Béchamel

Name: Béchamel
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 2 1/4 Cups
Cuisine: french
Ingredients: 2 Cups Whole Milk, plus more for consistency; 1/2 Lemon (The Juice); 2 oz Butter (By Weight); 2 oz Flour (By Weight)

A cornerstone of French cooking and deceptively hard to do well

Ingredients

2 Cups Whole Milk, plus more for consistency
1/2 Lemon (The Juice)
2 oz Butter (By Weight)
2 oz Flour (By Weight)

Instructions

In a small sauce pan melt the butter over medium heat and then whisk in the flour, it should form a paste. This is called Roux, pronounced like roo.
In a small sauce pan heat up the milk over medium heat.
When the milk is warn pour in half of the roux.
Mix frequently to combine.
Our goal is the consistency of a nice thick gravy. If you need it thicker add more roux, if you need to thin it out, add a little more milk
When you get the desired thickness, pass through a fine mesh strainer to remove any remaining chunks
Let cool before use.

Notes

I used to make Béchamel as part of my job at a steakhouse. I tried for MONTHS to nail a recipe down for this by weight and failed. After months of trial and error, I determined that the kitchen scale the restaurant had was inaccurate, or the local dairy milk we got varied its milk fat content too much. I think it was a little of both. Eyeing it lead to much more consistent results and thickness.
Watch your heat and dont slack on stirring, if the roux burns , it will ruin your entire batch. There will be little specs everywhere that you can’t get out.
If done correctly, the sauce should be completely white, silky smooth, and while hot, the consistency of a nice gravy. When it cools it will thicken considerably but should still be pourable. That is what makes this sauce so hard.