Why does the roux break down in my chicken velouté sauce?
I am trying to make a veloute sauce which involves adding roux to boiling hot water mixed with chicken base (such as Tones or McCormick). This sauce is then mixed with heavy cream at a later stage to create a sauce for potatoes au gratin.
After you have made the roux and cooked it to a blonde stage (3-5 minutes), the chef that taught me this instructed me to cool the roux to room temperature and then add the room temperature roux to the boiling liquid stock. I let the stock boil for a few minutes after the addition of the roux and then reduce it to a softer boil (simmer).
The problem that I have encountered is that when simmering the sauce, the roux eventually breaks down releasing the fat (butter) into the sauce and thickening the "center" portion of the sauce. The fat essentially separates from the flour due to extreme heat (simmering). What causes this, and is there any way around it? Most veloute/supreme sauces call for a 30-50 minute simmering of the sauce to reduce any starchy taste and grainy texture.. but if the roux breaks down in the sauce before this how is this even possible?
If I don't leave the sauce at a boil initially for at least 3 minutes and then don't simmer for at least another 2-3 minutes, whatever remains from the lump of roux that was added settles to the bottom of the pan or forms lumps which eventually settle out. The sauce also has a "grainy" texture and seems to have too much of a starchy or floury taste.
Any advice on this would be appreciated. Thanks.
Best Answer
Per SAJ14SAJ's comment, the suspension in a traditional veloute relies on the gelatin to keep everything in place. Stocks are naturally rich in gelatin, due to the bones and connective tissue used to make them. Using a base to make the sauce is probably not providing the gelatin necessary. Other rich liquids frequently do separate when simmered for a long time (think curries and gumbo), so it's to be expected that your emulsion will break down eventually. I think your solution is to either use a real stock instead of the base, or perhaps fortify your liquids with a bit of gelatin before adding the roux (or barring those, cook only until your starch is gelatinized).
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How do you keep a roux from breaking?
To help prevent the roux from breaking or separating in your finished dish, make sure the roux and the liquid (water or stock) are at similar temperatures. Don't add cold roux to hot liquid or vice versa. Also, gradually add one to the other, whisking constantly between additions.Why did my roux break?
The oil opened the flour using heat. If the stock isn't hot enough, the heated, open flour will cool and close on impact with the stock causing it to "separate". Once this happens, the roux is toast.What type of roux is used for making a velouté?
In preparing a velout\xe9 sauce, a light stock (one in which the bones of the base used have not been roasted previously), such as veal, chicken, or fish stock, is thickened with a blond roux. The sauce produced is commonly referred to by the type of stock used (e.g. chicken velout\xe9, fish velout\xe9, seafood velout\xe9).Michelin star CONFIT CHICKEN with LETTUCE VELOUTE at home
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Answer 2
The idea of letting the roux come to room temperature is based on the idea that the roux and the liquid should be at the same temperature. Instead, heat the liquid (chicken stock, broth, etc) to about the same temp as the cooked roux, and instead of adding the roux to the liquid, slowly add the hot liquid to the roux, whisking it until smooth.
Answer 3
Your sauce is breaking. Your basic veloute recipe calls for adding the stock to the roux, not the roux to the stock. If, however, you are dead-set on adding roux to stock, I would suggest slowly incorporating a small amount of the stock into the roux and whisking until it's smooth before adding that mixture to the rest of the stock (as if you were making gravy, for instance).
Also, I would humbly suggest that your stock is probably too hot. When flour-based sauces get too hot (in other words, boiling), they can break. Think like if you've ever tried to make gravy from drippings that were too hot, and your roux ends up all grainy. A liquid that has been boiled then brought down to a simmer will be closer to boiling that a liquid that has been brought from cold to simmer. I'd try the cold-simmer route and see if you have better results.
One last thing: are you using clarified butter for your roux? Sometimes the water in unclarified butter can cause the roux to break at higher temperatures.
Answer 4
If your sauce breaks, too much water has been cooked off. Add water in small amounts while stirring until the sauce tightens back up.
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