Wednesday, July 09, 2008 9:13 AM
Homemade mac and cheese grainy or dry?
When the cheese sauce for homemade mac and cheese breaks, curdles or turns grainy, there are a few potential causes.
1. The sauce was too hot when the cheese was added. Many recipes call for making a béchamel sauce of melted flour, butter and milk. Once the béchamel is cooked, grated cheese is added (technically, making it a mornay sauce).
If the cheese is added while the sauce is still on the heat, or too soon after it is removed from heat, the casein in the cheese will coagulate and separate from the fat and water, and turn stringy and grainy.
Solution: Simmer the béchamel sauce for 7 or 8 minutes, whisking (not stirring--use a whisk!) constantly, to help break down the starches in the flour and make a smooth paste with the milk. Wait a minute or so after you remove the butter/flour/milk mixture from heat before adding the grated cheese.
2. You used skim or low-fat milk or cheese. Fat helps to stabilizes dairy products when they're heated, and it keeps the casein from curdling.
Solution: Use whole milk. If you want an uber-creamy texture, use a mix of 2 tablespoons of heavy cream or half and half per 1 cup of whole milk in the recipe.
3. The cheese is too dry or old. Cheese that’s been opened and exposed to dry, cold air in your refrigerator will be harder to melt, and more likely to curdle.
Solution: Buy new, fresh cheddar to make mac and cheese.
4. You only used cheddar. There’s no denying cheddar is the flavor of a good mac and cheese, but for all of the reasons above, it’s not the easiest cheese to melt, and it tends to have a grainy texture to begin with.
Solution: Add a few slices of American cheese. The processing that American cheese goes through to get that creamy, smooth texture also breaks down the proteins in the cheese. This means the cheese will melt and won’t curdle the way other, less-processed cheeses do.
Looking for the best-ever macaroni and cheese recipe? Check out The Nest WC Board's (Sorta) Complete Compendium of Macaroni and Cheese Recipes -- a collection of Nestie blog entries for the most-requested recipe (ever).