Bechamel sauce is made from a white roux (butter and flour) that we mix with milk spiced with white pepper and grated nutmeg. What is white roux? It is a substance created by cooking fat (traditionally butter) but it may also include margarine, oil or wheat flour. Depending on how much we do toast flour, we will get white, blonde or dark roux. Since bechamel sauce is white, we will use hardly toasted roux. This is also known in many countries as white sauce.
The amount of flour and fat for roux usually is 50%, what is known as TPT; depending on the sauce use we will add more or less roux per liter of milk. This is not a strict rule since it can be varied by adding a bit more fat than flour, depending on tastes, about 60 – 40% for instance. To make bechamel we start by heating the milk in a Magefesa Dutch oven. Melt the butter over low heat in a Magefesa sauté pan, add the flour and melt well with the help of a spatula or a set of Teflon beaters, let it cook for some minutes and continue stirring to prevent it from turning brown. Add hot milk (¼) to the sauté pan and stir it until well blended. Repeat the process until the whole milk is incorporated. With this way of adding hot milk, the formation of lumps will be avoided. Let the sauce cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes at least, so that flour flavor disappears, season to taste and spice with freshly grated nutmeg.
Some other derived sauces can be made from a béchamel sauce base, such as:
Tips:
Avoid making bechamel sauce in old aluminum pans since the sauce can be dark as a consequence of metal oxidation. Once the bechamel for croquettes is prepared, pour it into a previously greased pan with a bit butter or olive oil. To avoid crust formation on the top of the dough, cover it with transparent film paper in a way that it is not in contact with the bechamel.
If lumps are formed when making the sauce, you can use a Magefesa blender. When fine and homogeneous, return it to the pot and let it cook for some more minutes. To make a bechamel suitable for gluten free diets, the wheat flour can be substituted by corn or rice flour. If we use corn flour, take into account that it should be dissolved into cold milk to avoid lumps.
Please, find next some illustrative measures for each sauce making.
BECHAMEL FOR LIQUID SAUCES:
Ingredients:
40 gr. butter
40 gr. flour
1 l. milk
Salt
White pepper
Grated nutmeg
BECHAMEL FOR FILLINGS:
Ingredients:
60 gr. butter
60 gr. flour
1 l. Milk
Salt
White pepper
Grated nutmeg
BECHAMEL FOR CROQUETTES:
Ingredients:
110 gr. butter
110 gr. flour
1 l. milk
Salt
White pepper
Grated nutmeg
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