#VeganMoFo18 Day 9 – Canning Dijon Mustard

Please note, this post is meant as an overview of canning Dijon mustard and does not replace or represent itself to be an official guide for proper canning at home. It is important to consult safe canning resources, which are listed at the end of this post.

Homemade Dijon mustard ready for canning

As I noted in yesterday’s post, I found a fantastic publication from the North Dakota State University Extension Service called Make Your Own Home-canned Condiments, that includes a recipe for home-canning Dijon mustard. I’ve made mustard in the past, but it always had to be refrigerated, this is shelf-stable. It’s great to have a zero waste option for mustard. And, mustard has always been a tricky vegan thing anyway, as a lot of commercial mustards have surprise animal products in them that you wouldn’t expect! Many have honey, animal-based lactic acid, and even more have egg in them, I suppose as a stabilizer! This recipe has no honey and no egg, and certainly no lactic acid.

First cooking step, boiling ingredients

This recipe takes a couple of days to prepare. Most of that time is idle, while the ingredients are standing so the mustard seeds can soften. Ingredients include: onion (I used red onion because I had some on hand that needed to be used up), Pinot Grigio or another dry white wine (check Barnivore to make sure the wine you select is vegan), 5% acidity white wine vinegar (double-check the label on the vinegar you select, not all of them are 5% and it’s important that you get the right strength vinegar), salt, garlic, black peppercorns, rosemary (I used 1 teaspoon of dried rosemary in place of the sprig), yellow mustard seed, dry mustard, and water. You’ll also need 4 oz. jars.

Soaking mustard seed and powder

You start by combining everything except the mustard seed, dry mustard, and water, bringing it to a boil, and then simmering. It smells awesome! You strain off the solids after the onion is soft and then mix in the remaining mustard seed and powder. This rests for 24-48 hours at room temperature. After this resting period, you blend the mixture in a food processor, adding water until it reaches a consistency of “cooked oatmeal.” Actually, its the consistency of Dijon mustard, you’ll recognize it! You can blend it to be as chunky or smooth as you want your mustard to be. I like something in between coarse ground and smooth. Then you boil this mixture in a saucepan and put into prepared jars (you may use pre-sterilized jars from your dishwasher for this recipe as they will be processed for 10 minutes). Jars are processed in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes, or more should you be at a higher elevation.

My mustard (left), Coarse ground (center), Smooth Dijon (right)

I like this mustard! It made quite a bit. Next time I may experiment and use half brown mustard seeds to go with the yellow mustard seeds, to give it more of that Grey Poupon look.

I also found a recipe for Oktoberfest Beer Mustard in the Ball® and Kerr® Fresh Preserving Website canning recipe database. This one uses beer and has some brown sugar for sweetness. It’d be fun to make homemade pretzels and have this mustard to go with, and some yummy German-style beer from our local brewery. I’ll give that a go soon so we can have some while we watch the Seahawks games this season!

Resources

There are some great resources available for home canning. Internet resources are fantastic as they are generally most up to date. There are some standby books, but remember to get new ones every few years to be current with updated guidelines.

Ball® Blue Book® Guide to Preserving

National Center for Home Food Preservation

North Dakota State University Extension Canning Publications

Washington State University Extension Food Preservation

Iowa State University Preserve the Taste of Summer Online Canning Class

Ball® and Kerr® Fresh Preserving Website

My Vegan and Whole Food Plant-Based Canning Facebook Group