BROWN mustard seeds offer the best and strongest flavor. Right after mixing ground mustard with water, vinegar, wine, etc., you MUST WAIT at least 12 hours for the flavor to 'bloom'. This is true with most any mustard type. Tasting right after grinding and mixing, gives you an awful taste thats not very pleasant. The link below offers both yellow and brown whole mustard seeds. I much prefer the brown for bold mustards. I also add a little ground celery seed to the mustard. There is a French type thats in a ceramic crock with a big red stopper on top. This is a good mustard too. Mustard, like many other preparations will lose some flavor after a long storage. Grey Poupon offered a 'country style' that has the coursly ground brown mustard seeds. For mild yellow mustards, use Colemans mustard powder and some tumeric for the bright yellow color. I use a small coffee grinder (blender type) to grind the mustard seeds. I have a 3 pound jar of a mix of Grey Poupon Dijon and the ground brown mustard seeds. Made this batch last summer and its still very bold in taste. If you like more heat (stronger aroma!) add some freshly ground horseradish or even Wasabe.

Here is a link that might be useful: Brown mustard seeds from Penzys

jason,

All I have to say is, if you find the secret, PLEASE TELL ME!

I dabbled in mustard-making a few years ago when I first discovered canning. Tried various recipes as you describe. I even went so far as to grow my own mustard seed (bought a pack of quality brown mustard seeds from Richter's herbs and gave over half a garden bed to them, winnowed out the husks, etc.). I let it mellow as Ken suggests; I made it with champagne; I used powder, coarse grind --- I tried it all.

But I was never really pleased with the results---some of it was not bad, but nothing I made was any better than quality purchased mustard, and so I gave up and devote my time to the stuff that I know I CAN make better than what I can buy (jams, salsa, preserves, tomato sauce, baking, etc.).

Sorry not to have better news, but at least I can empathize!

It sounds like you are made of sterner stuff than I, and I wish you luck. Will follow you exploits with interest! Please keep postign about them!

Zabby

The brown mustard seeds must be fresh. The Penzys are from Canada, so they grow well up there. As mentioned, there is a certain balance needed of vinegar (or wine vinegar) and salt. Its almost like making a brine for pickles, where you need to get the salt and vinegar proportions correct before you can proceed. When I grind the seeds in a coffee grinder, they are not a total powder, but are small bits of brown skins and the yellowish insides. Another thing would be to try and find a higher vinegar above 5%. Using one at about 7% wil bring out more taste and boldness. I was thinking about using vinegar powder too, but the supplier could not tell me if it would become true acidic vinegar once rehydrated with water. I do know that the vinegar powder has a lot of taste and is used on some potato chips, like the Cape Cod vinegar and sea salt type. After eating a bag of those, your mouth feels like it was sand blasted! I have seen honey added, as well as booze like a brandy or a sweet wine. Even rice wine vinegar will give you a mild acidic taste thats slightly sweet. I have seen dill weed added, granulated onion, garlic, and a few other compatible herbs, not to mention cranberries.

I too have been frustrated with mustard making, until I discovered that if I buy a big ol' jar of Grey Pompon, and then using that as a base, add stuff like dried or chopped fresh dill, French tarragon, a dab of this and a dab of that, it works out very well.

I made the first cranberry mustard 4oz jars T=Day morning for table favors.
It was a bit stiffer than I like, but I mix with mayo and make a spread for poultry. Mellowed with a month of age.
Liked it so much that when I was in NYC yesterday stopped by Kalustyan's Spice Store and bought lbs of brown and black mustard seeds along with other various spices, and teas.
You didn't mention what you didn't care for in your mustards. Aside from the stiffness I really like the cranberry.
If you can't find, locally like me brown or black mustard seeds, Penzy's , mentioned before is a good spice store, also the Kalustyan store is online.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/harvest/msg0912023321494.html

this link is a thread for other mustard recipes.

Yesterday, I did a web search and found many sites listing a lot of mustard recipes. One was even from Colemans. Once the post was ready to send to the GW forum, my web browser crashed and I lost the info. Cranberry mustard has a really good taste. If its stiff, you can always add a small amount of white balsamic vinegar. This will add flavor without color. Never seen black mustard seeds, but have black caraway seeds I use in bagles and sour rye bread. The link below shows another spice company thats associated with Penzeys.

Here is a link that might be useful: Spice House

The one source that offers the most authentic equivalent to a French-style mustard (Dijon or otherwise) is Jan Roberts-Dominguez "Mustard Book."

It's out of print but available.

Another excellent source is Janet Hazen's "Mustard."

Good mustards are very achievable in the home but it's not as simple as one might think.

Carol

I agree Carol, about not as simple as one would think.
I should have known that is would stiffen up when I canned it, duh.

Black Mustard seed is used alot in Indian cooking, may also be toasted till the seeds pop for a nutty flavor.( turns grey) Black is more pungent than the brown seed. Black Mustard seed oil was used in the old cold remedy of mustard plasters. In Dusseldorf black mustard seed is used in the Dijon style to make Lion's Mustard. Penzeys does not sell the black seed, Kalustyan's has it.

The store was really sensoring overload, spices, snacks,cheeses teas and prepared food from 6 continents! Have to admit, I have never seen 2ozs of truffle salt, (26.99, yeiks!) nor, have I ever seen Hawaii Black Rock Salt till there. They also had an extensive selection of lentils, love lentils. i can't get all the colors of lentils here.

I seldom eat red meat, therefore I am self entitled the condiment queen to enhance poultry, fish or pork.

I don't care for the super sugary fruit preserves for encrusted roasts so going to make some Mostarda di Frutta.

Indian cuisine also use alot of tamarind, I like that, so going to make a Spiced Tamarind Mustard using the black mustard seed.

Nothing ventured , nothing gained.. the "boys" thought they had a great wing sauce till I introduced them to my favorite Shark Brand Thai Chili Sauce I can only find in an alley Thai store off Canal street.
Thai, or Spur chilies are hands down my fav chili, they have flavor, heat scale of a Habenaro.

I needed tamarind powder, and found it on the internet from a gourmet supplier in NY. I use it in a dry meat rub, along with soy protien, onion, ground sweet peppers, garlic, coriander, mustard seeds, finely ground bay leaf, and a few others. The Spice House also has hot yellow mustard seeds as well as the mild yellow seeds. That supplier, Kalustyan's, has quite a large selection of items on thir web pages. Would love to have a store like that around here. The smells must be really insane!

My kid (14) was with us when we were shopping and she thought the aromas were overwhelming on the first floor between the spices and they also have a kitchen in the back for fresh prepared foods. I took her to the second floor that has all the equipment and teas/cheese. Smelled so fruity up there, brewing black current tea.
She managed to find 7 different loose teas to bring back,i just bought the P&G tip, blood orange and whole spice Chai to boil. I like Chai without the milk.
These darn kids like the teas I get there and from chinatown, but I have to monitor what they are taking, some of those teas are over 100.00 a lb. ( i just ask for a small scoop can't resist a tea that sells for 100 or 200+ a lb)
One kid she asked if she could take for a friend who like white tea I gave her some for him, then I found out he didn't have a tea infuser and dumped all I gave him in a cup! I think that white tea was 18.99 for 2 ozs. So we bought him an infuser when we were there.
I get my Chinese tea from Ten Ren.

> The brown mustard seeds must be fresh.

Ken, I tried it with ones freshly grown in my own garden! THe brown mustard sure did grow well here in souther Ontario. And the yellow flowers were very pretty!

David52,

That's a good tip. I too may become a mustard-adulterator since I've given up being a mustard-maker! ("Musterateur"?)

Zabby

Mustard seeds like any other plant and its fruits, seeds, etc, are dependent on soil and weather conditions too. Even though they grow well in some areas, they can vary in boldness and taste from year to year. Kind of like grapes used in wines. Some years the wines are really good and other times they are poor and will be blended with others to help boost to a positive note. Tarragon vinegar can help add a twist to some mustards. I really don't know exactly what your wanting as to a mustard taste. Just plain salt, water, vinegar and mustard seeds can give a decent mustard in most cases. The use of good quality wine vinegars, other spices, and a little experimentation will help too. Suggest that you do a web search for the words 'mustard recipes'. I saw at least 100 different ones.

ken, what I --- and, I think, jason --- am saying is that I HAVE plenty of recipes. I tried many of them with many variations, and have not found the results taste better than commercial mustard, and often not even as good.

It's not like I couldn't have thought of doing a web search.

I think Carol is simply right, as usual---it is not as simple as it sounds to make a great small batch mustard.

Zabby

Mustard is one of those elusive things that might benefit by finding a reliable source for a high quality seed to begin with. In any case, mixing a batch up uisng any recipe will always taste terrible at first, but once it sits a day or even a week, it can get better. Ever tried adding horseradish to a mustard? You would be surprised at how many times a poster hasn't tried a web search for some common things. Mustards can be sweet, bold, mild, stroing, hot extra hot, yellow, brown, black, red, and even green. Its all in what your wanting to accomplish. Maybe somewhere out there is the 'holy grail' of mustard recipes.. Wish I could help further, but I am quite happy with my modified Dijon that has a lot of ground brown mustard seeds added.

Zabby and Jason, how long do you leave your mustard at room temperature? When I made mustard I was worried about leaving it out too long, and I think that's why mine wasn't good.

I guess it would be safe to leave it out if you didn't include any fresh ingredients like garlic...I'm sure you could add that later once it had aged some and was ready to be refrigerated.

In my case it was the depth of flavor that was missing. I agree, what we really need to know is what the traditional method was.

Melissa

It's good to see that others have encountered the same difficulties; it makes my resolve stronger to figure out a way for us all to make better home-grown mustard.

Thanks to everyone who's contributed so far. And yes, my problem is not lack of recipes but quality of recipes, at least the quality of them in my kitchen. Even after aging for weeks I am left with subpar mustards (often bitter and too strong) and I refuse to be happy with that. I accept that mustard making is not as easy as one might think, and that it is a subtle and intricate process with equal parts chemistry and tradition, not unlike wine-making, but one thing it is NOT is magic, and so I don't think it's asking too much to be able to do it for myself (and others). I've got the ingredients, all I need is the right process.

I have access to good spice merchants but maybe I should try some others to see what differences there may be.

I've soaked at room temperature for up to 5 days (in wine) and as little as overnight in the fridge. The long soak was fine except it ended up being way too hot, even after aging for over a month in the fridge, which is supposed to mellow it. That batch was a real sinus roaster. As long as the container is airtight soaking for that long seems OK. I've never tried soaking in water but that's something I should definitely do to see where it gets me. I'm also going to try grape juice, which is closer to traditional wine must. If it comes to that, I'll make my own wine must.

I have Hazen's Mustard book but I haven't been overly impressed with the recipes I've tried. I've got a couple more on order so we'll see how that ends up.

I'm happy to see this thread has fostered a lot of communication.

Jason, I believe the aging has to be at cool room temperature, not in the fridge. I don't know the food safety word on that, so personally I would do it with just whole and ground mustard seeds, liquid, and salt, no fresh stuff like onions, garlic, or herbs. I would feel fine with adding fresh ingredients after the aging and then storing it in the fridge to blend the flavors before using.

Did you age at room temperature? What do the books say about that?

Melissa

If you refrigerate it stops the enzyme action, so does heat.
Adding wine stops the enzyme action but makes it stronger, vinegar stops the enzyme action and makes it milder.

To make a basic, smooth mustard take 2 parts mustard flour to 1 part water, make a thick paste. Wait 10 minutes to ripen. ( if you taste it now it is pretty nasty)
Next step to to take the paste and thin with your liquids,flavored vinegars, wines, juice etc.
Then add your spices.
If left out at room temperature it will start to mellow, if refrigerated it will stop the enzyme action and you will have what you had when you made it.

Yesterday I made a simple Chinese hot mustard dip using equal parts mustard flour and water, let ripen 10 minutes, then added some salt, cider vinegar and honey.. that was a nice honey mustard..I thought what the heck added it to the cranberry course grain mustard in the refrigerator I had from T-Day, now I would have to say the cranberry mustard is excellent opposed to good. I have to write up a recipe fer sure.

I also soaked white seed in water, brown seed in raspberry red wine and ground together for a thick coarse paste, I am ripening that on the counter for a few days,plan on making a dijon style base and adding it together in a few days.

Personally I like a hotter mustard, and only use a basic yellow mustard for in things like macaroni or potatoe salad. I have a "thing" about tumeric, like it heated but not cold use very little in pickling but use more when making curries to cook with.

Making mustard is like the basil pesto I make, sure I can give the recipe but it is the process in which I wiz it together that makes all the "secret" difference.

If you wrote down your process Jason with the bitter recipe it might help to post that to see what process you are disappointed in.

I'm starting another round of experimentation. I've soaked seeds in a variety of liquids (well, 4 types of vinegar and water) and ground them up today with a dash of salt and pepper, respectively. Not really enough of either to do much but that's the idea; I'm leaving seasoning and spices until after the aging so that I can assess the mustard on its own merits. I'll let them age for a week or two (at room temp) and see what I've got.

I used my coffee grinder to break down the soaked seeds, rather than a food processor which is what I used in the past, and the results were good; a creamier texture while remaining that whole-grain look and something more closely resembling real gourmet mustard, specifically the L'Ancienne I'm aiming to emulate. I'd have used a mortar & pestle but I don't have one. I have, however, ordered one and it should be here within a couple of weeks, when it will take its rightful place as my chief mustard maker.

So I'm keeping things simple for now and doing some evaluation/trial and error - not much but I shall keep everyone posted on my progress.

PS: I received and read through another mustard book today. It is Katy Holder and Jane Newdick's "A Dash of Mustard" and I think it's the best of the books I have on the subject. The history and lore is well done and thorough, it's beautifully illustrated, and there are recipes for mustards as well as starters, salads, main courses, vegetables, breads and so on using mustard in various ways.

Sadly, like all of the books I have, the mustard recipes themselves are a let-down. Many of them contain mustard powder, which I want to stay away from because I've never seen it as an ingredient in any mustard I've bought. The instructions are also not particularly thorough, and only suggest soaking the seeds for 10 minutes before grinding (!) and only in water, despite the fact that the book says earlier among the lore and history that traditionally mustard is/was soaked in wine must, vinegar, verjuice etc.

I suppose the idea is that you partially grind the seeds, add water to create the isothiocyanates and such, then after 10 minutes stop the reaction with your other ingredients, and allow the uncrushed seeds to absorb moisture during aging. I will give this technique a try and see how it compares with my 'soak for days then crush' strategy.

It also says to age in the fridge, but doesn't say why specifically. Anyway, overall it's a good book and if you're looking for a book on mustard I can recommend it, but don't get it if all you want are mustard recipes.

I don't soak the seeds. They simply get ground up and then I add the liquid. There are definate differences between the yellow and brown mustard seeds too. In fact, there are even a few types of yellow mustard seeds as the one for Chinese hot mustard is quite different compared to a common yellow mustard seed. If I were to put liquids in my small coffee grinder (blender type) it would damage the motor shaft and bearing. Liquids in these devices can damage them, unless the grinding part has a sealed shaft going to the motor to prevent liquids from getting inside. Mustard powder and mustard flour is simply finely ground mustard. They would use a burr grinder or some other type to crush the seeds into a fine powder. Usually if its already powder, a lot of 'character' is lost, just like what happens to some herbs that are ground and stay around a while. I did mention Colemans mustard powder. It seems to be more consistant in taste compared to even freshly ground. Even I have seen most mustards being aged in the fridge. The issue about vinegar, wine vinegar, and even salt are usually to your own preferences. Some vinegars like the rice wine type, can give you a much milder taste, as can apple cider vinegar.

Geez, I was getting ready to try to make cranberry mustard and maybe beer mustard before I read this thread, but now I'm beginning to think it would be a waste of time and ingredients.

Dried beer powder (available from sausage making suppliers), and dried cranberries pureed

Jason, since mustard powder aka mustard flour is just ground mustard, I don't think a commercial manufacturer needs to list it separately. You could either buy Coleman's to add if you like that flavor, or grind your own either before or after soaking. I don't know whether the pre-grinding soak changes the flavor, but I don't think you can tell by the ingredients list whether a manufacturer is adding ground mustard to whatever their process is.

Melissa

Yes I suppose that's all correct but I'm making coarse, whole grained mustard here and I don't see a need for mustard powder. I'd be shocked if the mustard I'm looking to copy (a traditional French L'Ancienne, which is notoriously simple, ingredient-wise) has it. If I were looking to make a smooth Dijon or something of that nature I might cave in and include it in the ingredient list, but for now I'm keeping it real. I'm willing to admit that I may be judging these recipes too harshly by their inclusion of mustard powder, but my yearn for authentic, traditional processes makes me very touchy, even though pre-ground mustard powder dates back to the 16th century and certainly qualifies as traditional...

bcskye, don't be disheartened by my lack of success thus far. There is every chance that you will make a fine mustard right away, especially if you start from a decent recipe. Maybe you'll even pick up a tip or two to share with others. Give it a try; the ingredients are cheap and one way or another it will be a learning experience.

If I were to attempt to make a smooth Grey Poupon Dijon mustard, I wouldnt be able to get the mustard seeds ground that fine, either a presoak or before a soak. My 'country style starts out as the smooth Dijon I buy and then I simplay add the ground brown mustard seeds and some white wine vine vinegar. The result, after about 24 hours is a fairly bold mustard and is even a bit stronger than the store bought country style. Then there is that stone crock type, which to me seems a bit too salty, but has a very similar taste and texture to the one I make. I don't add any other seasonings , but might mix some with honey, or with Chinese mustard just to get some kick. When I make mustard pickles, I also add ground celery seed to the mustard, and its also used in making a hot dog relish/mustard mix. The essental thing is to allow it to bloom a day or two before tasting it.

You're on an interesting mission. With L'Ancienne mustards the ingredients are simple but the possible proportions and combinations are almost limitless. You get levels of flavor difficult to duplicate.

Varying varieties of black and brown mustard seeds, some wild, some domestic. Sometimes the seeds are soaked (soaking medium varies) and de-husked. Then it's a question of whether some or all of the husks are further marinated and used. Obviously the makers aren't telling. These are carefully-guarded secrets.

AFAIK, seeds are still ground between stones so a mortar and pestle would be moving in the right direction. Heat from a blender or FP is the enemy of mustard.

Wine vinegars vary widely as would verjus or must. As with wines, terroir plays a role in the making of mustards.

Kind of fun, though, to play around and see what you come up with. It may not be identical but equally satisfying and unique to you.

Carol

That's what I'm hoping.

I need to get my hands on some verjus while I'm waiting on my M&P...

Happy to have found this thread. Hope it stays alive! I'm also looking to duplicate a french mustard, but NOT grey poupon. I have grape vines, and in my quest to find a Sicilian recipe for "Moo-stard-a" (more like Mustarda) which is a treat made from the must of grapes, I stumbled across Violet Mustard aka Moutarde Violette.

This is made in France and is a closely guarded secret! WHAT!! Don't tell ME it's a secret!! I will post what I found about it. It came from a recipe in the 13th century. Well, in my quest, I found many Medieval recipes which I will post the one's I think are what I'm looking for here.

I won't be able to test the recipe I will use until fall when the black wine grapes are sweetly ripe, and I get my hands on some freshly squeezed must. I'm thinking either the Cabernet or the Mouvedre will work. I use it for wine, but I can spare a quart to reduce down for a base for some delish mustard.

SOME BACKGROUND on Violet Mustard..copied from discoveries on the web: And we had to ask him about his most famous product, moutarde violette. For those who don't know this product (shame -- go buy in the store now...) it is a mustard made with 50% concentrated grape juice, which gives it a distinct sweetness which balances the sharp acidity of the mustard paste. The story goes that many hundred years ago, there was a Pope (one of them) in Avignon , France , who had come from Brive in the South-West. He had missed this mustard which was traditionally made there, and asked his nephew to go there to find the recipe and reproduce the mustard. He did, and the nephew became the first official Papal Mustardier.

Mr. Denoix had started development on this mustard many years ago as a part of Maison Denoix, to reproduce this historic recipe. Later when he stared Elie-Arnaud Denoix (or Domaine des Terres Rouges as the mustard is branded today), he reformulated it, and to my mind, improved its mustardyness and spiciness. He had then written a letter to the Vatican asking about the authenticity of the legend of the Papal Mustard, and got a reply stating that the Pope knew absolutely nothing about this. So much for stories. The mustard is good anyway, and we do know it was used long ago because some cookbooks have survived with recipes using it in local cooking.

Violet mustard is made from red grape must (this is the freshly squeezed juice separated from the skins and stems) ground with mustard seeds (some say brown mustard seeds, some say black). It is a very pretty dark violet color, with its own distinctive flavor. It is not intended to be a cooking ingredient, but is meant to be served as a condiment with the finished dish.

Violet Mustard:

In the region called the Corrieze, I tasted a wonderful whole-grain black mustard, which looked like caviar. This particular mustard was an old recipe from the 14th century that somehow got lost in time, but in the past 30 years the Denoix family, who produce great walnut products, brought it back into the marketplace. The condiment is made from black grapes cooked, strained, and left to form a crust that is then mixed with mustard powder.

A dollop of this heady mustard is splendid on grilled duck breast, veal chops, or black sausage. Another great use of moutarde violette is as an accompaniment to pot-au-feu and charcuterie. It also makes an extraordinary vinaigrette. Keep an opened jar in the refrigerator, and don't heat this mustard for too long because it loses its taste.

Moutarde violette is a rare French mustard that uses grape must to create a purple paste. The best grain mustards should be sharp and give an immediate bite, sometimes like little jumping beans on the tongue.

Ingrients :
Mout de raisin rouge (50%), graines de moutarde, eau vinaigre dÂalcool, sel, épices.

Translated: Must of grape red (black/purple) (50%), black mustard seeds, water spirit vinegar (distilled malt vinegar), salt, spices

AND THE MEDIEVAL Recipes I think are the closest:

Ancient Medieval Mustards

153. Mustard (124) MOSTAZA

You must take mustard seed, and clean it of the dust and the soil and the stones, and grind it well in a mortar; and when it is ground, strain it through a cloth strainer; and then take the mustard powder and put it in a mortar with a crustless piece of bread soaked in meat broth, and grind it all together; and when it is well-ground, blend it with a little bit of lean broth without fat which is well-salted; and when it is blended in a good manner so that it is not too thin, take honey which is good, and melted on the fire, and cast it in the mortar and stir it well until it is well-mixed, and prepare dishes. Some cast a little vinegar in the broth; you can add peeled, toasted almonds, ground-up with the mustard.

154. French Mustard-- MOSTAZA FRANCESA

You must take a cantaro (125) of the must of wine, either red or white, and grind a dishful of mustard that is select and very good; and after straining it through a sieve or a sifter, grind with it, if you wish: a little cinnamon, and cloves, and ginger, and cast it all, very well-mixed in the mortar, into the cantaro or jar of wine; and with a cane stir it around a long while, so that it mixes with the must; and each day you must stir it with the cane seven or eight times; and you will boil the wine with this mustard; and when the wine has finished boiling, you can eat this mustard. And when you want to take it out to cast it in the dish to eat, first stir it with the cane a little; and this is very good mustard and it will keep all year.

155. Another Very Good French Mustard Which Lasts All Year-- OTRA MOSTAZA FRANCESA MUY BUENA Y DURA TODO EL AÃO

Take a caldron which will hold two cantaros, and fill it with red grapes and set it to cook upon the fire until it is reduced by half and there remains half a caldron which is one cantaro; and when the grapes are cooked, remove the scum with a wooden spoon; and stir it now and then with a stick; and strain this must through a clean cloth and cast it into a cantaro; and then cast in the mustard, which should be up to a dishful well-ground, little by little, stirring it with the stick. And each day you should stir with it, four or five times a day; and if you wish, you can grind with the mustard three parts cinnamon, two parts cloves, and one part ginger. This French mustard is very good and lasts all year and is mulberry-colored.

Credit http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-MANUSCRIPTS/Guisados1-art.html

Le Menagier De Paris: MUSTARD. If you wish to provide for keeping mustard a long time do it at wine-harvest in sweet must. And some say that the must should be boiled. Item, if you want to make mustard hastily in a village, grind some mustard-seed in a mortar and soak in vinegar, and strain; and if you want to make it ready the sooner, put it in a pot in front of the fire. Item, and if you wish to make it properly and at leisure, put the mustard-seed to soak overnight in good vinegar, then have it ground fine in a mill, and then little by little moisten it with vinegar: and if you have some spices left over from making jelly, broth, hypocras or sauces, they may be ground up with it, and then leave it until it is ready.

From what I have learned, I think they use some mustard powder and leave some of those black seeds whole. I plan to toast black mustard seeds to get a nice nutty flavor, but if this stuff looks like caviar, the seeds must be whole. I am assuming the spices are cinnamon, cloves, and ginger. Possibly some pepper. I may also grind some of the mustard seeds with spices in the coffee grinder to get my powder. Hmmmmmmmmm

Here is a link that might be useful: Medieval Mustard Recipes and Histories

I came to this thread because I might have lots of mustard seeds soon! When you guys say 'brown' mustard, do you mean yellow? I know yellow and black, I get the mustard seeds from a local Indian spice store.

I do enjoy mustard leaves, and the one I prefer is red giant mustard, beautiful coloring, pick them tender and add to salads, use in sandwiches, so on.... that one gets no opportunity to bolt.

I also have recently used the Indian store yellow mustard seeds to grow mustard 'trap crops' which I hope will protect my other brassicas, the ones I am growing to eat. My trap crop is doing well (same with my radishes, I got the largest tastiest radishes after I called them 'a trap crop'). Now I have lots of yellow mustard flowers, and they are doing their thing, attracting beneficial, feeding the bees, on and on. I need to replace them soon with my summer trap crop (this will be okra and more sunflowers if you are curious). Well, pretty soon I am going to have a lot of mustard seeds. So I was thinking, make mustard! This explains me popping into this thread.

After reading about everybody's experience it seems not as easy as I envisioned. However, my preferences are a little different. I like the french mustard, but a jar lasts us quite a while. Now, the one I keep going to the store for, again and again, is the trader joe's sweet chinese mustard. I do not mind if it has a little bite, but not too much. Any advice on replicating this type of mustard? Soaking in water will make it spicy and in vinegar less spicy? Also, do I grind the seeds first and then soak? or the other way around? Should I soak them in water at room temperature to get it a little spicy and then refrigerate to stop it? or simply add the vinegar? Any information would be appreciated. I am still at the information gathering stage, I will certainly look at their ingredient list (from my last jar which is almost empty). If I could duplicate that mustard this would be great since we go trough a lot of it.

Yellow mustard seeds are light tan color, brown mustard are medium brown and a smaller size. The brown type usually come from Canada, and the yellow are easily grown everywhere. Brown has a definate bold taste and is about 2-3 times as strong as the yellow type. The store bought salad mustard is mostly yellow mustard seeds, a thickener, and some tumeric to give it the bright yellow color. I like mixing the brown mustard seeds that have been run through a small blender type coffee grinder, and added to Grey Poupon Dijon. Its similar to the 'country style' they also sell. Any ground mustard must be allowed to mellow for several hours once its mixed with a liquid. Tasting it right after mixing, is a real shocker as it can taste terrible! For the Chinese and/or sweet, that kind of mustard seed is hard to find, as its very strong and aromatic. Starting with a Dijon and mixing in some sweetener, or adding sweet rice wine to mustard flour/powder may help simulate the taste of teh Chinese sweet. While the mustard is mellowing, it can take a few hours at room temp. After about a week in the fridge it can lose a little taste. My home made 'country style' using store bough Dijon, and adding ground up brown mustard seeds has a bold enough taste that can last many months in the fridge. Sometimes adding sweetener and rice wine vinegar will reduce the aroma and heat of Chinese mustard. The kind served in resturants is just plain chinese mustard flour and water. Wasabi is similar and is mostly a mix of mustards with a bit of green color. The true Wasabi is quite expensive, and not as aromatic (won't blow your sinuses out!). Honey mustard seems to be a favorite today to.

Thanks for the input Ken. Taking the information you gave us and busylizzy's advice on soaking longer in water to make it sharper, I think that at least I know how to start. What I have is the milder tan colored mustard seeds, probably Indian rather than Chinese. So if I grind them up and make them into mustard powder, and then soak them in water they will sharpen, right? So I would like the mustard a little sharper then I will keep the water mixed with mustard powder a little longer. I mean longer than the 10 minutes lizzy did since I like a bite. Maybe 30 minutes? a whole day? After the soak I just add honey, vinegar, maybe salt and any other ingredient and refrigerate? This almost seems too easy. I just want to make a large jar for our own use, so no canning.

When you try to duplicate a name brand, that's where things get dicey. Someone named Mike makes Hard Lemonade and sells it commercially. Those that like HIS Hard Lemonade will think MY Hard Lemonade is inferior, when, in fact, it is Superior. We call it Skeeter Pee to eliminate all comparisons. There is a lot to the name. You should call your mustard concoction something creative, and expect it to be "different," and far more exciting than anything anyone could every buy in a jar.

The amount of water added to the ground mustard seed is only to give it a spreading consistancy. About 1-2 hours is necessary for the mustard to 'bloom'. I use Colemans ground mustard in a yellow can, as it has a more consisant flavor compared to grinding your own yellow seeds. To duplcate the Colemans mustard powder texture, a grain mill to make flour would be needed, as any blender type used would just give tiny bits that do eventually soften, but still hold in some of that 'character'. Start with the yellow seeds first, see if they have a decent taste even after 12 hours in the fridge. The mustards will not poop out too quickly, and can be quite strong for several weeks in the fridge. Adding things like garlic powder, onion powder, honey, cranberries, and several other things including white wine vinegar, white balsamaic vinegar and even malt vinegar. Also, I find that adding a little ground celery seed tends to make the mustard flavor more complex. I use celery seeds in my mustard pickles too. The balance of the mustard sauce I made was added to some chopped cukes and onions and made a great hot dog relish. To really give aroma, I can add a bit of horseradish, or some of the Chinese hot mustard powder and that will clear the sinuses, so will a dash of the wasabi!

Well, so far, I've found the best ingredient for homemade mustard is time.

Last year (or was it the year before?)...anyhow, I made the Ginger Garlic Mustard from the Complete Book Of Canning (by Ball) and thought it came out TERRIBLE. Too bitter and just nasty. I also made the Guiness Beer Mustard that was even worse.

So I let it sit and about 8 or 9 months later (these were canned in 4 oz. jars), I opened the Ginger Galic Mustard and to my surprise, it was pretty decent! The Guiness mustard was still nasty, so I dumped it. One thing I did make a note of was the seeds needed longer to soak than the recipe mentioned as they were still pretty whole, even after a trip through the FP.

So, last week, I tried to Ginger Garlic mustard again. This time I soaked the seeds in the garlic/ginger broth for 24 hours (versus the 2 hours mentioned in the recipe) and then pureed them in the FP. The mustard had much more of a creamy/grainy texture versus my first batch where the seeds had not absorbed enough liquid. I then added the remaining ingredients: soy sauce, vinegar, mustard powder. I simmered this mixture for a good 15 - 30 minutes to get the consistency I wanted.

At the preliminary taste, it actually tasted very good. I canned it in 4 oz. jars and will see what the final result is in a couple of months.

In the meantime, I'd like to make the cranberry mustard recipe on the other page! Here's hoping!

Who woulda thunk mustard would be so difficult?

I use the blender type coffee grinder as it can chop the seeds much finer compared to a food processor. Yes, time makes the difference. Even a 24 hour time will give a decent taste to most mustard mixtures. Not really difficult, just challanging and can be done with many recipes and added ingredients. For vinegar, try some milder types like balsamic and rice wine. I would even expect that cider vinegar and a bit of sweetener would make a nice mustard with an apple tang to it. You can also add a bit of tarragon to a mustard.

Wow - they exist!

Here is a link that might be useful: Mustard Enthusiast