Citric Acid To Make Smooth Mac And Cheese?

[OhioTom76]

The website Modernist Cuisine has some pictures illustrating their recipe for a really smooth mac and cheese, using citric acid and an immersion blender. I had hear mentions in the past of throwing in a slice or two of plain old processed american cheese into your bechamel and shredded cheddar based sauce to keep it from separating on you and becoming grainy, but I never got around to trying it.

http://modernistcuisine.com/recipes/silky-smooth-macaroni-and-cheese/

My gripe with any of the bechamel or cream based sauces I've tried when making mac and cheese from scratch is that the base sauce dilutes the cheese flavor too much. Some say to add mustard powder and hot sauce, but these don't seem to bring back the cheesy flavor, and in the worst case scenario I can start to taste the vinegary hot sauce, in the mac and cheese. Worse yet, the bechamel based sauces tend to separate and seize up, turning into a grainy greasy wallpaper paste texture.

I am really curious to try this method since it only uses a small amount of milk and a lot of cheese, and that sauce on the spoon does look super smooth.

 

[queenbellevue]

Hmm, I've never heard of using acid in mac&cheese, but I like it the way it is so I don't think I'll be trying it out anytime soon. For me, making it the traditional way is the best, adding other things and tinkering with the recipe just takes away from the original.

 

[Berties]

im a traditionalist with sauces,a mornay sauce is a simple sauce but easy to get wrong,i have heard of citric acid in cheese sauce before but as i said not for me ,i use citric acid in homemade cordials and some times for keeping veg like artichokes white when cooking them as you can do it with lemon but you get the lemon taste,i make a cheese sauce and add egg yolks and place in disposable piping bags and i can pipe this or spread it ,so to get the right consistency is a skill not the adding of a chemical

 

[JoanMcWench]

Would it not break the sauce? I'm curious of the nuances behind how it's incorporated. I try to add citrus elements way after a sauce is fully formed.