Mac and Cheese Problems!

vicecreamsundae

I made some simple mac and cheese a couple weeks ago by just boiling some pasta as usual and then stirring in some grated cheddar, milk and butter and fresh ground black pepper, and it was yummy, but twice since I have gone to make it again and both times, instead of melting into a sauce the cheese has gone all string like chewing gum, and i've essentially had to take the clumpy cheese out! it still tastes good and has a bit of a cheesey taste but it's certainly a waste as 80% of the cheese just sticks together and needs to be dumped.

The strange part is I'm not doing anything differently than the first time when it all melted together nicely. I have tried using both cheap red supermarket brand cheddar and white cracker barrel cheddar, and same thing happens for both.
Anyone know why this is, or how to combat it?

Susie_Q

Make a simple white sauce first, then add the cheese in until melted, then stir in your cooked pasta. Pretty much failsafe!

vicecreamsundae

i feel like this is a stupid question...but what does making a white sauce involve?!

Beruthiel

vicecreamsundae wrote: »

i feel like this is a stupid question...but what does making a white sauce involve?!

I make a basic white sause as follows:

Slowly warm a pint of milk.
Throw in some onions, salt and black pepper corns.
When onions are soft, strain the milk into a jug (without onions and pepper)
Melt a knob of butter.
Stir in a little flour.
Slowly add milk, continuing to stir so there are no lumps.
Throw in a load of grated cheese.
Voila. A nice cheese sause.

dlambirl

vicecreamsundae wrote: »

i feel like this is a stupid question...but what does making a white sauce involve?!

25g butter
25g flour
milk
cheese

Melt the butter, stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute to get rid of the flour taste. It will go all lumpy but this is normal. Add the milk and stir constantely. Add the cheese and stir until melted.

Then mix in your boiled pasta into this.

tfak85

then put your mac and cheese into an oven dish,cover with breadcrumbs and some parmesan and into the oven with it!
you can also add slices of tomato....someone told me they put a whole hard boiled egg into the middle of theirs!

i went to a place called s'mac in NYC, a mac and cheese restaurant that was bloody amazing!

Dinkie

I add some grated nutmeg into the white sauce with the cheese.... I think its yummy,

Sometimes I sprinkly bacon lardons on top before baking it.

olaola

Dinkie wrote: »

I add some grated nutmeg into the white sauce with the cheese.... I think its yummy,

+1 for the nutmeg.

kylith

Don't use mozarella whatever you do. I did once because it was all I had left and it pretty much glued everything into one massive lump.

These days I use .25 cup flour, mix to a paste with milk then make up the milk to 2.5cups, simmer until thickened then add the cheese.