Mac an cheese please?

[Mo-Dave]

Made some mac and cheese from scratch a couple days ago. I used extra sharp Kraft block, with some Kraft shredded sharp with mozzarella, because that is what I had on hand. I melted some unsalted butter in some milk, then put the cheese in to melt before adding the flour rue. That is when there were problems, my rue was smooth but the cheese stayed kind of grainy no matter what I did. Went ahead and added the mac with some bread crumbs on top, then baked until some browning. It was not to bad but don't know why there was the grainy texture.

This was a small batch, a little less than 16 once of shells with about 12 oz of cheese, still was not as cheese as would have liked.

What kind of cheese do you like to use, and do you ever have this problem?
Dave

[Tom Sellecks Mustache]

Honestly, I've given up on mac n cheese. I've tried a number of recipes from here and online, and I just can't get it. I don't know what I do wrong, but the family has now banned me from any more attempts, so we go velvetta now.

[aawa]

I go heavy with my cheese. For 1lb box of shells, I use 24oz of cheese. 16oz in the sauce, 8oz over the top.

8oz mild cheddar - goes into the cheese sauce
8oz colby cheese - goes into the cheese sauce
8oz sharp cheddar - goes ontop of the mac and cheese.

I have found that the sharp cheddar is kind of grainy when melting into a bechamel. I also found that I prefer the way the sharp cheddar melts for the top crust since it holds texture better than mild cheddar.

here is my recipe.

1lb Shells or Elbow Macaroni
5 TBS Butter
5 TBS Flour
4 cups half and half
1/2 tsp paprika
10 dashes hot sauce
8oz block mild cheddar (shredded)
8oz block colby (shredded)
8oz block sharp cheddar (shredded)

Topping: Optional
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup crushed crackers (ritz/goldfish)

Preheat Oven 350

Cook pasta till almost al dente

Melt butter and whisk in flour. Keep whisking till rue is blonde (~5mins) Stir in the milk, paprika, hot sauce and keep whisking, simmer until thickened (~10mins)

Slowly stir in the mild cheddar and colby. Salt and pepper to taste. Mix pasta with the cheese sauce and pour into casserole dish. Top with sharp cheddar.

Melt butter in small pan and add the crushed crackers.

Sprinkle the crackers onto the top of the mac and cheese. Place in oven/smoker till bubbly and top is golden brown.

[akflyerman]

I am no pro, but less is more for me. There us a recipe on youtube, Komado Joe is this name (I think) That is the base of what I do and it turns out good. My problem is that the cheese soaks up so much smoke flavor it's almost bitter, my family loves it I prefer a little less smoke. But give it a look'see and I hope it works out. Type mac and cheese in YT, and look for Komado Joe.

[dano]

If you can find it, the Famous Dave's Jalapeno Mac N Cheese recipe is terrific!

[hammb]

To me the absolute BEST combo for mac & cheese is gruyere and sharp cheddar. As somebody above mentioned, the super sharp cheddars have a tendency to get grainy when they melt into the bechemel. I go with just sharp, not any of the extra sharps, etc.

My ratio is 1.5# of cheese to 1# of pasta. I use 2:1 sharp cheddar to gruyere, so for a 1# box of pasta (I always Use cavatappi) I'll use 1# of sharp cheddar and .5# gruyere. That's the money combo.

For me I've also found that I don't even mess with adding the cheese to the bechemel while it's on the burner...too volatile. Make a bechemel, add the macaroni, then stir in the cheese. It won't be as smooth of a sauce as you'll get by adding the cheese first, but it does create the goo texture that most of us associate with good mac & cheese.

I'll also say that I always add hot sauce, dijion mustard, celery seed, and fresh nutmeg to the bechemel. I'm not sure of quantities of these things as it's always by feel/taste. I come & go with using cream or just whole milk. Cream is awesome, but makes it so rich you can't eat much. With BBQ I think I almost prefer just milk so it's not so rich.

I've had a lot of people tell me that my mac & cheese is the best they've had (and I am inclined to agree), and I always say the key is that cheese ratio. Crappy cheese makes crappy mac & cheese. Get some gruyere and some decent sharp cheddar (I love the Cabot stuff, but my CostCo quit carrying it).

[MS2SB]

A couple of suggestions.
1) Make the roux, add the milk and bring to boil then add the cheese.
2) Coat the cheese in a light dusting of cornstarch before adding to the milk & roux combo, something about coating the protein chains in a starch helps keep things smooth.
3) I like a combination of extra sharp cheddar and gruyere. Both are great melting cheeses.

[Beentown]

My recipe is extremely close to AAWA's except I like to add bacon, sautéed onion and garlic and cream cheese.

[luvysbbq]

I came up with a recipe awhile back..borrowing and stealing from others to create my own recipe and everyone went crazy over it. Kind of cheating...but everyone loves it!

I purchase the 5 packages of Velvetta box mac n cheese (Sam's Club here in NC) and I also purchase an additional 2 lbs of just noodles.

Boil all the noodles, drain and pour into a steam pan. Also go ahead and cut open the cheese sauce packets and place in there as well.

I then take half a stick of butter and melt, add half cup of flour and brown lightly....add 6 cups of milk and create a roux type mixture....then add 8oz of cream cheese. Keep stirring and it will become very thick. I pour this on top of the mac n cheese already in the steam pan and mix very well. I then add another 2-4 cups of shredded sharp cheddar (depends on your liking of cheese).

Although it is already done, I place on the smoker for another hour (Smoke mac n cheese) or you can place in the oven....in all honesty...it is already done.

I have tried this the last two times at catering events and holidays and everyone raves about it. I know.....cheating on the Velvetta box sauce....but pretty darn good!

This recipe is for 30-35 servings.

[Bludawg]

Blu's Oooey Gooey Mac & Cheese

Ingredients

1 box pasta
1 pint whole milk
1/3 cup sour cream
1 1/2 tsp corn starch
1/2 tsp Cajin seasoning ( I like Slap Momma Ya)
1/2 tsp powdered mustard
1/4 tsp Fresh grated Nutmeg
1 tsp celery salt
1tsp onion powder
3/4 cup grated colby jack
3/4 cup grated mild cheddar+ 1/2 cup reserved
2" off a brick of velveta cubed into 3/4 cubes
12 oz water

Directions

Butter a 9X13 pan
Put the dry pasta in the pan.
Put everything but the pasta into the blender and run on high for 2 min
Pour the cheese shake over the pasta
Spread the 1/2 cup cheddar on top
Bake in a pre-heatd 375 deg oven covered for 60 min then uncover for 20 more.

[jeffry1970]

Box of cooked pasta
Two cans of cheddar cheese soup
6strips bacon diced
Cup whole milk
Bag of shredded cheese
Mix it all together, coat with bread crumbs and put in smoker for 1 hour
Has never failed me.

Another variation is use the new Campbell's queso poblano soup and use shredded asiago instead of cheddar.

[CakeM1x]

Get some melting salts! Turn any cheese into Velveeta like consistency.

http://www.chefsteps.com/activities/melty-cheese-slices


Which reminds me I need to do this again soon, mmmm!

[CT-Mike]

This recipe has Gruyere, blue, fontina, cheddar, and parmagiano. When coupled with the Dijon mustard it is amazing. Give it a try, you won't be disappointed.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/cheese-lovers-5-cheese-mac-and-cheese-recipe.html

[sylntghost]

i just saw a cooking show last week and they said the longer a cheese ages the worst it will melt and the more oil it will release.. that explains why every time i use extra sharp or longer aged cheese the worst my mac and cheese is.:crazy:

[captndan]

KISS K-R-A-F-T:becky: