Mudbottom [1879891]

Somehow I've never gotten around to trying leeks, but it does sound yummy.

Bechemel is indeed quite important and very versatile. Any type of pasta bake, gratins, chowders can all start with this sauce.

Agree 100% that controlling your heat is a key to success. I check the thickness by how much it sticks to the spoon I'm stirring with. Definitely NOT something you can take you eye off and come back in 10min to see if it's done.

McDallas [14757]

I make bechamel all the time. I never understand why anyone would put store bought white sauce on their pasta, when bechamel is the most simplest easiest sauce and so much better to make yourself than buy crap in a bottle.

Yeah, I don't bother with all that fancy schmancy and egg stuff.

Melt butter

Put a spoonful or so of flour

Mix to cookie dough

Add milk and whisk hard

Add some vegetable bouillon, herbs, etc

Done.

Then if it's for whatever I add fried mushrooms, spinach, chili, cheese, fresh rosemary, tomatoes then pour over whatever it is.

McDallas [14757]

I make bechamel all the time. I never understand why anyone would put store bought white sauce on their pasta, when bechamel is the most simplest easiest sauce and so much better to make yourself than buy crap in a bottle.

Yeah, I don't bother with all that fancy schmancy and egg stuff.

Melt butter

Put a spoonful or so of flour

Mix to cookie dough

Add milk and whisk hard

Add some vegetable bouillon, herbs, etc

Done.

Then if it's for whatever I add fried mushrooms, spinach, chili, cheese, fresh rosemary, tomatoes then pour over whatever it is.

Wolfheart [2109024]

Those are some crazy options at the end haha

Blunt [2076337]

Not sure if anyone else mentioned this (as I only read the OP), but there are a few intricacies missing from the directions on how to make a béchamel (and how to make/use a roux in general) that would really help a novice cook achieve perfection

- First (and foremost), when thickening anything using roux, you ALWAYS want to cook the roux first. For béchamel, it doesn't need to be cooked very long, but a good 1-2 min should be enough to cook the raw flour taste out of the end resulting sauce. A lot of inexperienced cooks will think that, simply because the flour and butter have been properly mixed, that they can move onto the next step, which isn't the case. If you don't cook the roux for at least a few minutes, no amount of cooking or seasoning will rid your sauce of the taste of raw flour

-Second, If your making the roux, then immediately adding the milk, make sure to turn your heat off before adding the milk, then SLOWLY add WARM (100 degree Fahrenheit or more) milk while whisking. If your roux is hot, your liquid needs to be hot as well to prevent clumping and you turn the heat off when adding liquid to prevent burning to the bottom, and itll make for a smoother finished texture also. The opposite is true as well, if your roux is cold, so should your liquid be, so the end sauce is as smooth as possible without lumps.

-Third, your 40/60 ratio butter to flour is a bit tricky for an inexperienced cook. Not that your incorrect at all, because as you said, making a roux and then adding liquid by eye is how I do it for optimum texture, but for someone who lacks experience, a good rule of thumb is 1Tbsp butter, 2.5Tbsp flour, 1 cup of liquid. This will make a thicker roux than a 40/60 mix, but the end result will be a perfect thickness for a béchamel. With a 40/60, the roux is still a bit loose, meaning you need more roux to thicken the same amount of liquid, which could lead to the béchamel breaking (fats separating from suspension) due to a higher fat content. The only downfall to using more flour to butter, is that the roux NEEDS to have that full 2 minutes to cook to remove the flour taste. If that is rushed or skipped, it will ruin the flavor of the sauce.

4. Mustard powder is a better option than using regular mustard. Mustard has extremely high levels of acids that will work against the fat in the béchamel, preventing the luxurious mouth-feel of the fine fats trapped in suspension in the sauce. Acid works its way in between fats, causing them to push together into larger globules, which will change the mouth-feel of the sauce and could help cause breaking of the sauce. Mustard powder will give the background mustard taste without effecting the texture of the sauce as a whole.

5. Adding an egg yolk isn't "classic" béchamel, but wont hurt the end result at all. I would just be sure to temper my yolk before adding it into a hot béchamel though, or youll end up with chunks of yolk in the final product, which, again, would work against mouth-feel and overall texture

Blunt [2076337]

Not sure if anyone else mentioned this (as I only read the OP), but there are a few intricacies missing from the directions on how to make a béchamel (and how to make/use a roux in general) that would really help a novice cook achieve perfection

- First (and foremost), when thickening anything using roux, you ALWAYS want to cook the roux first. For béchamel, it doesn't need to be cooked very long, but a good 1-2 min should be enough to cook the raw flour taste out of the end resulting sauce. A lot of inexperienced cooks will think that, simply because the flour and butter have been properly mixed, that they can move onto the next step, which isn't the case. If you don't cook the roux for at least a few minutes, no amount of cooking or seasoning will rid your sauce of the taste of raw flour

-Second, If your making the roux, then immediately adding the milk, make sure to turn your heat off before adding the milk, then SLOWLY add WARM (100 degree Fahrenheit or more) milk while whisking. If your roux is hot, your liquid needs to be hot as well to prevent clumping and you turn the heat off when adding liquid to prevent burning to the bottom, and itll make for a smoother finished texture also. The opposite is true as well, if your roux is cold, so should your liquid be, so the end sauce is as smooth as possible without lumps.

-Third, your 40/60 ratio butter to flour is a bit tricky for an inexperienced cook. Not that your incorrect at all, because as you said, making a roux and then adding liquid by eye is how I do it for optimum texture, but for someone who lacks experience, a good rule of thumb is 1Tbsp butter, 2.5Tbsp flour, 1 cup of liquid. This will make a thicker roux than a 40/60 mix, but the end result will be a perfect thickness for a béchamel. With a 40/60, the roux is still a bit loose, meaning you need more roux to thicken the same amount of liquid, which could lead to the béchamel breaking (fats separating from suspension) due to a higher fat content. The only downfall to using more flour to butter, is that the roux NEEDS to have that full 2 minutes to cook to remove the flour taste. If that is rushed or skipped, it will ruin the flavor of the sauce.

4. Mustard powder is a better option than using regular mustard. Mustard has extremely high levels of acids that will work against the fat in the béchamel, preventing the luxurious mouth-feel of the fine fats trapped in suspension in the sauce. Acid works its way in between fats, causing them to push together into larger globules, which will change the mouth-feel of the sauce and could help cause breaking of the sauce. Mustard powder will give the background mustard taste without effecting the texture of the sauce as a whole.

5. Adding an egg yolk isn't "classic" béchamel, but wont hurt the end result at all. I would just be sure to temper my yolk before adding it into a hot béchamel though, or youll end up with chunks of yolk in the final product, which, again, would work against mouth-feel and overall texture

Wolfheart [2109024]

Great comments and I totally agree.

I always add cold milk though. I don't feel that this has ever been a bad idea. That said, my fridge isn't all that cold and I take the milk out before I start.

I must perhaps add that I use Bechamel for different purposes, and that I adjust thickness accordingly. In my view, recipes must be worked with for a while, trying slightly different variations so that you feel what the range is of a certain dish. It's a bit like art. Like Van Gogh making studies of Sunflowers.

Thank you for the comment about mustard. I didn't know that. I will try to find mustard powder and see what the difference is. I really love the taste of mustard in a Bechamel. Also a nice amount of pepper is essential for me.

Soulseekster [2101810]

I've noticed that making Bechamelsauce doesn't work that well using semi-skinned milk. Full milk seems to do it better. What is the reason for this?

Wolfheart [2109024]

We are totally geeking out here now :-) Technically, 4 of the 5 Mother Sauces can be made with Roux, but for the 4th one the Roux isn't essential while for the first three it is. The 5th is a completely different sauce.

Roux essential: Bechamel (roux and dairy), veloute (roux and white stock, e.g.. chicken), espagnole (roux and brown stock, e.g. beef).

Roux optional: tomato sauce (roux and tomatoes).

Without Roux: Hollandaise (egg yolks, clarified or even regular butter, wine or even water)

Why are they called Mother Sauces? Because if you know all of these sweet ladies you can make A LOT more. For instance add cheese to the Bechamel and you get a Mornay sauce. Hollandaise leads to Mayo-naise, Bear-naise (easy to remember) etc.

As you can see, what all of the Mother Sauces sauces have in common is a CENTRAL ingredient, and then something to make the sauce thicken. Therefore, a Bechamel is a MILK sauce, Veloute and Espagnole are STOCK sauces, Tomato sauce is a...TOMATO sauce (LOL), and a Hollandaise is a BUTTER sauce (hence those bad boys are very fattening). From this follows that the way of making them is the same as well: you first make the thickener (either a roux or an emulsion) and you then add the central ingredient.