Apricot Brandy Mustard

A mustard born out of waffles. What? I have huge racks in my garage that contain lots of containers & food items. Anyhow while searching for my baking container to make some waffles I came upon some Apricot Brandy. An Apricot mustard is born.

Assemble your ingredients. Everyone has a different take on the best way to make mustard and they're all good. This is my method. I will talk about some other ones below. In fact I need to do a side by side comparison using different approaches to capture the nuances of each technique.

Mustard seeds measured out. If you notice in all my posts I use weight instead of volume. I find using weight is far more precise than volume and it make it easier to replicate a recipe. To the mustard seeds add the 170 grams of Apricot Brandy and mix and cover. Refrigerate until seeds can be broken between your fingers. Some people only wait a day. I like waiting three days. I have tried 24 hours and I found the seeds aren't soft enough for my liking. I have heard of people going as long as a week and with no degradation in mustard flavor. 

So after the elapsed time I tossed everything in my Vitamix. All done!!! Taste it I dare you. It doesn't taste all that great. After four days to seven days it will be great. Just be patient. If it's still too pungent just wait a little longer. 

Overall it came out pretty good. I wish more apricot flavor would have come through. I will have to adjust the recipe for the next batch. The mustard "Bark" will have to be toned down a bit in order for the apricot flavors to be more pronounced. 

How to process? I personally put the mustard in clean sterilized jars and refrigerate. Some people will hot pack. They heat the mustard up to about 180˚ƒ and place in hot sterilized jars and invert creating a vacuum and place in refrigerator or on shelf. My PH meter reader broke so I don't know the PH of the mustard (needs to below 4.6). The absolute proven processing technique is to hot pack and process on stove using the Hot Water bath Method. 

Note: Some people like adding the vinegar and other liquids right up front. I like to add the vinegar at the end. When you add the the vinegar in the beginning it will make a milder mustard. The temp plays a role too. Everything is a chemical reaction. Again, I need to do a side by side comparison. 

The Pungency of Mustard is always reduced by heating.