I seem to remember a recipe in Cooks Illustrated that used Velveeta cheese to assist the "regular" cheese in the meltyness department. If you google it, you can find it. It also uses evaporated milk. So you don't have to do 100% velveeta, just enough to make it gooey, like 1/3. Then use whatever other cheese you like!

Hi,

Gillespie's recipe had parano cheese (found at Caputos Cheese in Lake Forest) and smoked cheddar plus a big dose of heavy cream. It was by far the most expensive mac and cheese I had ever made.

Gillespie was delighted this mac and cheese matched what was served in his restaurant. He had received an e-mail from someone who followed his recipe and thought it did not approach what was served in his restaurant.

Regards,

Velveeta makes creamy mac and cheese because it contains a lot of sodium phosphate which stabilizes the fat-water emulsion. Modernist Cuisine presented a now-popular recipe that uses sodium citrate and carrageenan as the emulsifiers. A streamlined version of that recipe can be found here. Simply dissolve some sodium citrate in hot water, then blend in the grated cheese of your choice using an immersion blender. Mix the sauce into your cooked mac and that's it. An old LTHF thread on the original Modernist Cuisine recipe can be found here.

From Crabby Snacks to Modernist Cuisine. Awesome

boudreaulicious wrote:From Crabby Snacks to Modernist Cuisine. Awesome

This is the conversational drift I love around here!

Regards,

I use my blender when making cheese sauces that tend to separate. Pour about half of the bechamel into the blender and add the shredded cheese.
Blend. Then continue with recipe. Perfectly smooth cheese sauce....

All good points. I knew there was a scientific explanation why cooks of old used Velveeta even though I generally try to avoid it. Evaporated milk does seem to make a smooth sauce along with careful melting. Separated cheese, grainy cheese are all undesirable but there are a few tricks around it.

I don't remember where I read it, but the key to velveeta's smoothness is sodium citrate, an emulsifier. I don't know if citric acid (which is easily found, and we have in our kitchen) can be used to improve stability of cheese sauces, perhaps balanced with some baking soda?

Food Nut wrote:I use my blender when making cheese sauces that tend to separate. Pour about half of the bechamel into the blender and add the shredded cheese.
Blend. Then continue with recipe. Perfectly smooth cheese sauce....

The flour in the béchamel acts as an emulsifier, but it's not very efficient. The béchamel gives good texture to the cheese sauce, though it blunts the cheese flavor. The recipe from Modernist Cuisine isn't the only (or best) way to make mac and cheese but it's interesting to try.

toria wrote:All good points. I knew there was a scientific explanation why cooks of old used Velveeta even though I generally try to avoid it. Evaporated milk does seem to make a smooth sauce along with careful melting. Separated cheese, grainy cheese are all undesirable but there are a few tricks around it.

Evaporated milk contains potassium phosphate and carrageenan, both efficient emulsifying agents (at least both Carnation and PET brands have these two additives).

JoelF wrote:I don't remember where I read it, but the key to velveeta's smoothness is sodium citrate, an emulsifier. I don't know if citric acid (which is easily found, and we have in our kitchen) can be used to improve stability of cheese sauces, perhaps balanced with some baking soda?

As mentioned six posts up, Velveeta actually contains a lot of sodium phosphate (and only a little sodium citrate) which has similar emulsifying properties. While the recipe from Modernist Cuisine linked to above uses sodium citrate, you could make your own from citric acid and sodium bicarbonate (the carbon dioxide and water also produced would be inconsequential). The trick would be getting the ratio correct (granted, not a huge problem). You don't want too much acid (sour taste and inefficient emulsification) or too much base (bitter taste). Sodium citrate can easily be mail ordered and it sounds like something that would be fun to have around the kitchen.

You folks are straight out of Mad Men! Thx for the memories and also for the recipes for super bowl Sunday! Crabby snax perfect for the niners fans and also for the ravens!

Sodim phosphate is safe, cheap and easy to buy here.

Geo

A HuffPo article on the topic I daresay was researched in part in this thread:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/2 ... 53131.html

Alternatively, some crabby snacks can be made without any crab -- the "crabby" refers to a type of Old Bay seasoning -- and involves a dip made with cheddar, mustard and paprika.

I have been asked to make "hanky panekys" for a party. We call them dog biscuits. I know you can freeze them, but do i freeze prior to broiling? Need help soon.

thanks
babaluch

babaluch wrote:I have been asked to make "hanky panekys" for a party. We call them dog biscuits. I know you can freeze them, but do i freeze prior to broiling? Need help soon.

thanks
babaluch

I have a friend who calls them "meat cookies".

I would freeze before broiling. Once thawed, then I would place under the broiler to crisp up.

My mom made hanky pankies all the time. She also made crab toasts which were similar to crabby snacks. Love both. Have not made them but need to do it soon.