Bechamel Sauce recipe

[Chef Maloney]

Some people like to add some grated nutmeg/salt & pepper/onion/clove/or a bit of bouquet garni to their sauce.
The french recipes I have seen contain the salt, pepper & nutmeg to taste.
Here is a basic recipe I use for bechamel sauce with the proper ratio of flour/butter/milk content.

BECHAMEL SAUCE

5 Tablespoons Butter
5 Tablespoons Flour
1 Quart Milk

In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, melt the Butter.
Add the Flour, whisking until the butter is completely absorbed.
Cook for 2 - 3 minutes, whisking constantly.
Remove from the heat.
Gradually pour in the Milk, whisking constantly.
Return to medium heat, return to a boiL, whisking constantly.
Lower heat and continue cooking for 8 - 10 minutes, whisking.
If desired, it is at this point that some people like to add a dash of salt, pepper & nutmeg to taste.
The sauce is done and ready to use.
Also, If desired, an onion, peeled, halved and studded w/a whole clove can be placed in the sauce. Simmer & Stir for an additional 15 minutes, then strain the sauce.
Store this sauce in an air-tight container in the refrigerator to prevent a skin from forming.
smile

[MrsLMB]

Cool .. thanks for sharing this.

[Kylie1969]

This sounds lovely Chef

[Addie]

Is this for a thin, medium or thick sauce?

[Kylie1969]

I think Bechamel sauce, what I have had in the past is of a thicker consistency Ads, but you could probably have it to your liking by adding less flour I am thinking...not sure though

[Addie]

Originally Posted by Kylie1969

I think Bechamel sauce, what I have had in the past is of a thicker consistency Ads, but you could probably have it to your liking by adding less flour I am thinking...not sure though

The standared for bechamel is
One + one + one. One table spoon of fat, one tablespoon of flour and one cup of liquid. That makes a thin sauce. If you want to make it thicker you up it to 2+2+2. For a really thick sauce then you up to the 3's.

But the longer you learn cooking, you learn to play with the numbers. When I make mac and cheese, I use a whole pound of elbows and I know that it is going to absorb a lot of the liquid. So I usually use the 2's except for the liquid. I will add a quart of liquid or even more. So I want the sauce to be somewhat soupy and loose. The cheese also helps thicken it as it melts. So I have to take that into consideration also.

[forty_caliber]

Here is my TNT for bechamel sauce. To me the most important ratio to maintain goes to butter/flour. The liquid in the recipe is adjusted "on-the-fly" to achieve the desired consistency for a specific dish. For example, cream gravy uses more milk than peas in cream sauce.

Bechamel Sauce
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Yield: 1 cup

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/4 cups milk, heated
Salt
Freshly ground pepper

Directions:

1. Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until the paste cooks and bubbles a bit, but don't let it brown — about 2 minutes. Add the hot milk, continuing to stir as the sauce thickens. Bring it to a boil. Add salt and pepper to taste, lower the heat, and cook, stirring for 2 to 3 minutes more. Remove from the heat. To cool this sauce for later use, cover it with wax paper or pour a film of milk over it to prevent a skin from forming.

2. Cheese Sauce Stir in 1/2 cup grated Cheddar cheese during the last 2 minutes of cooking, along with a pinch of cayenne pepper.

3. How hot should the milk be? Warm the milk on low heat just until little bubbles begin to form at the edges. Then remove from heat. Do NOT allow to scorch.

Notes:

The foolproof way to attain a perfectly smooth sauce is to have the milk hot when added to the butter and flour. It is possible with practice to use cold milk. This seems to work best if 1/2 cup of milk is added first to "start" the sauce before adding the remainder.

[taxlady]

I usually like to cook the butter and flour on lower heat, but a fair bit longer, still not browning it. I really detest the taste of raw flour in bechamel. In fact, until I started making it myself I avoided it in restaurants because it had been gross every time I tried it.

I have never bothered to heat the milk, but I do add it a little bit at a time as Forty-Caliber mentioned. I don't know how much milk I use. I just add milk until it is the thickness I want.

[Addie]

Originally Posted by taxlady

I usually like to cook the butter and flour on lower heat, but a fair bit longer, still not browning it. I really detest the taste of raw flour in bechamel. In fact, until I started making it myself I avoided it in restaurants because it had been gross every time I tried it.

I have never bothered to heat the milk, but I do add it a little bit at a time as Forty-Caliber mentioned. I don't know how much milk I use. I just add milk until it is the thickness I want.

I never measure the fat and flour. Just toss in a little scoop that I keep in my flour canister, of flour and cut off a chunk of butter. Then pour in the milk when the roux is ready and has cooked until the rawness is gone. This is one of those sauces that with years of experience, you "just know." Like pouring salt into the palm of your hand for the pasta water.

[taxlady]

Originally Posted by Addie

I never measure the fat and flour. Just toss in a little scoop that I keep in my flour canister, of flour and cut off a chunk of butter. Then pour in the milk when the roux is ready and has cooked until the rawness is gone. This is one of those sauces that with years of experience, you "just know." Like pouring salt into the palm of your hand for the pasta water.

I don't measure the butter or flour either. I don't think the ratio is the same with whole wheat flour. I just guesstimate the amount of butter and keep sprinkling flour on and stirring until it looks right.

[Savannahsmoker]

Thanks for posting this.

[CharlieD]

I hate nutmeg. So what I make then probably is not true bechamel sauce.

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

A good Bechemel is the foundation for so many good things. Many of our parents were making Bechemel, or something very similar, not knowing that they were making one of the classic mother sauces. My own mother simply called it white sauce. She used it for making creamed peas, or creamed chip beef, and things like that.

To me, the roux is the most important part of making a proper flour-based sauce, be it bechemel, or Veloute, or Espaniole, etc. If the roux is made properly, you almost can't mess up the sauce that is made with it.

I also use a heavy Bechemel to bind creamy soups. A little added to a great pot of split pea soup doesn't alter the flavor, except to add a little buttery flavor (and that's a good thing). It does keep the solids from settling in the soup. And the soup becomes creamier in texture as well. It also works with lentel, and bean soups. I've even known people to add it to chile (not me. I promise.)

And we all know that bechemel can be used to make cheese sauces, and gravies. It's just such a versatile sauce.

But you have to get the roux right. And you have to know how to cook it to the proper color for the sauce you are making, as the roux has completely different flavor as it browns to different shades.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

[Zereh]

It makes me sad that cans of "cream of grossness" soup ever became the go-to substitution for making a sauce. =P

Hard to believe that just a few years ago I was intimidated by official terms like bechamel ~ when truth is I'd been making them forever, just without calling them that. I'd see a recipe which required bechamel and think that it was somehow out of my league... LOL

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Originally Posted by Zereh

It makes me sad that cans of "cream of grossness" soup ever became the go-to substitution for making a sauce. =P

Hard to believe that just a few years ago I was intimidated by official terms like bechamel ~ when truth is I'd been making them forever, just without calling them that. I'd see a recipe which required bechamel and think that it was somehow out of my league... LOL

Home made cream of mushroom soup is sooooo good, as is home made potato soup, both of which start with a silky Bechemel. Add a bit of dice rutabaga, and a bit of chopped bacon to your potato soup for an amazing flavor addition. Use a Chicken Veloute (blonde roux thinned with chicken stock) to make cream of chicken soup. Season with a llittle thyme and sage, with white pepper, and celery. A little saffron might be great with this soup as well.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North