Im new to cooking Mac and Cheese. Am I doing something wrong? Is the visual look im getting from milk curdling or siezing when I cook or something?Or is this normal and im overthinking?
Turn the heat off when you start stirring in the cheese.
>>21948998did you start with a roux based sauce and high fat milk or heavy cream? those are what give you a creamy texture. also don't overbake, turn off the heat as this anon says >>21949006
>>21949010Roux but no heavy cream.Roux, 1 cup evap milk, 1 cup regular milk, then the cheese
>>21948998I always use normal milk since I typically dont have anything else on hand. what kind of cheese are you using?
>>21949019Colby, Monterrey, Smoked Gouda, sharp cheddar
>>21949021and shredding it yourself? preshedded cheese fucks up the emulsifying process. you might want to add a slice or two of american, it helps things come together
>>21949023Shredded myself. I'll give it a try with the american next time
>>21949024Rinse your noodles off well after they're cooked. People sometimes think leaving them starchy helps but it makes the cheese sauce curdle in this case. You want that shit S L I C K like a D I C K bro.
Just a quesiton. When I make my roux im sitting at a med-low heat. If I take the heat off im not sure the cheese will all melt. Should I be making my roux at a higher temp?
>>21949031do you have the cheese ready to go before you start? if you keep it all next to the stove itll heat up a bit so the time you added it, it will melt quite easily
>>21949043Close but I dont think close enough to get the radiant heat from my stove
>>21948998The sauce is split. Specifically with a cheese sauce, this happens if temperatures are too high or if there is not a binding agent present. To me, this looks like the proteins have tightened because it got too hot.
>>21949047nta grate the cheese and let it sit out in a bowl for 5-10 minutes, it'll warm very fast and melt way easier. trying to melt cold cheese causes it to curdle too.
>>21949047also your milk should be room temp, not cold
>>21949052The milk I heated up in the microwave real quick before i added it.
>>21948998the sauce is splitting which means the cheese is separating into rubbery goop and an oil slick. you have to do some combination of keeping the temperature from getting too high, using different cheese that has better melting properties, and adding emulsifying agents like an egg yolk or sodium phosphate.
>>21948998Or you could go with an evaporated milk recipe and avoid all this bullshit about only starting your roux during a full moon in a pentagram of chicken blood.
>>21948998something looks wrong with your macking
This is the recipe I've been using for decades. It's easy to follow and if you make it enough it'll just come naturally and you won't have to reference it. I have made it 200+ times, just an estimate. Every time people think it's some sort of grand creation but it is very, very simple. I'm writing it here from memory.6 T butter6 T flour4 C milk1 lb pasta (uncooked weight)1 lb cheese (shred yourself)1/2 C milk2 T butter1/2 C breadcrumbsSeasoning Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the flour, whisk until a roux forms (about 2 minutes). Add the milk, whisk until a in sauce forms. Put out the flame, add HALF the cheese, mix until it fully melts. Season however you want. Boil the pasta. When it's at your preferred doneness, drain, do not rinse. Add it back to the pot. Mix the cheese sauce into the pasta. Ladle about 1/3 of your cheese/pasta mixture into your ungreased 13x9. Add 1/3 of your cheese. Alternate pasta/cheese until they're both used up. Dribble the milk over the top. Melt the butter in the microwave, mix the breadcrumbs in, then sprinkle them on top.350 degrees for a half hour.NOTESAny cheese is fine. The only thing that matters is that you shred it yourself. Preshredded cheese from the store is covered in cornstarch to prevent it sticking together, which fucks with your sauce. Mix and match with whatever cheese you want. I usually just use Cooper Sharp as I buy it by the 30 lb case and always have it on hand, but I have used Midnight Moon, three year aged cheddar, gouda, Pecorino, and a mix of everything in between. For the breadcrumbs you can use fresh, regular storebought, panko, Saltines, Cheez-Its, whatever you like. I usually just use regular old breadcrumbs. You can season it however you want. Definitely want salt and pepper. Can add some cayenne, mustard powder, MSG, whatever else.Ask any questions about it and I will try to answer. Ran out of room in this post.
>>21949131I will save this ty.
>>21949103a MacGyver posted this
>>21948998You baked it? I stopped doing baked mac and cheese because this always happens. If you want to keep baking it then I haven't personally tried it but I think added a bit of extra milk could help since part of the reason it splits is that the pasta absorbs more liquid during baking.
>>21949167Yeah I baked it. How do you prepare it without baking?
>>21949193Just make the sauce and mix it with the cooked pasta. Baking isn't really a necessary step.
>>21948998Most cheeses have an ideal melting point in the vicinity of 150 F. If you go too much hotter than that, the cheese will split. Emulsifiers can raise this threshold, but not indefinitely. Be aware that after straining pasta, it is likely somewhere in the 200 F range. If you're mixing ~150 F sauce with ~200 F pasta and throwing it in an oven at 350 F it's easy to see how the sauce might split from overheating.If you are preparing an oven-baked macaroni and cheese, I would highly recommend letting the components cool before being assembled and baked.
Gruyere, fontina and cheddar. Plus the other stuff you normally do.
>>21949014Replace with half and half, or add a bit more liquid and do 60/40 whole milk and heavy cream.Equal parts extra sharp cheddar, fontina/havarti, and guyere
sodium citrate
>>21948998stop adding flour to your mac and cheese, you fucking weirdo.
