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

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?

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?

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?

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.

honestly straight up mac and cheese is just too much goo. i like it with dried tomatoes and broccoli and pistachios and shit

>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.

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.

> binder.

you do not need to 'bind' cheese.

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.

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.

>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).

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.

>>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.

Why is it necessary to cook the roux? I literally never do and my sauce turns out fine.

>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.

>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?

they are not the same thing, though they can of course overlap.

>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.

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.

So the flour melts properly.

try throwing a some mustard powder in with the flour

>flour melts

lol

Put a bit of cayenne pepper, garlic and onion powder, some chives.

Also optionally mix in a teaspoon or two of sambal

>i didn't take chem 101

That's apparent.

>incorporates properly

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.

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.

>sneer sneer

come back when you have a point that isn't 'u dum'

>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.

>the best mac and cheese is a steak
mac and cheese > steak 6 days out of the week

>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!

melting is a shift of phase from solid to liquid

You're bragging about being a dwindle head.

so you've been on the Sun and can verify conclusively that flour doesn't melt?

keep smoking that weed, Dr. Fermi

Does anyone else fry off bacon till it's crispy, remove it and use the grease to make the roux?

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.

Yes. And it's awesome. I've also used duck fat and chicken fat, which also both add lots of flavor and work great.

I like adding paprika, salt, pepper and mustard powder.

use marshmallow

>Gouda
That's where you fucked up. Gouda tastes like nothing, it's half a step up from Monterey Jack