Post by twistedtimbershomest on Jan 13, 2024 23:48:24 GMT -5
Starting a new thread because this is pretty much unrelated to my actual cheese making endeavors.
I have been making cheese sauce for years. Sometimes I make a roux with butter and flour, then add milk and/or cream, cream cheese, grated cheese of whatever variety I have on hand, heat and stir until smooth and thickened, salt, pepper, done.
Sometimes I skip the roux and just throw a whole brick of cream cheese in, usually cream and then grated cheese, again, heat and stir until melted and smooth. These sauces have normally been made with store bought dairy products. I *think* I've used our cow's cream or milk maybe with a roux and had success, but I'm not entirely sure.
Tonight I melted a bit of butter in a saucepan, decided to skip the roux and just add extra cheese to thicken, poured in straight cream, attempted to grate some of my freshly made cheese from two days ago... It mostly smooshed and fell apart, so I crumbled it into the hot cream and tried to whisk it smooth. It did not work, at all. It just got lumpy and stuck together and ended up looking so gross I tossed it in a bowl for the dog.
I started over with a fresh thing of cream and just grated a whole bunch of store bought marble/cheddar that we still had left from when Jane was dried off. I know that I have used this countless times to make cheese sauce. It melted, but it didn't combine with the cream like it normally does (with store bought cream). It was like all the flavor came out of the cheese and mixed with the cream, turning it a yellowish liquid, the cheese melted and stayed in clumps. And they had no cheese flavor left in them. It was the weirdest thing and have had it happen in the past when using fresh cow's milk. I thought it would work with cream instead of milk... But apparently not. I threw it all in the pasta anyway and it was like a creamy spaghetti soup with cheesy chunks. Not sauce at all. My family rated it a C meal, I'd have said D. D for goes in the dog dish!
Long story short, what happened?? How do I make cheese sauce with our cow's milk or cream? Will it work if I make sure to make a roux first?
I have been making cheese sauce for years. Sometimes I make a roux with butter and flour, then add milk and/or cream, cream cheese, grated cheese of whatever variety I have on hand, heat and stir until smooth and thickened, salt, pepper, done.
Sometimes I skip the roux and just throw a whole brick of cream cheese in, usually cream and then grated cheese, again, heat and stir until melted and smooth. These sauces have normally been made with store bought dairy products. I *think* I've used our cow's cream or milk maybe with a roux and had success, but I'm not entirely sure.
Tonight I melted a bit of butter in a saucepan, decided to skip the roux and just add extra cheese to thicken, poured in straight cream, attempted to grate some of my freshly made cheese from two days ago... It mostly smooshed and fell apart, so I crumbled it into the hot cream and tried to whisk it smooth. It did not work, at all. It just got lumpy and stuck together and ended up looking so gross I tossed it in a bowl for the dog.
I started over with a fresh thing of cream and just grated a whole bunch of store bought marble/cheddar that we still had left from when Jane was dried off. I know that I have used this countless times to make cheese sauce. It melted, but it didn't combine with the cream like it normally does (with store bought cream). It was like all the flavor came out of the cheese and mixed with the cream, turning it a yellowish liquid, the cheese melted and stayed in clumps. And they had no cheese flavor left in them. It was the weirdest thing and have had it happen in the past when using fresh cow's milk. I thought it would work with cream instead of milk... But apparently not. I threw it all in the pasta anyway and it was like a creamy spaghetti soup with cheesy chunks. Not sauce at all. My family rated it a C meal, I'd have said D. D for goes in the dog dish!
Long story short, what happened?? How do I make cheese sauce with our cow's milk or cream? Will it work if I make sure to make a roux first?
