vinegar {be sure to shake well before pouring out so you get the sludge at the bottom of the bottle mixed in. 
 

Dean, how essential is the Bragg's vinegar? I have all of the other ingredients and lots of types of vinegar but not Bragg's. Also have you tried making this with only fermented pickle brine in a double quantity instead of sauerkraut juice? I ask as I have lots of pickle brine but only so much sauerkraut (just started making it for first time recently). Thanks.

[Katya4me]

Ooh, that does sound good. I don't generally have brine around much, and this has been my go-to recipe for years: https://honest-food.net/how-to-make-mustard-2/