How to Make Mustard from Scratch

Do you like hot foods? You can make your own spicy, sweet, and/or hot mustard as a condiment or ingredient. Here are general instructions for making mustard, followed by a few recipes and a video.

Ingredients

Mustard Seeds (Dark Seeds Are Hotter)
Dry Mustard
Light Brown Sugar
Salt
Turmeric
Garlic Powder
Water(strong orange pekoe tea adds a nice depth)
Cider Vinegar

For more specific ingredients and amounts, see the Recipes section below.

Steps

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^{[1]XResearch source}
Whole seeds come in 'white' (yellow), brown, and black varieties. The darker the seed, the stronger the mustard.
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Do not try to hurry the process by boiling, as the heat will activate an enzyme that takes away the flavor of mustard.^{[1]XResearch source}
You can use a mortar and pestle if you have one, or a cleaned-out coffee grinder, or even a blender. The sound of the grinding will change when the mustard reaches an evenly ground consistency.
For a quick, hot mustard that you will use right away, use water; otherwise use wine/beer/mead, vinegar, or grape juice. Feel free to combine liquids.
To make it sweeter, try anise or cinnamon; to make it hotter, try ginger, cloves, horseradish (as is the norm in Europe), or one of the black peppers. Taste and adjust seasoning.
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Mix together, cover, and leave on the counter until the hotness is at your desired strength. Heat and bitterness will reach a peak in 5-15 minutes; water-based mustard should be served then. For other kinds of mustard, wait between 2 hours and a day for flavors to blend.
- Aging for a day is typically needed for the flavors to mellow, however some find that the best flavor arises after aging for several weeks.
- Aging mustard in the refrigerator will cause it to stay hotter longer.
- Aging mustard in a closed container in a cupboard or on the counter is generally considered safe, as mustard has anti-bacterial properties.

Method 1

Method 1 of 1:

Alternative Method

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Grind in a spice grinder until relatively fine. This way you won't have to do any soaking.
It will thicken as it cools.

Community Q&A

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Question
If the mustard is too hot, what will calm it down?
Community Answer
Heat it and that will make it less hot. If you added vinegar, add a bit more after it's cooled again.
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Question
How long will homemade mustard last?
Community Answer
If it is salted and made with vinegar, perhaps a year in the fridge. If you add ground nuts, 6 months.
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Question
For the alternative method, how many watts does the microwave have?
Community Answer
It depends on the age of your microwave. The newer ones are usually 1200 watts. Your microwave should have its wattage listed on the side panel.
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Video

Recipes

Dijon Mustard
- 1 cup of onion (chopped)
- 2 cloves of garlic (minced)
- 2 tablespoons of honey
- 4 oz of dry mustard
- 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons of salt
- 4 drops of Tabasco sauce
- 2 cups of dry white wine
Beer-Thyme Mustard
- 1/4 cup brown mustard seeds
- 1/4 cup yellow mustard seeds
- 3/4 cup flat amber beer (or beer of your choice)
- 1 Tablespoon mustard flour
- 1 Tablespoon dried minced onion
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme leaves
- 1/2 cup cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
Basic table/dipping mustard
- 1/4 cup mustard seeds (Dark seeds are hotter)
- 1/4 cup dry mustard
- 2 tsp. light brown sugar
- 1 tsp. Non-Iodized Salt
- 1/2 tsp. Turmeric.
- 1/4 tsp. Paprika for color.
- 1/4 tsp. Garlic powder
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup sweet pickle juice.
- 1/2 cup cider vinegar.

Tips

Wine, beer, mead, vinegar, verjuice^{[2]XResearch source} or clear fruit juice (such as white grape or apple) can be used in a wide variety of mustards. In the mustard museum there are 4,300 different varieties of mustard. Your imagination is your only limitation.
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The heat level of the final product can be determined by when the vinegar is added to the mix. By adding water to the ground mustard seed, a chemical reaction starts to take place that brings out the heat of the mustard. Over time, the heat will rise to a peak, then gradually dissipate (the peak of hotness being around 15 minutes after the addition of water). Adding acid (i.e. the vinegar) will shut down this chemical reaction and lock in the heat at the level at which it was introduced. For the mildest mustard, add the vinegar at the same time as the water. ^{[3]XResearch source}
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Check out Indian groceries for good prices on mustard seed.
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Warnings

Do not get mustard powder in your eyes.
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When first mixed, mustard has a very hot and bitter taste. This will fade over time. Most people who like spicy mustards will be happy with a one day old mustard; but in other cases you may have to age the mustard for months.
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Waiting too late to add the vinegar will create a form of dangerous and caustic mustard gas.
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