How-to-do – Making a great roux

What is a roux?

A roux, pronounced roo, is flour and fat, cooked together. A roux is used to thicken sauces, soups and gravies. Roux is typically made from equal parts of flour and fat by weight, but rendered bacon fat or sausage fat work well also. The flour is gradually added to the melted fat on the stove top over medium low heat while whisking constantly until all the flour is incorporated and a smooth paste has formed. The mixture will start to bubble and puff up while it cooks. The smell will also start to change as the roux cooks.

Your nose will start to pick up toasty nutty scents as the raw flour cooks in the fat. Cook your roux to the desired level of brownness, light, brown or dark. Many of the HIH recipes will start with a great roux.

Types of roux

• Light roux – sauces, white gravy
• Brown roux – brown gravy, stews
• Dark roux – gumbo, jambalaya

You could take your roux one step further in darkness than the video shows, but you must be very careful not to burn the roux. A great Cajun cook once told me he knows he’s cooked his jambalaya roux long enough when he’s had 6 beers. I think he drinks beer a little faster than most, but I think it gets the point that patience is required when cooking up a dark roux.

Watch the heat!

A burnt roux is nobody’s friend, especially the taste of the food your preparing. It may not be obvious at first if you’ve burnt your roux, especially if you’re working with a brown or dark roux. You’ll know your roux has burned if you see flecks of black or very dark brown in the mixture which differ from others. If this happens, I highly recommend starting over.

Tips to prevent burning your roux:

• Keep the heat down. Low to med-low is all the heat you need. This is slightly more difficult to control on an electric range than gas.
• Keep whisking…and whisking…and whisking. This will help keep the cooking even as the roux moves around in the pan
• Use a lighter metal pan. The lighter color will allow you to see more contrast in the color of the roux.
• If you think your roux has gotten too hot, remove from the heat while continuing to whisk and turn the heat down before returning to the heat to continue to cook.

What’s your favorite recipe using a roux? Leave a comment below and let me know. Mine is definitely the HIH Mac ‘n Cheese!