Alfredo Sauce

[Chef Creator]

My Sauce always comes out grainy I strain it but I shouldnt have to. When I made it in Culinary school I didnt have to strain it to remove some of the grainy pamesean. Any good tips to help me out?

[Gunnar]

How aged is your parmesan? Are you using shredded or grated?(should be shredded, i believe) and are you waiting for your cream to come to temp before adding it?

[Chef Creator]

I will admit its not always the best parmesean but I have used aged parmesean and it still comes out grainy. I wait till my cream is to temp and I always shred my cheese. Could it be that im shredding it to thick?

[Gunnar]

Use yer whisk more? I really couldn't tell ya, the only "lumps" should be like shallots and garlic or some other spice for an "original twist" on Alfredo. Also, I don't recall using any special kind of parm for an alfredo, just shredded. I just fear that a really aged parm might not have enough fat to melt right, but i could be wrong, i just don't know. Maybe yer just nervous and rushing it a bit and not letting it cook down enough, it happens.

[Chef Creator]

You might be right I think I will let it cook longer and I might try to shave my parm a little finer.

[Psycho Chef]

I was taught to add the cheese last and never allow the sauce to boil again after that point. I teach my cooks to turn off the fire and allow the residual heat to melt the cheese. I'm talking about an order or two in one saute pan. But now that I think about it, I do the same when making 3 gallons of cream sauce for spinach. I add the cheese off the heat.

I've never had a problem with grainy sauce, maybe that's why?

[Gunnar]

Talked with my sous chef today , he said that if you broke yer sauce it, might come up grainy looking, course the solution there is add more fat (butter or heavy cream) and heat and then a little more cheese and let it thicken again. And Psycho is right add the cheese at the end.

[Blueicus]

I agree completely, it's probably the overheating of the cheese that's causing your sauce to break. As everybody said before, add it last or make a roux-based sauce (the starches should trap the oil exuded by breaking cheese fine, keeping the sauce smooth even with vigorous heating).