How do I make my roux taste less like flour?
When I make a roux for soups and sauces it always ends up tasting like the flour. What is the correct way to make roux? How long does the flour need to cook out of it?
Best Answer
Cook it longer, and watch your proportions. If it's too dry (not enough fat), it's hard to cook through without burning it. You want to get to a golden brown color throughout. You can cook it until it's darker and it'll add more caramel/nutty flavor (don't burn it), but it has to be at least a golden color before it's cooked enough to not taste of raw flour. When in doubt, taste it. If it tastes raw still, go a bit longer.
A good start for proportions is 1 part flour to one part fat--by weight, not by volume. Start with your fat in the pot, and get it nice and warm but not blazing hot, then add your flour a bit at a time, stirring (or better yet, whisking) for a couple of seconds to incorporate it smoothly before adding more. Stop adding (no matter how much flour you've used) when you get a slightly soft paste. Not too runny, but not as stiff as toothpaste either. I've yet to find a common thing people can agree on that has the right consistency to describe it, unfortunately. When you get the right consistency you need to keep stirring it over the heat until you get that golden brown color.
I admit that it's a little imprecise, but it really is a thing I do by feel and experience, based on what I said above as my original starting point. I've learned how I like it over the years, but I started with that.
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Quick Answer about "How do I make my roux taste less like flour?"
You can cook it until it's darker and it'll add more caramel/nutty flavor (don't burn it), but it has to be at least a golden color before it's cooked enough to not taste of raw flour. When in doubt, taste it. If it tastes raw still, go a bit longer.How do you get rid of floury taste in sauce?
If the gravy tastes floury when you're almost finished, turn up the heat to maintain a rapid simmer for several minutes; then thin it again with more stock or water if necessary. A fat separator should eliminate this problem.How do you get the bitter taste out of the roux?
"The reason is, once butter gets to a certain temp the fat and solids separate, this will occur before you get the roux to the color you want it, then the solids will begin to burn," says Harden. This will leave your gumbo with a burnt bitter flavor, so instead opt for vegetable oil or even lard as the roux's fat.How do you fix too much flour in a sauce?
Solution: If your gravy is too thick, that just means it contains a bit too much flour. Thin it with additional stock; you could use water instead, but then you'd be watering down the flavor.How is roux supposed to taste?
Dark-brown roux looks like dark melted chocolate and tastes like rich campfire coffee with hints of tobacco. Dark roux is essential in building the flavor of traditional gumbo and usually achieves its color within 30\u201345 minutes of cooking, but it depends on the amount you make as well as the heat you use to cook it.How To Make A Low Carb Roux
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Answer 2
Sounds like you need to cut your flour back. I use 1/4 cup wheat flour to 1/2 oil and mine comes out perfect everytime :)
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