Good for making any kind of cheese sauce, mac & cheese, or grilled cheese. Replaces nacho cheese, american cheese, velveeta, etc. ## Homemade > You can achieve very similar results at home by replacing the chemical water with roughly equal volume of lemon juice and then adding one tenth the volume of the lemon juice of baking soda. Once dissolved, it should not taste sour. If it does, add more baking soda. - [[Emulsifiers]] - Baking Soda - Lemon Juice - (when combined produce [[Sodium Citrate#Trisodium Citrate|Sodium Citrate]], [[Sodium Ascorbate]], etc) - Milk - Butter - Cheese ### Procedure 1. Heat liquid (milk etc) 2. Mix in emulsifier 3. Slowly add in cheese, constantly mixing ### Substitutions and Notes Wine can also act as a stabilizer for cheese to prevent it from breaking down when melted. Preference for dry (non-sweet, acidic) white wines, but any should work. While it help, the cheese will still separate if not constantly stirred. To reduce the need to stir, a little corn starch can be added. A second option for emulsifier is gelatin, which often contains [[Sodium Citrate#Trisodium Citrate|Sodium Citrate]] but is itself a stabilizer. A third fallback is a roux (gravy) of butter and flour, but this will add bulk and change the texture, potentially making it feel gritty. I suspect that a little roux and a partial amount of [[Sodium Citrate#Trisodium Citrate|Sodium Citrate]] and white wine would be a nice combination. Stronger cheese flavors are better. The powdered milk of the industrialized version can help add more zing. Regular condensed milk can also be used instead. Be careful when adding table salt because there are already mineral salts to provide a salty flavor. If you put in too much emulsifier it can produce a chalky consistency. An immersion blender can be used, but it depends on how thick you are making it. Really as long as there is constant mixing using a whisk it should be fine. ### Ratios Liquid : Cheese : [[Sodium Citrate#Trisodium Citrate|Sodium Citrate]] 1 cup : 1 cup : 1 teaspoon ## Industrialized - [[Emulsifiers]] - [[Sodium Citrate#Trisodium Citrate|Sodium Citrate]] - [[Sodium Hexametaphosphate]] - Powdered Milk - Water ## Adam Ragusea (Mac & Cheese) - 1 lb dried pasta shells - 3 cups milk - 1 cup white wine - 1/2 lb sharp Cheddar - 1/2 smoked Gouda - 1/2 stick butter - 4 teaspoons sodium citrate (easily ordered online) - 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder - 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder - black pepper & cayenne pepper # References ```cardlink url: https://youtu.be/KcM_MZoJWOo title: "Sodium Citrate Mac & Cheese — Silky Smooth" description: "A common food additive allows you to make silky-smooth mac & cheese at home. This is basically a fancier version of my dad's recipe. Serves 6-8.1 lb dried pa..." host: youtu.be favicon: https://www.youtube.com/s/desktop/8b6c1f4c/img/favicon_32x32.png image: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/KcM_MZoJWOo/maxresdefault.jpg ``` ```cardlink url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aGNAxN5Z-o title: "Making American cheese to debunk a conspiracy" description: "Head to https://brilliant.org/NileBlue/ for a 30-day free trial + the first 200 people will get20% off their annual subscription!----------------------------..." host: www.youtube.com favicon: https://www.youtube.com/s/desktop/8b6c1f4c/img/favicon_32x32.png image: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/0aGNAxN5Z-o/maxresdefault.jpg ``` ```cardlink url: https://youtu.be/NFAN6L7xnvY title: "Binging with Babish: Grilled Cheese Deluxe from Regular Show" description: "This week, for the first time ever, we're double-dipping into the same source material two episodes in a row. Why? Last week was National Grilled Cheese Day,..." host: youtu.be favicon: https://www.youtube.com/s/desktop/8b6c1f4c/img/favicon_32x32.png image: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NFAN6L7xnvY/maxresdefault.jpg ``` ```cardlink url: https://youtu.be/_X-Mm8h1AHM title: "Cheese Fondue | Basics with Babish" description: "This episode is sponsored by Bright Cellars. Get 50% off your first 6-bottle box: https://bit.ly/BrightCellarsBabish2. Bright Cellars is the monthly wine clu..." host: youtu.be favicon: https://www.youtube.com/s/desktop/8b6c1f4c/img/favicon_32x32.png image: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_X-Mm8h1AHM/maxresdefault.jpg ``` - https://www.bingingwithbabish.com/recipes/grilledcheesedeluxe - https://www.thespruceeats.com/measuring-cheese-for-recipes-591187