Easy Homemade Mustard

Having searched the Internet and tried some recipes that gave me bitter mustard--ick--I embarked upon a mustardy quest.  By wading through countless forum posts, I figured out the probable cause of mustard bitterness, and that's water.  It's the water in the recipes that reacts with the mustard and creates the problem.

After much experimentation, here's my go-to, gold-standard recipe, which I make pretty much once a week.  We'll never go back to store-bought at my house.  We are now mustard-addicts.

UPDATES: See notes below.

EASY HOMEMADE MUSTARD

makes about 1/2 cup

1/4 cup yellow mustard seeds (do not rinse)
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 tsp salt
1-1/2 tsp blackstrap molasses*
     *maple syrup or raw sugar are fine, also

Combine ingredients in a 1/2-pint jar.

Cover and let sit at room temperature for a day or two.

Process in a food grinder, chopper, or processor until grainy and most of the seeds have been ground.

Keep in refrigerator for up to 6 months.

Notes: 

• Do not rinse seeds or add water.  Even the jar should be perfectly dry. Water causes bitterness.  If you have bitter mustard, you can let it sit for a few weeks or months, and it will settle down.
  
  
• Depending upon your chopper or processor, it might take a long time to get the mustard ground well enough.  My horrible little Black & Decker chopper takes about 5 minutes.  I hope you have a better machine!
  
  
• UPDATE 1: I now grind the seeds before mixing with the vinegar, etc.  8 pulses in an electric coffee grinder gives a nice texture with some seeds intact.  In this case, start with 1/3 cup seeds.
  
  
• UPDATE 2: Frontier brand organic yellow mustard seeds give this recipe a wonderful taste.  I tried a new brand, sourced also from Canada, and it tastes awful.  Fermenting for a couple of weeks improves the flavor, but not enough to taste actually good.