Why isn't my mornay sauce smooth?
I've been reading the Geek Cookbook, and decided to try the Mac & Cheese recipe from it, making the sauce from scratch - seemed simple enough! I've never made a Bechamel or Mornay sauce before, though, so this was new to me.
I made the roux fine, and mixed in the milk, which produced a smooth sauce. Once it started to thicken, I added the recommended amount of cheese (200g, to 2 cups milk). I used a pre-grated mix of mozarella, cheddar and romano. After mixing in the cheese, the sauce took on a fine, lumpy consistency - something like pureed cauliflower. Bringing it back to a simmer caused some of the surface to start to resemble a more normal looking mac & cheese sauce, but stirring returned the sauce to its previous grainy consistency.
Once it was simmering briskly, I left it on the stove simmering for 5-10 minutes to see if it would smooth out, but it did not appear to improve.
What did I do wrong?
Best Answer
Pre-grated.
Don't use pre-grated cheese for any sauce where consistency matters. Pre-grated cheeses are almost universally coated with cellulose to prevent clumping. This will muck up a good sauce every time. If it's going into a lasagna or a mac & cheese though, chances are it will go unnoticed by any but the cook.
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Quick Answer about "Why isn't my mornay sauce smooth?"
If you add the milk too quickly, use cold milk or simply don't whisk fast enough, you could get lumps in your sauce as bits of roux will cook and turn into small balls before they've had a chance to be smoothly blended into the milk.Why is my Mornay sauce lumpy?
Dairy sauces are prone to becoming grainy or gritty, and it's due to curdling. Dairy products like cheese sauce are made from fat and milk. The proteins contained in the mixture have a tendency to try to separate. Too much heat, not enough fat, or too much acid are usually the main reasons graininess occurs.Can you fix gritty cheese sauce?
To fix grainy cheese sauce, remove it from the heat and let it cool. Add a tablespoon of lemon juice to detangle the protein molecules and whisk to achieve a creamy smooth texture. If you don't have lemon juice, you can use high-fat cream instead.How do you fix a broken Mornay?
If your sauce has broken completely, there is still hope. The Kitchn recommends whisking an egg yolk with a bit of whatever liquid you are using as the sauce's base. Gradually add your broken liquid to the egg yolk mixture, one tablespoon at a time. In doing this, you're forming a fresh emulsion.How do you keep cheese sauce from being lumpy?
How do you stop cheese sauce from going lumpy?Why Isn't It Possible Vocoded To Gangsta's Paradise, Miss The Rage, Giorno's Theme, Megalovania
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