Béchamel sauce

Yorky said:
Success today!

I left my wife to deal with the Yorkshire fried chicken and focused my undivided attention on the béchamel sauce. Delia method and not a lump in sight. I used general purpose flour (the same as I use for the pizza bases), milk and "Meadowlea" spread. And I used the yellow whisk thingy.

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Beautiful! I will try the Delia method next time.
 
Yorky said:
Success today!

I left my wife to deal with the Yorkshire fried chicken and focused my undivided attention on the béchamel sauce. Delia method and not a lump in sight. I used general purpose flour (the same as I use for the pizza bases), milk and "Meadowlea" spread. And I used the yellow whisk thingy.

View attachment 10763
Click to expand...
Result!
 
I took several attempts to master Béchamel.

I use 2 heavy stainless saucepans with clad copper bottoms.
A wooden spoon and a stainless whisk.

I scald whole milk first. IDK where I got the recipe but I add cold milk and 1/4 medium yellow onion with a bay leaf pinned to with a whole clove and a pinch of nutmeg. I let the milk simmer on a low heat until it starts to rise in the pan. I strain the milk through a fine mesh sieve lined with a coffee filter. I don't want any bits of nutmeg or milk skin in the sauce. In the other pan I melt my butter - just melt it - then start adding an equal amount of all purpose flour. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the raw flour smell dissipates.

That is where I always had a problem. I have an electric range and temperature control is a pain. The heat was either too low and my sauce tasted like flour or it was too high and the roux started to brown. I have learned to move my pot off and on the heat.

From there just slowly add the hot, scalded milk, whisking gently until you get that lovely silky texture.

I like fresh ground black pepper. Sauce purest use white pepper because they do not want the black bits in their beautiful white sauce.

:p:

When learning to make sauces I frequently had to make it several times before I got it right. Once I achieve the desired result it is never a problem to replicate.
 
ElizabethB said:
I took several attempts to master Béchamel.

I use 2 heavy stainless saucepans with clad copper bottoms.
A wooden spoon and a stainless whisk.

I scald whole milk first. IDK where I got the recipe but I add cold milk and 1/4 medium yellow onion with a bay leaf pinned to with a whole clove and a pinch of nutmeg. I let the milk simmer on a low heat until it starts to rise in the pan. I strain the milk through a fine mesh sieve lined with a coffee filter. I don't want any bits of nutmeg or milk skin in the sauce. In the other pan I melt my butter - just melt it - then start adding an equal amount of all purpose flour. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the raw flour smell dissipates.

That is where I always had a problem. I have an electric range and temperature control is a pain. The heat was either too low and my sauce tasted like flour or it was too high and the roux started to brown. I have learned to move my pot off and on the heat.

From there just slowly add the hot, scalded milk, whisking gently until you get that lovely silky texture.

I like fresh ground black pepper. Sauce purest use white pepper because they do not want the black bits in their beautiful white sauce.

:p:

When learning to make sauces I frequently had to make it several times before I got it right. Once I achieve the desired result it is never a problem to replicate.
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@ElizabethB you are half way to making bread sauce there! You need far more cloves studded in your onion, leave to infuse for longer, then add breadcrumbs instead of the flour - voila! Bread sauce!
 
ElizabethB said:
I have an electric range and temperature control is a pain. The heat was either too low and my sauce tasted like flour or it was too high and the roux started to brown. I have learned to move my pot off and on the heat.....When learning to make sauces I frequently had to make it several times before I got it right. Once I achieve the desired result it is never a problem to replicate.
Click to expand...
I do it a different way. When the butter has started to melt, I turn the heat right down. It carries on melting using the residual heat and there is usually enough heat to add the flour and make the roux. Then I add the liquid very slowly, stirring it all the time with a spoon. Once it is completely mixed, I turn the heat up again to just over a medium heat, and carry on stirring until it starts to bubble. Once it starts to bubble, I turn the heat down again for about 3 minutes, and then off completely, which gives another 3 minutes or so of usable heat.
Two tips I found useful were to rinse the pan out first with very cold water as this helps stop sticking (and subsequently burning), and to add the liquid with the pan completely off the heat (although I don't always do this!)
 
@Yorky.

I make bechamel fairly often but I measure nothing.

Butter, plain flour, milk, salt, white pepper & nutmeg.

I preheat the milk in a jug in the microwave.

A whisk is a must.

If it's lumpy I give it a blast with the stick mixer after I take it off the heat.
 
I never measure anything for batter (although it's only flour and water/beer) because it's easy to add more of either to get the consistency as you wish it to be. However, using the Delia method for béchamel sauce requires the ingredients to be added cold meaning the sauce doesn't thicken until almost boiling at which time it would be difficult (for me anyway) to add more flour without lumps forming.
 
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