I tried this mac and cheese recipe: [https://www.seriouseats.com/ingredient-stovetop-mac-and-cheese-recipe](https://www.seriouseats.com/ingredient-stovetop-mac-and-cheese-recipe). I was wondering why my mac and cheese would end up with cheese clumps and nothing sticking to the macaroni itself? The macaroni was also pretty soggy, though I’m aware that was likely due to overboiling.
The things where things might have gone wrong are: I doubled all the portions, I didn’t have evaporated milk so I simmered 2% milk in a saucepan until there was half as much left, I added a bit too much water, I overboiled a little before and after adding the milk and cheese to the the pasta. What steps would cause the cheeae to clump up and not stick tot he macaroni?
Unfortunately I do not have a picture because I ate it before thinking about posting.
by AndreiDTale
5 Comments
It’s the 2% milk. You need to use evaporated milk in order for the sauce to properly emulsify, otherwise you’ll just get the clumps. [Here’s a good write up on Serious Eats.](https://www.seriouseats.com/cheese-sauce-for-cheese-fries-and-nachos) Too much water didn’t help, but with out the evaporated milk, it wouldn’t have emulsified properly anyway.
Ok magic science time!
mix a little lemon or lime juice with just enough baking soda to neutralize the acid, this will create sodium citrate.
mix a very small amount at a time into your cheese sauce and watch it become smooth as silk.
Sodium citrate breaks the molecular bonds that make cheese a solid, works on all cheese even ones we generally think of as hard cheese.
r/ididnthaveeggs
Cheese over 149f-158f will denature and clump. That’s really the only reason. Other things stop it from clumping, whether those are emulsifiers or matrices. Ultimately, heat is the problem you’re trying to solve.
I always use a lot of Velveeta with the cheddar. Use whole milk cheese. I also start with a flour and butter roue and add half and half to create a base, then add the cheese slowly while whisking it in at a moderate temperature.