Cheese sauce problems (bechamel)

[Alix]

OMG, totally. And of course I had to tell on myself because I ended up giggling like a sillypants when I realized my booboo.

 

[chefkathleen]

LOL I can't believe you told on yourself. Anyway, welcome to the club!

 

[Alix]

I think I'm a founding member of that club!

 

[CharlieD]

There is a long disscucion about Beshamel sauce in this thread :

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f76/bechamel-sauce-help-6934.html

How do I make that name into one word?
Oh, weird, it did it by it self.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Really curious as to where you came up with your information, Weed.

From so many online and written sources that I don't have a chance at remembering where. Plus, as an engineer, I tend to try things out, experiment. And I've found from personal experience that everything I stated is true. I did make a mistake in my post though. The cheese is already coagulated and won't break under heat. But the milk protiens will. It is the melting and blending of the liquid milk and fat with the cheese that give a good cheese sauce its smooth and creamy texture. And a Bechemel isn't required to make a cheese sauce. You can do it simply with cream and cheese. The Becheml does make it easier though as it is a great thickener. You would need an awful lot of cheese to make your sauce thick without it.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[SierraCook]

I liked this thread. It was very interesting to read everyone's answers and I actually learned something, especially from GB's answer. It is amazing that i have been making this for years, but never really understood how it works.

Thanks, Alix. I did mean GW. Sorry, sometimes my fingers move to fast for my brain to catch up.

 

[Alix]

Thanks, Alix. I did mean GW. Sorry, sometimes my fingers move to fast for my brain to catch up.

Heehee! No worries, we figured it out and had a giggle about my brain all at the same time.

 

[leeniek]

I learned to make this sauce back when we still had home ec in middle school so that would have been the mid to late 1970's. Miss Brush (how scary is it that I still remember her name) had us make mac and cheese from scratch and we learned to make basic white sauce (bechamel). I use this sauce all the time.. for alfredo, cheese sauce and I created one too.. southwest cheese sauce.. it's basic cheese sauce with cajun seasoning.. really good on mac and cheese for a twist on the traditional flavours.

 

[Antiguadreams]

I wanted to comment on cooking time: I agree with luvs on 20 minutes, give or take. The flour feel and taste dissapears after that long cooking. It makes a big difference in taste (at least to me) because I hate the taste of flour in sauces and soups.