How to make this food taste right? I don't know if I'm fucking it up everytime I do this or if it just isn't for me.
>add butter and flour to a pot >make bechamel >turn heat down >add grated cheese by bits(Gouda, chedar is expensive as fuck here) >let it melt >cook for a bit more while whisking, add salt and pepper >mix with pasta
Am I doing something wrong?
Blake Smith
If you use cheese that melts well, like Gouda, then you don't even need to bother with the bechamel at all. That's only needed for cheeses that do not melt well, like aged cheddar.
Anyway, what you're describing sounds like it would taste OK though. What exactly is the problem you found with the taste?
Logan Campbell
Yes. You're using gouda as your primary cheese. That's disgusting if you're making a hearty mac 'n' cheese; if you can't get something like a nice sharp cheddar, why even try?
Aiden Brooks
dont forget to broil it after.
A good way to make it more tasty is to cook the noodles in stock and add some reduced stock to your bechamel.
Christopher Lee
honestly straight up mac and cheese is just too much goo. i like it with dried tomatoes and broccoli and pistachios and shit
Oliver Foster
>how to make this food taste right
Your technique is pretty much the standard, but using just Gouda is why it doesn't taste right. I use a combination of smoked Gouda and cheddar.
Also, don't listen to the retards saying to just add cheese to noodles without any kind of binder. That's not how mac and cheese works.
Landon Sullivan
What cheese you use makes all the difference to macaroni. It's the primary flavoring. Gouda is probably just too mild by itself- you have to remember that since you're adding it to the bechamel and pasta, its flavor will be quite reduced.
You could also add some things to your bechamel part. I like to gently saute some shallots in the butter before making the roux- mince them finely enough and they virtually disappear by the time the dish us done, but they add great flavor. I also add a little mustard powder - start with like half a tsp and adjust from there - and a bit of fresh grated nutmeg.
Jackson Taylor
> binder.
you do not need to 'bind' cheese.
Eli King
Mac and cheese is made with a cheese sauce that makes it so that the cheese is evenly distributed. The roux acts as a binder for the cheese and milk/cream. Egg yolk does the same thing.
Aaron Anderson
not all mac and cheese is made with a roux and it's not a 'binder', it is a stabiliser. you don't necessarily need a stabiliser especially if you aren't introducing more water into the system.
Michael Harris
>binder >stabilizer
Now you're just mincing words. Roux and egg yolk are both a type of liason, which can be called both a binder and a stabilizer (although it's more often defined as a binding agent).
Grayson Parker
technically the 'liaison' is the mixture of either of those things with the aqueous component of the sauce, but w/e. either way, yes you can add cheese straight to pasta, no you do not need a 'binder' to do it and even when adding cream or whatever to the sauce you don't necessarily need a 'binder' to keep it together.
Nolan Ortiz
>>binder >>stabilizer
Neither of which are meaningful terms.
Emulsifier is the term you're looking for.
And like said, you don't need one for gouda. And assuming you bought proper gouda and not some bullshit copy, it will taste great.
Young cheddar melts well, so if you want to use that you don't need an emulsifier either. If you want to use a cheese that doesn't melt well, like aged cheddar, then you do need an emulsifier.
Adam Murphy
Why is it necessary to cook the roux? I literally never do and my sauce turns out fine.
Jaxon Butler
>Neither of which are meaningful terms. >Emulsifier is the term you're looking for.
no. an emulsifier is a substance which promotes the forming of an emulsion. a stabiliser is one which helps preserve the structure of the emulsion. these are standard industry terms. a roux is most definitely a stabiliser.
Nathan Miller
>substance which promotes the forming of an emulsion. a stabiliser is one which helps preserve the structure of the emulsion
Those are the same thing user. Did you fail chem 101 or didn't you take it?
Jose Kelly
they are not the same thing, though they can of course overlap.
Ethan Hernandez
>they are not the same thing
You didn't answer my question, user. Lemme ask it again:
Did you fail chem 101 or didn't you take it at all?
If the latter, I'm pretty sure you're underage & ban.
Owen Carter
i didn't take chem 101, as my country does not have a curriculum or degree structure that has a 'chem 101'. in any case you're being a dingaloid.
Anthony Williams
So the flour melts properly.
Aaron Peterson
try throwing a some mustard powder in with the flour
Alexander Watson
>flour melts
lol
Connor Smith
Put a bit of cayenne pepper, garlic and onion powder, some chives.
Also optionally mix in a teaspoon or two of sambal
Jacob James
>i didn't take chem 101
That's apparent.
Grayson Brooks
>incorporates properly
Kevin Rivera
Flour does not and cannot "melt" in the true sense of the word.
The reason why a roux is cooked is to get rid of the raw taste of the flour. The longer you cook a roux the more flavorful it becomes, but the less thickening/emulsifying power it has.
Sebastian Sanchez
Because raw flower tastes like shit, and aside from allowing the flower granuals to absorb liquid, cooking also caramalizes the sauce.
Use more than one type of cheese. back it up with something smoked and something sharp - just a bit, to add contrasting flavors (melting deadens the taste of a cheese anyway)
If you wanna be a foo foo fancy fuck, add panko and some leftover cheese to the top when you bake it for a crusty top.
Elijah Gray
>sneer sneer
come back when you have a point that isn't 'u dum'
Dominic Bennett
>How to make this food taste right?
Seriously? 1. Buy a decent steak 2. Let it come to room temp while you heat up your charcoal grill 3. Rub steak with oil and salt it 4. Grill for maybe four minutes a side 5. Remove from heat, cover, let rest
The best mac and cheese is no mac and cheese.
Jaxon Price
>the best mac and cheese is a steak mac and cheese > steak 6 days out of the week
Asher Cruz
>Flour does not and cannot "melt" in the true sense of the word.
go on Mr. Scientist...but first, what about on the Sun?
checkmate!
Tyler Parker
melting is a shift of phase from solid to liquid
Jonathan James
You're bragging about being a dwindle head.
Hudson Harris
so you've been on the Sun and can verify conclusively that flour doesn't melt?
keep smoking that weed, Dr. Fermi
Josiah Williams
Does anyone else fry off bacon till it's crispy, remove it and use the grease to make the roux?
Landon Nguyen
You're doing everything right, except you need to combine Gouda with another, more pungent cheese for better flavor. It could be all sorts of cheeses, even a blue cheese. The Gouda is a great melting cheese, but it's flavor is too mild on it's own. Also, if you can get parmesan, sprinkling that over the top and then running it under the broiler (or grill, as some countries call it) to make a nice browned crust helps too.
Angel Rogers
Yes. And it's awesome. I've also used duck fat and chicken fat, which also both add lots of flavor and work great.
Hudson Bell
I like adding paprika, salt, pepper and mustard powder.
Jack Brooks
use marshmallow
Ayden Jackson
>Gouda That's where you fucked up. Gouda tastes like nothing, it's half a step up from Monterey Jack