My cheese sauces have been curdling and watery lately. I'm wondering if it's the cheese as I've been making them for years and they've been successful in the past. I use Edam but different brands as it depends what's on special at the time. I used to heat milk and butter and add milk and flour(previously mixed) when it comes to boil. Take off heat and add cheese but have tried melting butter, add flour then milk and add junks of cheese whisking continuously and not letting boil. Either way, sometimes it's ok and other times its watery or curdles ?
petal1955,
Oct 2, 9:38pm
Make a roux by melting butter and adding the flour season with pepper and salt a little dry mustard powder and a pinch of cayenne pepper and stir to combine and cook. then slowly add your milk stir well till no lumps. take pot off the element before adding the cheese . add your cheese then place back on element to heat through and melt the cheese.
aktow,
Oct 2, 9:50pm
why bother using a roux,, i put milk in a container and put it in a microwave , when the milk is warm i add cornflour and cheese. i take out the container frequentley and give the sauce a whisk or stir, when the sauce is real hot i add more cornflour if needed or more milk if the sauce is to thick. my sauce never splits and i add chopped parsley to it to give the sauce some colour.
tazdevil38,
Oct 2, 10:01pm
Make a roux with equal parts butter and flour i.e 40 grams flour and 40 grams butter. Cook until it looks a bit like sand. Slowly add warmed milk (approx 300-400 mls depending on how thick you want your sauce) stirring inbetween each addition until all milk is used.
Add your grated cheese and season with salt and white pepper.
This is how I do mine and how all us chefs are taught to make it when you're training. Mine always turns out perfectly and I use tasty cheese to give it a bit more flavour.
Adding your cheese to a roux means you also don't need heaps of cheese either and don't need to add extra flour to thicken it.
tazdevil38,
Oct 2, 10:03pm
Because you need to cook out the flour so it doesn't taste awful and floury, that's why you should make a roux.
biggles45,
Oct 2, 10:06pm
This is how I do it, but I don't add cayenne. Oh and I use cornflour not ordinary flour.
lodgelocum,
Oct 2, 10:44pm
I always make a roux when I make cheese sauce, nothing nicer.
angelwoman,
Oct 2, 10:56pm
Microwaves destroy all nutritional value from all foods why would you use them!,,,,,
valentino,
Oct 2, 10:58pm
For an wee extra taste, try adding a little bit of grated Parmesan, about 1/4 cup, very nice end taste.
tigerlilly16,
Oct 2, 11:41pm
It may be the cheese or it may be the butter or milk you are using, I use butter from the old style block for making sauces, not the spreadable butter blends I use for sandwiches, but even then the water content in them varies a lot from brand to brand if you take a look at the ingredients list. Full fat milk would probably be the best milk for sauce but I use the light blue one as that is what we always have. I have used various cheeses and have not had it curdle though, I make a roux using equal quantities of butter and flour and let this cook out for at least 2 minutes, then add the milk and stir till it thickens then add grated cheese and sometimes mustard powder or wholegrain mustard, salt and pepper to taste.
wheelz,
Oct 3, 3:22am
Pffft
nauru,
Oct 3, 3:45am
I do this too and have never had any issues with any sauce made by this method, works everytime and it doesn't taste floury. Used to do the roux way many years ago but not anymore. Make my custard this way too.
sarahb5,
Oct 3, 4:19am
I make mine in the microwave, use equal amounts of flour and butter. I cook the roux then whisk in milk. Once its thickened I add cayenne, mustard powder and tasty cheese. I don't cook it after I've added the cheese. Have never had it split or curdle.
lythande1,
Oct 3, 1:20pm
I make a roux, add a bit of milk, then about 1 tbsp of a strong, aged cheddar and more milk as needed.
Friend used to make hers with Colby and such - you ended up with a barely flavoured glue. She now uses strong cheese.
lynja,
Oct 3, 1:35pm
Like sarahb5 I only make mine in the microwave. SO easy, works perfectly every time. NO lumps. You just need to give it a good stir once you have finished heating it. Looks all lumpy until you stir it. If you ever see the old Alison Holst microwave cook book at a garage sale/fair etc grab it. (red cover, half size) I find it the best book for things like this. Although I don't cook in the microwave as such, I do use it for sauces, vegetables etc. and this book is fantastic.
sarahb5,
Oct 3, 1:40pm
Mine isn't lumpy at all but I do whisk it every minute or so
kiwilion,
Oct 4, 8:54pm
This is how I make mine too, a no fail method. .
wendalls,
Oct 5, 6:16am
Me too. but Interestingly I saw Heston making his much different version which includes wine and stock and uses cornflour. He said he didn't care for traditional cheese or white sauce and I have to agree, unless I use huge amounts of cheese (even tasty) it's a bit blerk to me. Family love it tho. and if it gets the kids eating lots of veg then alls good!
kiwiscrapper1,
Oct 6, 12:03am
This is how I make mine but check for salt AFTER cheese has been added, Cheese has a lot of salt in It, I sometimes add a tsp of grainy mustard just because I love it!,
apollo11,
Oct 6, 12:25am
microwave butter until melted, add flour. Microwave milk until quite hot, stir into roux- will start to thicken pretty quickly but microwave until fully thickened. I usually heat it again before serving and add cheese, stir it in to melt it but don't add any extra heat or it will curdle. salt and pepper to taste. Never fails.
tazdevil38,
Oct 6, 2:32am
Yip, that's why I said add cheese then season ;-)
I agree, wholegrain mustard is nice too, and nice in mayonnaise.
bev00,
Oct 6, 3:12am
recycling.
sapphire152,
Oct 6, 4:07pm
I make mine out of the packet!
rainrain1,
Oct 6, 4:25pm
ha ha
sapphire152,
Oct 6, 4:29pm
Not joking
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