Béchamel or white sauce question

[berlinerca]

Hi,

I have a question concerning Béchamel or basic white sauce.

First, I am not a trained chef but I do work as a cook in a kitchen here in Berlin, Germany. I find that I use very often basic white sauce and have been having trouble lately with the thickness i.e. it often is not thick enough.

My basic recipe is as follows: I heat 4 l milk and water mixed (my boss insists that I mix milk & water for cost purposes). While the liquid is heating I melt 250g butter and stir in enough white flour to form a thick paste, the consistency of a dough i.e. you could make a ball of this and it would not flow or fall apart. I keep this on the stove stirring constantly to cook the flour, usually for about 5 mins. Then I ad slowly, whisking constantly, the hot milk/water mixture. I then leave it on the stove at a low heat for at least 45 mins. stirring often and trying not to scrape the pan bottom as it always burns a bit on the bottom-I am working on a large industrial stove and the gas burners are large and hot.

Now sometimes this thickens up nicely and sometimes not. I am trying to achieve a fairly thick sauce, about the consistency of a syrup.

So any tips on how to get a consistently thick sauce would be very much appreciated.

[Jeekinz]

I use equal parts butter and flour in a sauce pan over medium heat. Whisk until smooth like a thick gravy. Add milk and whisk until the desired thickness. If it's too thick, just add more milk. High heat will burn the sauce.

Since you're cutting the milk with water you may need more roux. And you'll have to cook that more to get the flour taste out.

[Chopstix]

Hi Berlinerca,

I strongly suggest you always measure your white flour. You need 250g of it if you're using 250g of melted butter. The amount of hot liquid you add afterwards depends on the final consistency you would like. Try experimenting with using your 4 li first and increase/decrease it by measured amounts next time. Once you've achieved the desired consistency, you've arrived at your correct recipe. You just need to measure all ingredients according to this recipe everytime, if you want consistent results each time.

Good luck!
Chopstix

[vyapti]

Another issue may be the burnt goo on the bottom. If you're not stirring up the bottom, your thickener may be collecting on the bottom instead of doing its job. 45 min on high heat is a long, long time for a basic white sauce.

[GotGarlic]

After adding the milk/water, you need to bring the mixture to a simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. How to make Bechamel Sauce

HTH.

[jennyema]

Like others have said, it's a 1:1 ratio of butter to flour.

Over medium heat, melt the butter, add the flour and mix well, then cook the flour/butter mixture for only about 3-4 minutes. For bechemel sauce you don't want the flour to overcook.

Then slowly add your liquid, whisking constantly. The amount of liquid you use determines how thick the sauce will be. Don't add hot liquid to hot roux.

Turn up the heat and bring the sauce to a rapid simmer. You must simmer the sauce for the flour to act as a thickener.

You need only simmer the sauce for a few minutes. 45 minutes is completely unnecessary.

The sauce will thicken as much as it's going to with a few minutes of simmering. If the sauce doesn't thicken as much as you would like, it means you have added too much liquid for the amount of buttter/flour used. Adjust your recipe to use less liquid or more butter and flour.

[kitchenelf]

Jenny - let's say she thins the sauce a bit too much...what's the best way to thicken that back up? We kept some roux made and would add that to whatever we wanted to thicken. Is that what you would suggest?

[Andy M.]

Originally Posted by kitchenelf

Jenny - let's say she thins the sauce a bit too much...what's the best way to thicken that back up? We kept some roux made and would add that to whatever we wanted to thicken. Is that what you would suggest?

That would work. Also, you could add a flour and water slurry to thicken as you would a gravy.

[Jeekinz]

Originally Posted by kitchenelf

Jenny - let's say she thins the sauce a bit too much...what's the best way to thicken that back up? We kept some roux made and would add that to whatever we wanted to thicken. Is that what you would suggest?

I would thin it from being too thick just by adding more milk. It would only take 2-3 times making it before you get the hang of it. I never made one too thin. Although I have made them somewhat thin if I was going to add cheese to it.

Also, adding raw flour to the liquid will make the sauce taste like flour. You need to cook it, like Jennyema said, for a couple minutes as a roux.

[jennyema]

Originally Posted by kitchenelf

Jenny - let's say she thins the sauce a bit too much...what's the best way to thicken that back up? We kept some roux made and would add that to whatever we wanted to thicken. Is that what you would suggest?

Yes you could add more roux or you could try to reduce it, which would ential more cooking (this would be the only reason to cook it longer).

Better to add less liquid at the outset and thin it, though.

Experiment with small quantities of liquid, butter and roux and then when the consistency is what you want, xtimes the amounts.

[*amy*]

Originally Posted by berlinerca

Hi,

I have a question concerning Béchamel or basic white sauce.

First, I am not a trained chef but I do work as a cook in a kitchen here in Berlin, Germany. I find that I use very often basic white sauce and have been having trouble lately with the thickness i.e. it often is not thick enough.

My basic recipe is as follows: I heat 4 l milk and water mixed (my boss insists that I mix milk & water for cost purposes). While the liquid is heating I melt 250g butter and stir in enough white flour to form a thick paste, the consistency of a dough i.e. you could make a ball of this and it would not flow or fall apart. I keep this on the stove stirring constantly to cook the flour, usually for about 5 mins. Then I ad slowly, whisking constantly, the hot milk/water mixture. I then leave it on the stove at a low heat for at least 45 mins. stirring often and trying not to scrape the pan bottom as it always burns a bit on the bottom-I am working on a large industrial stove and the gas burners are large and hot.

Now sometimes this thickens up nicely and sometimes not. I am trying to achieve a fairly thick sauce, about the consistency of a syrup.

So any tips on how to get a consistently thick sauce would be very much appreciated.

I have not used a milk/water mixture. I have heard of using arrowroot or cornstarch & water (slurry) as a thickening agent. That, along with adding nutmeg, may also help with a flour-y taste. Just a suggestion. Here's one of Mario's recipes. Hope this helps.

Recipes : Bechamel Sauce : Food Network

[expatgirl]

I love nutmeg in my gravies!!! I chime in with everyone else's suggestions........if you can get Wondra flour it's great.......it's a light flour but makes great gravies without turning them to sludge or superglue.........(my biggest problem) hope that you find a good solution

[berlinerca]

Hey-Thanks for all the response. It took a while for me to get back here as I have been working 12 hr. shifts these past days and barely had time to open my computer.

Lots of good info here. And I have been doing a bit of research/experimenting for my own. What I have found is that the watered milk is a big issue here. Seems to work much better when I don't add water to the milk. Now I just have to convince "the boss" to open up his his cash box a bit and use more milk less water.

As for the taste/quality of the white sauce-well-I am in Germany and the German
palette (sp?) is generally not that refined. Not to insult the Germans or anything. Just an observation from cooking for lots of Germans.

Once again-thanks for all the response.

[Robo410]

the longer you cook the flour and butter, the thinner the bechamel will be. Try cooking it for four minutes then 3 1/2. You should get a thicker sauce. (Less than 3 minutes and the taste is wrong.)

[berlinerca]

Today we amped up the cheapness factor. I got to work and there was a big bag of potato starch waiting for me. so the recipe became-Milk/water heated to just off the boil and then a couple of big spoons of potato starch and water mixed. A couple of minutes of whisking and it thickened up nicely. I then added s&p & nutmeg, which I always use.

Quick easy, tasted like s**t IMO.

But the boss was happy.

I also found that it had a slightly unpleasant slippery feel in the mouth.

I need a new job...

[bowlingshirt]

Originally Posted by berlinerca

Quick easy, tasted like s**t IMO.

But the boss was happy.

I also found that it had a slightly unpleasant slippery feel in the mouth.

I need a new job...

Sounds like what you really need is a new boss

[Jeekinz]

Originally Posted by bowlingshirt

Sounds like what you really need is a new boss

LOL - he wouldn't last a week in Jersey cooking that garbage.

You seem like you care about what you cook, and your so-called boss could give a rat's behind.

I agree, find a new job. Let him run his own self into the ground.