Practising a roux

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Andre2807

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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?
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bynJX7S3pOQ

As you mentioned, its usually a 1 to 1 ratio butter to flour.
The heat has to be high enough, but not too high.
Butter completely melted, then add the flour.
Mix the melted butter and flour together until it becomes a homogeneous mixture.
Constant mixing is required
DO NOT WALK AWAY, making a roux requires %100 attention at all times or it will stick/ burn...
Add the liquid ( Milk) slowly, while Whisking.
Be careful, as the liquid will thicken quickly, bubble and splatter. It sometimes helps to periodically take it off the burner ( while whisking) to kind of control the temp and make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom.
Once the mix has thickened, and looks creamy and homogeneous, then you can add the cheese, kinda whisk it together until homogeneous again.

Key things to remember:
- 1:1 Ratio fat to Flour
-Hot but not too hot
-%100 attention, do NOT walk away
-Constant mixing/whisking
-Slowly add the liquid (milk)
-Constant whisking/ remove from heat periodically to control temp and prevent sticking
-Add Cheese/ whisk
-Done
 
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?

Well you seem to know how to do it so just practice with small amounts until you get it right
 
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?
You don't necessarily have to use it for dinner in order to practice. Roux freezes well, so practice, make some gravy and freeze it. Once you get the hang of it, you can make and freeze the roux itself. Restaurants do this all the time. Thaw said add to simmering stock.
 
That video larry posted doesn't work for me


But it says ROUGE sauce not roux


So what is he making? Something red or the very basic of white sauces?
 
It's a good video for a mornay sauce. The process where he starts by making a roux is what you need.

The key is equal parts by weight of fat and flour.
 
I was taught the following ratios for what my father called "white sauce:"
1 T. butter, 1 T. flour, 1 cup milk = thin white sauce
2 T. butter, 2 T. flour, 1 cup milk = medium white sauce
3 T. butter, 3 T. flour, 1 cup milk = thick white sauce

I, too, am usually impatient adding cold milk so the flour/butter mixture then turns into solidified lumps. Luckily, as the milk comes up to temperature and with a bit of whisking, it all turns back into a sauce.

One trick is to avoid scorching the sauce on the bottom. Almost constant whisking or stirring helps but you are likely to get some medium brown scorched material on the bottom of the pot unless you have high-quality, thick pots and a stove that allows for very fine temperature adjustment. If you find scorching a problem in your pot, don't scrape that off the bottom of the pot while stirring.

Resist the urge to try to hurry the sauce along by using too high a temp because this will result in scorching no matter what you do. You are definitely cooking your sauce too hot if it is boiling with big bubbles popping on the surface. Same goes for adding the cheese to the sauce. You don't want to make the cheese too hot at this point or your sauce is likely to become stringy. You can even turn the heat off before adding the cheese and stirring until it just melts. If your mac'n'cheese is going in the oven, don't even worry if some of the cheese isn't melted. The oven will take care of it.

Practice not only makes us better at things but we also discover ways to make things easier for us. For example, I don't have need of a brown roux very often and am not good at making one on top of the stove. Thanks to the web, I learned about "dry roux" which is really just flour baked in the oven until brown. Not the real thing but close enough for my purposes.
 
I think it might take practice to make a long cooked, Cajun red brown or black roux.
 
If you start a roux by browning flour in the oven, I don't think anyone would detect a difference. It is the real thing.
 
Why the video above is label rouge, is beyond me, but what he is making is basically what the original post was asking. A basic cheese sauce starting with a roux. I figured being able to see it on a video would help. That being said, watching him dance around like he had too much coffee or has to pee, is a little distracting :) but all in all, the sauce looks pretty basic and good to me.
 
I have gotten very good at making a roux. I usually make a chocolate (color) roux for gumbo, but that is just a difference in time, not technique.

As others have said, do NOT walk away from your roux. It will need constant attention and stirring. The darker the roux, the closer to the edge you walk. With a chocolate roux, you can go from perfect to ruined in about 20 seconds.

One-to-one is your basic fat to flour ratio, but be prepared to adjust, if needed. Keep flour and your fat close by.

For Mac and Cheese, you are going for a very light roux, or béchamel. You just want to cook out the flour taste. But, you still have to stir constantly. When you add your milk, make sure it is cold, and add gently while stirring, or you will get lumps.

Oh, I prefer cast iron for roux making. It holds a very steady temperature.

Also, I have done the oven method, and it works well, but takes a long time to get a darker roux.

CD

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I made a medium/ dark roux a few weeks back and put it in my mushroom barley soup. It kind adds that taste of something that has cooking all day ( which it was).

I had some left over roux, which I refrigerated, and added it to my chili , which once again, just gave it that extra depth of flavor.
 
OMG... you guys are scaring the poor poster with all your advanced techniques! As said... a beginner/novice wants some advise on making a roux....

simple story -

equal parts fat and flour -

1 Tbsp to 1 Tbsp

1 cup liquid
(usually milk)
(or more depending on how thick you want the sauce... there you have to check your individual recipe.

plus it used to be you would 'scald' your milk first - I sort of still believe in this and though I do not 'scald' I do give it a quick zap in the micro to heat it up.

Stir constantly while adding liquid. Using a whisk!

IF you are making a cheese sauce...
Shred cheese - take OFF heat and stir in cheese. The heat of the roux should be enough to melt the cheese.
 
For Mac and Cheese, you are going for a very light roux, or béchamel. You just want to cook out the flour taste. But, you still have to stir constantly. When you add your milk, make sure it is cold, and add gently while stirring, or you will get lumps.


.


Just to clarify.....

ROUX is just fat and flour cooked together. 1:1 proportion

BECHEMEL is roux cooked into milk to make a simple white sauce

And more detail ....

MORNAY sauce is bechemel with cheese added. Like for Mac and cheese.

VELOUTE sauce (another "Mother Sauce") is roux cooked into stock, rather than milk
 
Now you've inspired me to make shrimp gumbo tonight. The advice I can give on making a roux is to go slow adding the liquid and make sure the liquid is a different temperature from the flour and oil. Usually this means the liquid is colder. And don't stop stirring until it is done. And use a long handled spoon or spatula because roux's can be a little dangerous.
 
Andre, I promise nobody is trying to scare you away from making a roux. But, it is one of those things you just have to do until you get the hang of it, and then it just comes naturally. The one most important thing is not to leave your roux unattended. A roux is selfish... it wants your total, undivided attention.

CD
 
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