julia_lee•1mo agoProlific Poster

Finally figured out why my roux kept splitting after 8 years of cooking

I used to just dump my flour in cold butter and crank up the heat right away. Then I worked a brunch shift with this old chef in New Orleans last spring who watched me do it and just shook his head. He told me to cook the butter first until it stops bubbling, then whisk in the flour slowly off the heat. Tried it that way the next day and my gumbo came out silky smooth for the first time ever. Has anyone else had a simple tweak like that completely change how they approach a basic technique?

2 comments

2 Comments

holly_sanchez751mo ago

Wait, you used to just dump flour into cold butter and hit it with high heat right away? That's literally how you make a paste, not a roux. I've been cooking for like 6 years and I always thought you had to toast the flour first or something, but your old chef's trick makes total sense now that I think about it. So you let the butter foam and settle down, then whisk in the flour while its off the heat? I'm trying this next time I make gumbo for sure.

holly_henderson861mo ago

Girl, 18 years of making roux and I still burned more than I'd like to admit before I learned that trick. @holly_sanchez75 you're spot on though - waiting for the butter to calm down is the real magic here, otherwise you're just fighting hot spatter and raw flour lumps. I do mine over medium-low heat now, stir for like 20 minutes straight, and it comes out this perfect peanut butter color every time. My first gumbo was basically a gray paste situation that I tried to save by dumping in extra Cajun seasoning. Never again.