White sauce - help please!

[missorinoco]

I've just made roasted vegetable lasagna soup, sob.

Why is my white sauce so thin? I follwed the recipe (Delia's roasted vegetable lasagna), cooked the white saucefor >30 minutes. It was thicker than thin as milk originally, but not very thick. Now it is just slop.

This happens to all my white sauces.

What am I doing wrong or do you have a foolproof recipe, it clearly needs to be very foolproof to get past me.

TIA

You need to add the milk to the roux really slowly allowing it to thicken before you add more.

I do:

2oz butter
2oz flour
Between half and a whole pint of milk, depending on how thick you want the sauce

Melt butter, gradually stir in the flour to make a thick paste.

Slowly stir in the milk, allowing the sauce to thicken before adding more.

Google Delia's recipe and method. It never fails. No need for adding milk slowly - all butter, flour and milk in at start and stir whilst it heats up. It's easy and fool-proof. I have the recipe on wall in kitchen so I can refer to it

As above.

I add as much flour as possible - making it as thick and glumpy as poss. I then add milk, very slowly, and whisk it in. It stays very very thick for ages and then will slowly loosen.

Take it slow and it will work.

I don't know what you're doing wrong, as I use the delia version (the one where you put it all in at once and then add parmesan) and it's allways thick.

Are your scales working?

Oh, ha ha, just read the OP It does work so, erm, dunno what to suggest. Try again?

Too much milk/ not enough roux. I never bother weighing - just tend to do a dollop of fat plus roughly equal dollop of flour, then milk until it is a little thinner than I want, as it will thicken on cooking. A good handful of cheese will also thicken it.

If it comes out too thin you could try melting a tbsp of butter in another pan, add another tbsp flour and cook briefly and then gradually mix in the thin sauce as you did with the milk originally.

Disclaimer: have never tried this!

i never bother to weigh out my flour or butter BUT what i do do is to cook out my roux for a good few mins and then slowly add in the milk and keep stirring bit by bit til it's all incorporated,bring to the boil then reduce to a bare simmer

I'm with all the people who recommend adding milk slowly but extra tip is to take the roux off the heat for 30 seconds or so before you start adding the milk. It means the milk doesn't scald in the beginning and you get less lumps.

OP - if you're not uber confident on the white sauce front, I wouldn't be throwing all three ingredients in together. Disaster looms IMO.

My base recipe:

50g butter
50g plain four
500ml milk

But if I'm making a big lasagne I double it.

Always melt the butter and add flour, stirring until the roux is formed. Turn the heat down low and cook this off for a minute or two. Then added warmed milk (pop it in the microwave) in small amounts and mix as you go. I use a wooden spoon initially until it thins out a little then I change over to a whisk. Keep adding small amounts of milk until it builds into a thick sauce. You want it to nicely coat the back of a spoon.

Pinch of salt, white pepper, and big handful of grated parmesan.

Tips - if it is still too thin I would try what Umami said (it does work!) or, I have had success with turning up the heat (please keep stirring as you do this). Something about this seems to thicken the sauce. Then turn it back down quickly.

Also, I was once told that you need to use full fat milk. I once had a lasagne soup disaster and my MIL told me it's because I used semi skimmed. Don't know if that's a weird irish old wives tale?

For a basic white sauce I do not measure anything. I use cornflour. It is much easier, fewer lumps and thickens quicker with less risk of a floury taste. I just melt a large lump of butter add cornflour to make a really thick paste, let this cook for a minute then slowly add milk while stirring all the time.

For a really quick cheats cheese sauce just melt half-fat creme fraiche with grated cheddar cheese. Works great for lasagne (not great for waist line ).

what flour did you use? does not work with brown or wholemeal flour

Hillee - yes, the heating thickens it and you can heat it until just boiling. I had assumed that's what everyone does. Otherwise it's not cooked. So once you've added all your milk and got it nicely delumped, it will be thinner than the ultimate sauce will be as it will thicken as it cooks.

Hilee - I always use semi-skimmed milk. It's never been a problem.

You can rescue too thin white sauce with cornflour too, mix a tsp with a little cold water add to sauce & heat.

Having said that I use creme fraiche for lasagne as Runningoutofideas suggested. I don't even bother cooking it first just spread the creme fraiche on top of each pasta sheet layer & scatter with cheese. More delicious than white sauce - came from a Jaime Oliver recipe I think.

Lots of helpful suggestions - thankyou.

Slightly embarrased I manage to murder the failproof recipe

I shall try again with a roux and slow milk next week.

i find a whisk really helpful,
wooden spoon alternating with whisk.