Relative Healthfulness
Slim advantage to homemade. Hellmann's is made with many of the same ingredients as homemade - oil, eggs, vinegar, lemon juice, salt - buts adds to the mix calcium disodium EDTA, a preservative which improves shelf life.
Time Commitment
It took me 20 minutes to make homemade mayonnaise, including setup and cleanup.
Leftovers Potential
Store-bought is significantly hardier. Hellmann's mayonnaise can stay safely in your fridge for a year or more (there's a 'best by' date on each jar), whereas homemade mayonnaise (which contains raw egg yolk) should be consumed within a few days.
What The Testers Said
First let me introduce our panel.
THE HEALTH NUT
A delicate eater, the health nut is calorie conscious but also likes to eat well
THE FOODIE
Calorie agnostic, our foodie judge has a sophisticated palate and a love of cooking
THE DUDE
Ambivalent toward food trends and health concerns, this guy just wants to be fed when he's hungry
THE KID
Between ages of 9 and 12 years old, not jaded, typically not into strong flavors
Testers sampled both mayonnaises blind, alone and on turkey sandwiches. Everyone correctly identified the homemade from the store-bought when tested on their own, but the task got considerably harder once sandwiches were involved.
The Health Nut: Store-bought. "I don't notice a huge difference, especially on a sandwich, so I would never spend the time to make it."
The Foodie: Homemade. "This is the mayonnaise I'd rather dip fries into. Its flavor is more complex."
The Kid: Store-bought. "The other one is weirder tasting."
The Dude: Store-bought. "This mayonnaise is thicker and creamier. I like the consistency better."
The Verdict
Fake it.
Homemade mayo is a nice idea, but if you're using it on sandwiches as most of us do, it doesn't deliver much of an impact for the extra time commitment. Hellmann's will work just fine. However, keep in mind that for more sauce-centric applications--as a condiment for fries, or the basis for a remoulade--a homemade mayonnaise may be a nice touch.
--Elizabeth Gunnison
