How to Clean a Calphalon Skillet

When it comes to cheese sauces, all we want is a smooth, velvety texture. But sometimes the cheese we buy for the sauce fails us or we unknowingly make a mistake that affects the texture, making it gritty.

How do you fix grainy cheese sauce? To fix the grainy cheese sauce, remove from heat and allow to cool. Add a tablespoon of lemon juice to untangle the protein molecules and blend for a smooth, creamy texture. If you don’t have lemon juice, you can use high-fat cream instead. 

In this article, we have revealed all the do’s and don’ts of the cheese sauce making process. Read on to learn how to fix grainy cheese sauce, make day two macaroni and cheese sauce creamy again, fix grainy cheese sauce, and more.

Why is my cheese sauce grainy?

There are ways to fix grainy cheese sauce, but it’s always easier to make the sauce smooth and creamy from the start rather than trying to fix it afterwards.

Graininess is a common problem not only with cheese sauces, but with dairy sauces in general. The most important thing to understand when working with dairy products is their composition.

They are made of milk, fats and water. When dairy curdles, the proteins separate from the liquid and form curds. There are many reasons why sauces containing dairy curdle.

1. Not Enough Fat

It is difficult to achieve a smooth consistency in dairy-based sauces made with low-fat products or skimmed milk. The latter curdles faster than high-fat milk.

2. Too much acid

Acid-containing ingredients can make your dairy-based sauce gritty. In case you didn’t know, acidic ingredients, like vinegar and lemon juice, are used to curdle milk and make homemade cheese.

Therefore, it is natural that adding these ingredients to dairy-based sauces would cause them to separate.

When making dairy-based sauces, keep the amount of acidic ingredients in the sauce to a minimum to avoid large changes in texture.

3. Too hot

High heat and dairy-based sauces are no friend. When making sauces that contain dairy, including cheese, keep the heat on low.

How to keep cheese sauce from being gritty

Now that you know the basic rules for making sauces with dairy, here are some of the key rules to follow when making cheese sauces. Following these steps will help you avoid gritty cheese sauces.

1. Take your time to make a good Roux

Roux is a mixture of fat and flour. Mix equal parts of flour and fat until you get a smooth paste. Rox is the base of many cheese sauces.

Taking your time to make a smooth roux will help you achieve a smooth consistency.

Never skip the step of making a roux, as it is one of the main ingredients that thickens the sauce and helps it achieve a smooth, rich texture.

When making cheese sauces, it is recommended to make a roux not with oil but with butter. Substituting cornstarch for flour to make a roux is also not a good idea.

Both oil and cornstarch can make the roux cakey. This, in turn, will result in a gritty cheese sauce.

2. Always keep the heat low

As already stated, when working with dairy-based sauces, it’s important not to use high heat.

With cheese sauces, keeping the heat low throughout the cooking process is simply essential. Thanks to the low heat, the cheese warms and melts evenly without curdling, burning or freezing.

3. Put the cheese at room temperature

One thing many home cooks don’t pay attention to is the drastic changes in temperature they expose cheese to.

Cheese sauce made with cheese that went from the fridge directly to the hot pan has a good chance of curdling.

We recommend taking the cheese out of the fridge at the beginning of the cooking process. The cheese will come to room temperature while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

4. Don’t buy pre-graded cheese

A bag of pre-shredded cheese saves you time and effort, for sure. But it can result in a gritty cheese sauce.

The reason that pre-shredded cheese can make the sauce gritty is that it is packaged with powders added as a preservative. These powders interfere with the texture of the sauce, making it grainy.

So if you had to choose between a grainy cheese sauce and a few more minutes of use on that cheese grater that’s been patiently waiting in your drawer for its time to shine, what would you choose?

5. Add the cheese little by little

If the recipe calls for 2 cups of grated cheese, don’t dump it into the béchamel. Add the cheese to the sauce a little at a time and continue beating to get a smooth consistency.

Some sources recommend removing the béchamel from the heat and only then adding the cheese. The heat of the sauce will be enough to melt the cheese.

6. Add the eggs at the end

Some cheese sauce recipes call for eggs. If you make a sauce with eggs, add them last to avoid a gritty texture.

Beat the eggs to break them down before adding them to the cheese mixture, slowly while continuing to beat.

7. Don’t skip the starch

If the cheese sauce recipe calls for cornstarch, don’t omit it. The cornstarch stabilizes the mixture by absorbing the water and prevents the mixture from separating.

How to fix grainy cheese sauce

You may notice that your cheese sauce becomes grainy as soon as you start adding the grated cheese to the fat, flour, and milk mixture.

Here are three easy steps to fixing grainy cheese sauce:

1. Remove the pan from the heat, as it is the high heat that causes the cheese to curdle.
2. Let the sauce cool. You may need to transfer it to another pan to quickly stop the cooking process.
3. Add a tablespoon of lemon juice to the sauce. We know we mentioned before that sauces with too much acid will also turn gritty, but if you haven’t added acids yet and these aren’t the cause of the unwanted gritty texture, a little lemon juice will help untangle the protein molecules and prevent keep curdling You can also use white wine instead of lemon juice. Keep in mind that white wine can add a hint of wine flavor to the sauce, unlike lemon juice, which you won’t even notice when the sauce is made and ready to serve.
4. If you don’t have lemon juice at home, add a few tablespoons of high-fat cream to the sauce and whisk vigorously for a smooth, creamy texture. The cream will also reduce the temperature of the sauce and interfere with the curdling.

Do not add both the cream and the lemon juice to the sauce, as it will cause more curdling and you will lose the last chance to save your gritty cheese sauce.

If you are thinking of freezing your béchamel for later and are wondering if you will be able to maintain its flavor and texture, we have another article waiting for you.

How to fix grainy macaroni and cheese

When it comes to macaroni and cheese dip, choosing the right variety of cheese is crucial.

Cheddar is one of the varieties most used to make this sauce. Buy cheddar cheese that has the best of both worlds: meltable and tasty.

Low-quality cheddar can be one reason your macaroni and cheese sauce turns out to be gritty. Even when the macaroni and cheese sauce is initially smooth, it can become gritty by the second day.

Here’s how to avoid grit in leftover mac and cheese:

1. Let the dish come to room temperature before reheating it.
2. Heat some high-fat milk and pour over the macaroni and cheese. The whole milk will help loosen the pasta and restore creaminess to the sauce.
3. Put the pan in the oven to reheat it.

To avoid making the macaroni and cheese sauce gritty, be careful not to stir too much. Add the pasta and mix it with the sauce when the cheese has melted.

How to fix grainy cheese sauce

This Mexican dip is best when it’s velvety and creamy. As with other types of cheese dips, it’s important not to use pre-shredded cheese for the cheese dip.

For a very smooth and creamy finish, some cooks recommend using Velveeta cheese. Using these varieties of processed cheese helps achieve the creaminess of store-bought cheese sauces.

You may notice that your cheese sauce becomes grainy just as you add the cheese and begin to mix. As soon as you see that it becomes grainy, remove the sauce from the heat and allow it to cool.

When the cheese sauce has cooled, shake it vigorously to remove any lumps. A small amount of lemon juice can also help smooth the texture of the sauce (as long as no other acids have been added).

You can also add hummus to your cheese sauce to improve its creaminess and give it a touch of unique flavor.

Tip : If you always have a hard time making smooth, creamy cheese sauces, try making them with American cheese.

Although American cheese is not everyone’s favorite, it is a lifesaver in cheese sauces, as it is impossible for American cheese to curdle.

Substitute half of the cheese in the recipe for American cheese to solve all your gritty cheese sauce problems.