Anyone make their own mustard??

[puffin3]

What's the point of leaving chinks of mustard seed in the mix rather than having a smooth purée?

Because millions of people prefer a little 'texture' in their mustard. The seeds are not hard by any means.

 

[taxlady]

Which mustard seed is hotter? The yellow or brown? Are they too hard to grind using a mortar and pestle? Or would you leave them whole for the final product? When someone says they want to make their own mustard, I assume it is from scratch. And that to me means grinding the seeds. I doubt you could get it to the powdered consistency like Coleman's. But I see mustard on the grocery shelves with bits of the ground seed in them.

I find it easy, but not quick, to use a mortar and pestle to grind dry toasted mustard seeds to a fine powder. The funny thing is that black mustard seeds make a yellow powder.

What's the point of leaving chinks of mustard seed in the mix rather than having a smooth purée?

When I buy Dijon mustard, I buy smooth and with seeds. The one with seeds doesn't taste nearly as hot, but has the Dijon flavour. It's the one I use as a condiment. I use the smooth one when I make vinaigrette. It helps with the emulsification of the oil and vinegar or lemon juice.

 

[Mad Cook]

Interesting topic. Learning a lot here. I thought you just followed the instructions on the tin of Keen's Mustard:

For the table
"Mix gradually with cold water to the consistency of very thick cream, stirring well and breaking up all lumps.
After mixing, the mustard should stand 10 minutes to develop full flavour."

I'm not a big fan of mustard as a condiment. I use it mostly as an ingredient and usually from seed, but sometimes from powder. (Okay, I use a bit of prepared Dijon both as ingredient and condiment.)

I often sift a teaspoon of mustard powder in with the flour when making a suet pastry crust for a steak and kidney pie. And a little mustard (powder or ready mixed) is good in the cheese sauce for macaroni cheese or to pour over cauliflower or broccoli. I always have powder (Colmans, of course) and a jar of Dijon and one of coarse grain mustard on hand as they are so useful.


When we used to go to France every year many years ago, I used to bring home big stoneware jars of Moutarde de Meaux. That was lovely. It went particularly well in cream sauces for fish and chicken because it was mustard-y but mild.

 

[Mad Cook]

Because millions of people prefer a little 'texture' in their mustard. The seeds are not hard by any means.

And the flavour is different.

 

[Mad Cook]

I had picked up on that. I did say I was learning a lot in this thread.

Edit: I just checked. The stuff in the Keen's Mustard tin is just "double fine mustard", so I don't really understand what you mean by "It's already mustard", well so are mustard seeds. Isn't what you are talking about ground mustard plus other ingredients, like vinegar and salt? Certainly, stuff that is homemade and has added ingredients would very different from just adding water to mustard powder. Spices that are already ground don't have as much flavour as grinding them yourself.

Colmans English mustard comes as powder or ready made. I fined both too hot as condiments and I prefer French mustards. Colmans does make a hideous brown concoction which they call "French mustard" but bears no resemblance to any real French mustard I've ever tasted.

 

[Mad Cook]

Odd Mustard Facts

Believe it or not, in Norwich where Colmans mustard is made there is the Mustard Shop and Museum! Essential tourist destination

Mustard oil is used a lot in cooking in northern India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc., and babies were traditionally massaged with mustard oil supposedly to strengthen the body.

It's used to season the playing surface in some Indian drums to improve the sound

It's painted around the doorway of the house when newly weds enter the house for the first time

(I shared a flat when I was a student with a girl who was brought up in India.)

 

[RPCookin]

Plain old yellow mustard makes a great base when doing a dry rub on pork. It helps the rub to stay put, yet the mustard seems to cook away and leave behind no real flavor of its own. I was skeptical the first time I did it, but you can't taste any mustard at all, even when just nibbling a piece of the crust that forms when you smoke or barbecue low and slow.

Using a teaspoon of mustard in a pint of vinaigrette also doesn't really add much if any flavor, but it emulsifies the oil and vinegar (learned that from Chef Michael Smith ).

 

[taxlady]

Colmans English mustard comes as powder or ready made. I fined both too hot as condiments and I prefer French mustards. Colmans does make a hideous brown concoction which they call "French mustard" but bears no resemblance to any real French mustard I've ever tasted.

Is there much difference between Colman's mustard powder and Keen's? It says on the tin

By appointment to
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
Manufacturers of Mustard and Sauces
Colman's of Norwich

​

 

[RPCookin]

Is there much difference between Colman's mustard powder and Keen's? It says on the tin

By appointment to
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
Manufacturers of Mustard and Sauces
Colman's of Norwich

​

Sounds pretty highfalutin to a lowly US peasant.

 

[taxlady]

Sounds pretty highfalutin to a lowly US peasant.

It probably says the same thing on the Colman's Mustard. It just means that someone in the royal household has bought it.

 

[Andy M.]

I must admit I am not a fan of mustards. I seldom use it in cooking. I use it as a condiment on certain meats. We keep two different pedestrian mustards in the fridge, one very yellow one and one brown one. I have a tin of Coleman's powder for the few recipes calling for it.

I'm probably missing out on many fantastic sauces, dishes etc. I just can get to like it, not even honey mustard (probably because I don't like honey either).

 

[Addie]

The mildest seeds are the yellow ones. Then the brown then the black. Black ones are used in Indian foods and are VERY hot!
My recipe calls for soaking the seeds (brown) overnight then adding the other ingredients then grinding in a coffee bean grinder. They grind up easily after soaking overnight. I like to leave some of the seeds just barely ground to give the finished result a 'grainy' texture which is traditional in many French mustards.

Thank you. And the picture in your next post looks like what I see on the shelves of my grocery store. The closest I would come to that is maybe is a mustard from some foreign land or homemade.

 

[Addie]

Sounds pretty highfalutin to a lowly US peasant.

All that means is that the palace will allow them to show the sign saying that they sell their food item to the palace for the Queen and her family. So if you want to eat like the Queen, go around to all the London shops that sell food and buy what she eats.

 

[Addie]

I must admit I am not a fan of mustards. I seldom use it in cooking. I use it as a condiment on certain meats. We keep two different pedestrian mustards in the fridge, one very yellow one and one brown one. I have a tin of Coleman's powder for the few recipes calling for it.

I'm probably missing out on many fantastic sauces, dishes etc. I just can get to like it, not even honey mustard (probably because I don't like honey either).

Are we twins from a former life? I could have written what you just said. Word for Word.

As a kid, during the summer we would go down to the cranberry bog, pick a handful of ripe cranberries, take a tray out of the bee hive, shake off all the bees, peel back the wax and suck out the honey, then put the cranberries in our mouth with it. I had my fill of honey as a kid. Can't stand it today.

When I make a baked ham, I make a past of dark mustard, drained crushed pineapple and brown sugar. Paste it all over the ham. That is about my use of mustard for me.

 

[Mad Cook]

Is there much difference between Colman's mustard powder and Keen's? It says on the tin

By appointment to
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
Manufacturers of Mustard and Sauces
Colman's of Norwich​

It's probably the same with a different name. Colman's isn't Colman's anymore. I believe it belongs to a conglomerate these days.

 

[Mad Cook]

It probably says the same thing on the Colman's Mustard. It just means that someone in the royal household has bought it.

It's a bit more complicated than that. It involves the issue of a Royal Warrant which requires the fulfilment of certain conditions (and , contrary to what some people think, 'Er Maj pays for the goods and services involved).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Warrant_of_Appointment_(United_Kingdom)

 

[taxlady]

It's a bit more complicated than that. It involves the issue of a Royal Warrant which requires the fulfilment of certain conditions (and , contrary to what some people think, 'Er Maj pays for the goods and services involved).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Warrant_of_Appointment_(United_Kingdom)

Interesting. I was just using my mum's definition. She was saying it didn't really mean a whole lot.

 

[Addie]

It's a bit more complicated than that. It involves the issue of a Royal Warrant which requires the fulfilment of certain conditions (and , contrary to what some people think, 'Er Maj pays for the goods and services involved).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Warrant_of_Appointment_(United_Kingdom)

I know she pays for all her goods. In fact she now pays for a lot of things that her father didn't pay for. She paid to have Windsor rebuilt after the fire during her "Horrible Year". Even before the fire was put out, Parliament was raising its voice about the Government having to pay for it.

 

[CharlieD]

We keep 3 different mustards on hand. Plain yellow for my middle daughter and son, Dijon for my wife and occasional roast I make and Colman's for me and my oldest daughter, either powder or ready made. Out of all the mustards that I have tasted in US Colman's is the only one that is hot enough for my taste. Of course I have not tasted all mustards available, just your regular grocery store variety.

I love the smooth type of mustards and would not touch the mustards with seeds in them. I am very finicky about texture of food I eat.

 

[puffin3]

It probably says the same thing on the Colman's Mustard. It just means that someone in the royal household has bought it.

Not so. Centuries ago the King or Queen of many European countries would basically 'appoint' (order) the maker of something to make sure the 'something' was always available for the Royal's use b/c it was their favorite/best quality.
Now it's only a symbolic thing but it means the Queen, in this case, has put her stamp of approval on the 'something'.
My great great great grandfather on my father's side was
'Appointed' The Official Cabinetmaker to the King of England.