How to Make a Roux

A roux is a cooked mixture of flour and a cooking fat, like vegetable oil, that is used to thicken sauces and gravies.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• vegetable oils
• wooden spoons
• all-purpose flour
• All-purpose Flour
• Vegetable Oils
• Wooden Spoons

1. Pour about ¼ c. of the oil in a small sturdy pan and place it over medium-low heat.

2. When the oil is warm but not too hot, start stirring in flour with the wooden spoon until the mixture is thick - about the texture of wet concrete or plaster of Paris. Add more oil or flour until it's right.

3. Stir continually with the wooden spoon over the heat so the roux cooks. The flour will gradually begin to brown. The roux can be used when the flour is light golden in color. The darker you cook the roux, the more flavor it will add to the sauce. Don't cook it past a mahogany color, though.

4. Transfer the roux to another container to cool.

5. Store roux in the refrigerator for a week, or freeze it in tablespoon-size wafers.

6. To thicken a sauce with roux, let it cool so it won't splatter and whisk it in to your boiling sauce base, like broth or pan drippings.

7. Lower the heat to a simmer and continue to whisk until all the roux has been absorbed.

8. Simmer for at least 20 minutes to allow it the sauce to thicken and become smooth.

Tips & Warnings

• Roux is usually equal parts by weight flour and fat, but most chefs make it by simply adding flour to hot oil and looking for the proper thick texture.

• Any cooking fat can be used to make a roux, including bacon fat or chicken fat.

• Butter can be used as well, but only for very light-colored roux. The dairy in the butter will burn easily if it's cooked too long.

• 1 tbsp. of roux will thicken 1 c. to 1½ c. of liquid.

• For best results, reserve some roux and some liquid when making your sauce so you can adjust the thickness later.

• Roux-thickened sauces will thicken as they cool.

• Be very careful when cooking roux - the oil gets very hot and will easily burn if splattered.