bechamel is a velvety sauce that is sometimes referred to as white sauce, and it can be utilized either on its own or as a foundation for a wide variety of other sauces. Therefore, white vs bechamel sauce doesn’t make a good comparison since they are pretty much the same. Learn how to prepare the traditional French sauce known as béchamel along with helpful hints for preparing it just right, including the proportions of flour, butter, and milk, as well as how to store it and other topics. If you can get the hang of it, you'll be an absolute pro in the kitchen. The classic sauce is known as bechamel. It is referred to as one of the French Mother Sauces because it is extremely fundamental and serves as a foundation for a wide variety of dishes, including Mac & Cheese, Soufflés, and Lasagna. However, you shouldn't let the fact that it's in French and of a "traditional" style put you off. One of the fascinating aspects of French cuisine is that it emphasizes using only basic ingredients and techniques, at least in the beginning. I would even venture to say that you have probably already produced béchamel or one of its versions in the past without even realizing it. WHAT Does Bechamel Sauce Consist Of? Butter, flour, and milk are the only components of this white sauce that must be present for it to be considered complete. In many preparations, the sauce also receives the flavors of salt, black pepper, white pepper, and/or nutmeg. The color is white all the way through. The proportions of butter, flour, and milk that are used can determine whether it is thick or thin (more on the ratio later).
WHAT ARE SOME COMMON APPLICATIONS OF BÉCHAMEL? If you've ever made macaroni and cheese from scratch, you've undoubtedly already prepared a béchamel sauce. Béchamel is the foundation of many different recipes and other sauces, and you may have already prepared it a large number of times.
- The white sauce known as béchamel can also be found as one of the layers in lasagna, in addition to macaroni & cheese.
- Many soups with the title "cream of," such as "cream of mushroom soup," begin with a béchamel, which is then thinned out even more with milk as other ingredients are added. The final product is a soup with the title "cream of."
- Both the French dish soufflé and the traditional Greek meal moussaka begin with an extremely thick béchamel.
- Bechamel sauce is the foundation of mornay sauce, but it also contains shredded Gruyere cheese.
- Additionally, béchamel is used in gratin dishes, and even occasionally in the American dish known as scalloped potatoes.
- It is also a wonderful sauce to use as a substitution for canned condensed soups in those old casserole recipes that some of us grew up with (tuna casserole, I'm looking at you!). This sauce can be found in most grocery stores and is available in a variety of flavors.
- It is possible to begin making gravy using a basic béchamel sauce instead. During the time that the roast is in the oven, you can make this easy white sauce. After the roast is finished cooking, add the drippings from the roast to the pan.
- You may also make sausage gravy by adding ground black pepper and cooked ground sausage and pouring it over biscuits.
- To improve an otherwise straightforward meal, serve over cooked chicken and top with fresh chopped parsley.
IS THE RECIPE FOR BECHAMEL SAUCE THE SAME AS THE RECIPE FOR ALFREDO SAUCE? No. Although they share a similar appearance, fettuccine alfredo is made with the addition of Parmesan cheese. (In addition, neither milk nor flour is ever used in the classic preparation of alfredo sauce.) INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARATING BÉCHAMEL SAUCE:
- The ingredients for béchamel are butter, flour, and milk. However, what turns them into a sauce is the specific way in which they are mixed.
- To begin, put the butter in a saucepan and cook it over medium heat until it has completely melted. You do not want it to become brown in any way.
- The next step is to incorporate the flour into the melted butter. Mix it until you have what is known as a roux paste. Because it can get into every nook and cranny of your pot, I like to highly advocate using a flat whisk like this one (really, if you purchase a whisk like this, it will become your go-to tool.) Since I've gotten me, I practically never use my balloon whisk because I use the one I have for anything else.
- While stirring constantly, continue to cook the roux for one full minute. The flavor of raw flour is removed from the flour at this step of the cooking process, making it an essential part of the process.
- Take the paste from the heat and slowly add the milk to it while stirring. To begin, pour in around 2 tablespoons' worth of milk. Mix thoroughly with a whisk. After adding the other 2 tablespoons, stir the mixture once more. Continue mixing while adding the milk a little at a time, making sure to keep the consistency smooth after each addition. You will discover that as you continue to add milk, it becomes simpler to incorporate additional milk into the mixture while maintaining a smooth consistency. It is best to take things gently the first few times you do something until you get the feel of it.
- Return the saucepan to the burner and continue heating the liquid while stirring it continuously until it reaches a simmer. Keep stirring it while it simmers for a full minute.
- Take the dish off the heat and season it to your liking with salt, either white or black pepper and nutmeg if you like.
THE RATIOS OF BUTTER, FLOUR, AND MILK: The addition of flour to a béchamel sauce is what causes it to become more viscous. A sauce can be made thinner by using less flour, but adding more flour will make it thicker. The inclusion of butter in the sauce is intended to assist in evenly dispersing the flour so that lumps are not formed. Additionally, it imparts a luxurious quality to the sauce. When making a béchamel sauce, the amounts of butter and flour are nearly always the same. After being stirred into a paste with these components, the mixture is heated, and the milk is added while being stirred very slowly. What proportions do you use for each? If you want to make a béchamel as a straightforward sauce (one that is thickened but still easily pourable), the most fundamental ratio is 1 and a half tablespoons of butter to 1 and a half tablespoons of flour for every cup of milk. When you are making a cheese sauce, such as a Mornay sauce or Mac 'n Cheese, the cheese will act as an additional thickening, which will allow the sauce itself to start out being thinner than it would otherwise be. You should use one tablespoon of butter and one tablespoon of flour for each cup of milk. You can go with as much as three tablespoons of butter and flour for each cup of milk if you want to make a thick sauce, like for the beginning of a soufflé, for Moussaka, and sometimes for lasagna (I don't make my lasagna béchamel this thick, but some people do). Other examples of when you might want a thick sauce are when you are making the sauce for Moussaka. My personal preference is to err on the side of caution and make a sauce that is much thicker than necessary because you can always add additional milk to get it to the correct consistency. If, on the other hand, you start with a smaller amount of butter and flour and then realize that the sauce you've made as a result is too watery, it will be more difficult to thicken the sauce. 
If this occurs, you will need to begin the process again by preparing an unusually thick sauce, after which you will combine it with the sauce that was originally too thin. Mixing the two will result in a sauce that is somewhere in the middle of the two. Since the flour and butter never play a large role, the amount of sauce that you will wind up with at the end is nearly identical to the amount of milk that you use. This is because the amount of sauce that you finish up with is just about equivalent to the amount of milk that you use. If you follow the recipe exactly and use one cup of milk, you will end up with a little bit more than one cup of sauce once it is finished cooking. STORING BÉCHAMEL SAUCE: You have two options for how to store the sauce so that it can be used at a later time if you are not going to use it right away. First, allow it to reach room temperature and then proceed. Mix the sauce thoroughly. Then… To store leftover béchamel in the refrigerator, press a piece of plastic wrap directly across the surface of the sauce. This prevents skin from developing on the object. Place in the refrigerator for up to three days. Reheat over low heat on the stovetop while stirring often. Alternately, you might give it a quick zap in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each interval.
Bechamel can be frozen by placing it in a container that can be placed in the freezer. Check to see that the container has a good seal on it. Place in the freezer for up to one month. Allow it to thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Reheat the liquid over low heat on the stovetop while stirring constantly. Take note that the sauce may become separated after being frozen. It is easier to maintain its consistency if you stir it frequently as it heats up. However, if you have frozen béchamel that you need to use up, it is best to plan for it to be mixed into dishes (where the potential separation will be less noticeable) rather than in a dish where the sauce is meant to be noticeable and look pretty. This is because the potential separation will be less noticeable. That is all the advice and information I have regarding béchamel. Please post your inquiries in the comment box below if you have any questions. Because I do that very frequently, you may be sure that I won't forget to respond to you.