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Practising making a roux

901 views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  cheflayne 
#1 ·
Hi everyone.

I'm a novice home cook and trying to find ways to practice making a roux.

I've tried making a cheese sauce for Mac and Cheese, but I made a lot of mistakes.

I used too much butter (3 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp flour); - the butter to flour ratio is 1 part butter and 1 part flour?

I was impatient when adding the three cups of milk 

The pot was too hot when I added the cheese...

Is there a way I can practice making the roux without completely messing up the dinner?
 
#2 ·
That's how you practice it, you make it and see what went wrong and then correct your mistakes the next time.  Yes roux is equal parts butter to flour. If I'm making a lot of bechamel - and I often do - I warm up the milk so that the sauce comes together quickly.  But if I'm only make a little bit, enough for mac n cheese for example, I pour the milk in cold.  It's important to have a whisk and keep stirring as you add the liquid.

Add the cheese after you've turned off the stove.  You just want to stir it in nice and easy until it melts. Making bechamel is a simple process but you do have to be gentle with it.
 
#3 ·
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Is there a way I can practice making the roux without completely messing up the dinner?
Sure. Make practice batches and freeze them. Then when you need a roux to thicken something up just pull it out of the freezer and use a cheese grater to flake it into your hot liquid until it thickens to the consistency desired.
 
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