The Simple Trick For Cheese Sauce Without Any Clumps

Cheese sauce is delicious dripping from warm pretzels, drizzled on baked potatoes, and folded into mac and cheese. It would honestly be the perfect sauce were it not for one problem: the clumps. But it doesn't have to be that way. Chowhound spoke to Jeff Mauro of Mauro Provisions during the New York City Wine & Food Fest at The Seaport to get his tricks for making the smoothest cheese sauce possible. And it's not what you're probably thinking. 

Instead of buying bougie gastro-scientific emulsifiers like sodium citrate, which you'll probably only use for cheese sauce, Mauro's go-to solution for silky-smooth cheese sauce is simply mixing in a little cornstarch and some American cheese from the deli. He says that's "because the emulsifiers in there help kind of marry it all together. Easy-breezy." 

Just coat your shredded cheese with the dry cornstarch — about a tablespoon per pound of cheese. There's usually no need for a slurry. It's helpful if you use evaporated milk since the proteins make the emulsification stronger and more heat-stable. But you can use whatever liquid you want, especially if you also add the American cheese. In fact, Jeff Mauro uses beer as his liquid, but he also chooses the right American cheese.

He recommends getting the American cheese from the deli instead of whatever is boxed in the regular grocery aisle because of what's in American cheese. Brands like Boar's Head and Land O' Lakes sell what's known (legally) as pasteurized process cheese, which is almost 100% real cheese along with some emulsifiers and other dairy ingredients (like whey). Products like Velveeta and Kraft Singles are classified as a type of (pasteurized process) cheese food or spread and only have to be 51% real cheese. Note that the Kraft packages marked "deli" slices are also the real stuff if your grocery store doesn't have a deli counter. Making sure you get the good stuff means you have a protein content more in line regular cheese, which helps with stability. You can start with the equivalent of about a quarter of your total cheese volume, though you can go as high as 50%. 

Cornstarch absorbs excess moisture and thickens the cheese sauce, preventing fat and protein from separating (the primary cause of clumping). It's the exact same reason cornstarch is the missing ingredient in your spices mixes. And then there's the American cheese, which has its own emulsifiers on board to add even more stabilizing power.

The best part of this dream team is that it works with any cheese you want to use. Jeff Mauro recommends extra-sharp cheddar with a beer as light and tame as you can get to create the right contrast for a perfect sauce. You can even enhance it with Dijon mustard or hot sauce and add garlic powder and smoked paprika. But it works equally well with a chile con queso destined for chips or a mix of smokey Gouda for bacon burgers.