The pedantic chemist in me can't let me upvote this meme. It's too forced. The "NaCHO" isn't even the empirical formula.
this post was submitted on 19 Dec 2023
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interestingasfuck
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Yeah, if you ignore the ratios, "NaCHO" represents every sodium salt of an organic compound containing only carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. There are many of these compounds:
Sodium acetate? "NaCHO."
Baking soda? "NaCHO."
Bar soap? "NaCHO."
Disgusting! Learn to make a proper sauce Mornay, you uncultured barbarians! /s
Bechemel sauces are good, but they aren't cheesy enough for something like queso or Mac and cheese
I see what you mean but did you in fact try to push the ratio of Béchamel and cheese in a Mornay to the limit? I got pretty satisfying results that way.
I've tinkered with it but past a certain point the consistency gets weird in my experience. Maybe it's my combo of cheeses or something. I honestly think it's the milk that fucks with the flavor moreso than the flour and butter. You can get it tasting alright but once you try to get it at the right thickness by adding more milk the taste just goes to hell
Then I guess I will have to make my own sodium citrate and have some kitchen experiments soon. Thanks for nudging me :)
Hey I hope you like it! Pro tip: if you're doing a queso sauce, instead of making sodium citrate from baking soda and citric acid, use lime juice and baking soda instead. Gives it a citrusy pop that's very welcome in anything Mexican/mexican adjacent
That sounds even better than using citric acid powder. What ratio of lime/lemon juice and baking soda do you recommend? Also, I thought about it some more and I assume it´s not a good idea to put more milk into a Mornay after the cheese has been added to and melted into the Béchamel.
Adding more milk is definitely not the way to go if I've learned anything lol, I just have a tough time nailing the consistency. I'll make my bechemel really soupy and once all of the cheese is added, it's too thick imo. I've never been able to nail a Mornay, I make them so infrequently my technique is probably terrible haha.
As to the sodium citrate thing, I honestly eyeball it. You don't need much for the reaction to take place. I'd guess maybe 1/3 of a cup(~80 ml) lime juice to a teaspoon (5 ml) of baking soda. So 16:1 ish. It's not an exact science. I usually juice two limes and use a spoon to throw a little baking soda in there.
Another thing you could do if you don't want to buy/use straight sodium citrate is to throw a slice or two of American cheese in with your sauce. That shit is absolutely loaded with sodium citrate. Be careful with how much you use though as it will impart the flavor of American cheese into your sauce and if you use too much it can take away from the other cheeses you're using
You two are wonderful. 🤗
I just watched James Dingley's Atomic Frontier video on cheese talk about this: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bISFxFauTzM
The image says any cheese...
This is false.
There are two main categories of cheese, Acid and Rennet.
If the cheese is made with Rennet, it will melt, and sodium citrate will make it smooth and creamy.
If the cheese is made with acid, then it will never melt. It will burn first. Think Feta or similar.
The exception is very long aged cheeses. They don't melt all that well, even though they're made with Rennet.
Every Rennet cheese is aged, if only a few weeks, acid cheeses will spoil if aged.