Sodium Citrate

Hi,

I played a few times with sodium citrate to make a cheese sauce like described in Modernist cuisine at home. However, I find the sauce guest really thick when going from hot to warm which is the time need to peacefully eat the meal. I'm not sure which know to turn. Should I put less sodium nitrate, more liquid, both, eat the sauce before it gets cold ?

Thanks

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Brandon_34695

I don't have the book in front of me, but the Sodium Citrate cheese I remember in there is meant to completely gel at room temperature and emulate store bought cheese slices like Kraft. How much liquid went in? My sense is for more liquid.

http://www.chow.com/recipes/30493-perfectly-melting-cheese

The commenters here seem to agree.

Matthieu_35225

This is exactly what happens, the sauce hardens at room temperature so if you dont hurry to eat your mac and cheese, it will become a solid mob. It looks like its what happened to some commenters of the post you linked.

liquid : 265g

sodium citrate: 11g

Cheese: 285g

Thanks

Samuel_68313

Yeah, just add in a little more liquid until you get the result you're after.

What cheese did you use as well? Some cheese seems to work better than others for me but I am not exactly sure why.

Matthieu_35225

Thanks guys, I'll try that.

I used gruyere

com-chefsteps

If you have MC@Home, you can also compare the mac&cheese liquid ratio to the fondue ratio.

Ben_Humphrey_18779

Have any of y'all on this thread made any conclusions about liquid to sodium citrate ratio? I agree that the MC@H recipe ended up rather thick. Almost too thick. Have you documented a different ratio of liquid to sodium citrate that you prefer?

Brandon_Byrd_40557

The relevant ratio is the amount of sodium citrate to cheese, which is 4:100. If the recipe you're following comes out too thick, you can add liquid (beer, stock, skim milk) to thin it out to the desired consistency. If you overshoot, just cook off a bit of the extra moisture and it'll thicken up a bit more.

Ben_Humphrey_18779

Interesting. So if I read you right, that's always the ratio, so you get the whole calcium-sodium replacement thing going, but the amount of liquid you add will affect the thickness. Yes?

Brendan_Lee_56950

yes, and it will impact the flavor depending on the liquid you choose. I actually like it when it's thick because it makes it easier to cast into a pan so you can cut it into squares.

Chris_Young_80640

You also need to consider the acidity of the liquid, the more acidic the more it lowers the pH, which tends to negate some of the benefit of the citrate.

Ben_Humphrey_18779

And judging by some of your related comments in the forum Chris, at this more acidic level, your friend Detlef SHMP comes into play? (Sorry, bad Seattle joke)

Jack_Mayer_85396

In my experience, be prepared for the "fancy Velveeta" to set up pretty quickly. I did the MC@H version for their SV Hamburger with only the citrate and no carrageenan. It set up very quickly to the point where I ended up with a thicker than desired smear of cheese on the Silpat (still tasty though!). Perhaps I needed more liquid ...

Chris_Young_80640

@Ben, yes SHMP tends to help more when your using very tart liquid.

DiggingDogFarm_65362

What are y'all's favorite cheese sauce blends?

Brendan_Lee_56950

I really like smoked gouda mixed with gruyere and I really like provolone and sharp cheddar.

Jack_Mayer_85396

for the MC@H SV burger, I did an aged Gouda and Gruyere and it was terrific ...