This Roux Recipe is a Must for Home Cooks! (2024)

FAQs

What kind of roux that cooked just enough to cook the raw taste of flour? ›

White and blond roux are cooked for just enough time to eliminate the raw taste of the flour, but not so long that the roux starts to brown, about 3 to 5 minutes. White roux is used to thicken sauces such as béchamel, cheese sauces and white gravy, as well as creamy soups and chowders.

Two reasons. First, a roux is useful for cooking the raw flavor out of the starch, which leads to better flavor and aroma in the final dish. And second, when you combine the starch with a fat, each starch granule becomes coated in the fat.

A roux is a sauce built on a simple ratio of 1 part butter to 1 part flour. You start by melting butter, then add in flour, and cook the mixture over low heat until it's thick and lump-free.

There are four varieties of roux: white, blond, brown, and dark brown. The different colors are a result of how long the roux is cooked; white is cooked for the shortest time, while dark brown cooks the longest. White and blond roux are the most common, used to thicken sauces, soups, and chowders.

You can make a roux with any type of fat. Butter is a popular choice because it has good flavor but vegetable oil will work as well. Lard, bacon grease, schmalz, pretty much any fat, animal or vegetable, will work.

Yes! Working with olive oil in a roux is the same process as making the roux with any other oil or fat. I put together a quick video to accompany the recipe.

Tips for Making a Roux

Don't use a thin pan and/or too high heat: We advise using a heavy-bottomed pan (Dutch oven, cast-iron skillet, heavy sauté pan) and cooking over medium-low heat. If you crank the heat up or use a thin pan, you risk burning the roux.

The five French mother sauces are béchamel, velouté, espagnole, hollandaise, and tomato. Developed in the 19th century by French chef Auguste Escoffier, mother sauces serve as a starting point for a variety of delicious sauces used to complement countless dishes, including veggies, fish, meat, casseroles, and pastas.

If you see tiny black bits in the roux, it has burned. You'll probably smell it burning, too. Once the first tablespoon of flour is absorbed, about 30 seconds, sprinkle in the next tablespoon and keep stirring. The roux will start browning and will thicken to the point you can draw through it with the spatula.

Should you use butter or oil for gumbo roux? ›

Butter adds great flavor, but since it has a lower smoke point than other fat sources (like vegetable or canola oil), it's more likely to burn when used in a darker roux. “In a dark roux,” says New Orleans–based chef Justin Devillier, “I'll mix butter with a high-heat oil” to keep the fat from scorching.

Darker roux is made by browning the flour in oil for a longer time and adds a distinct nutty flavor to a dish. They may be called "blond," "peanut-butter," "brown," or "chocolate" roux depending on their color. The darker the color, the richer the flavor.

Gravy is basically a roux, elevated with meat drippings or stock added. While a roux is a neutral fat and flour combined, gravy takes it a step further by using drippings for the fat and stock for flavor.

You have to make sure you cook the flour with the fat long enough for it to become golden brown otherwise you're dealing with raw flour that is the reason it tastes like flour!

You'll want to cook it for a few minutes because raw flour has a doughy taste you won't want in your sauce. Cooking the roux for a few minutes helps get rid of that raw flour flavor. Beyond that, how long you cook the roux depends on what you're using it for.

It's called “Beurre Manie”. It's an uncooked roux.

Not cooking your roux the correct length of time.

On the other hand, for a béchamel, we need a white roux that's cooked just long enough so it doesn't taste like raw flour. Try this: Pay close attention to the cook times given on a recipe as a place to start, then rely on sight and taste for the best result.