I’d be curious to try adding plain sodium citrate to another dish to see if it really creates a significantly creamier texture! More on how this turned out below, but ultimately while I think this resulted in an extremely creamy sauce while hot, I didn’t think it reheated particularly well.
Sodium citrate: I specifically chose the NYT Stouffer’s recipe for its use of Velveeta, which contains sodium citrate.Obviously, use the type of cheese that you prefer–but do consider using a few types of cheese (I particularly liked the use of pecorino romano/Grana Padano for the sharper accent in combination with other cheeses.) But then you have Julia Moskin’s mac and cheese, which rocked some people’s world with just cheddar. Based on the top two rated mac and cheeses, it does appear that multiple cheeses provide a depth of flavor that most seemed to prefer. Cheese: No surprise that cheddar is by far the most popular contributor in this group.And the torn bread atop Martha didn’t get nearly as crispy crunchy as the panko crumbs (and was more work). Italian breadcrumbs added amazing flavor, but I didn’t prefer the sawdust consistency of the brand I used. My strongest preference by far was for the buttered panko–plain panko falls a little flat in comparison. Breadcrumbs: Among the recipes we tried, there were multiple types of breadcrumbs used: panko, buttered panko, Italian breadcrumbs and torn, toasted bread tossed in butter.Egg provides thickening and binding properties (same as a roux), but it also lends a kind of casserole-y texture that most didn’t seem to prefer. I tested 3 recipes with egg (Edna, Alton and Chrissy) and unfortunately none of them fared very well. If you’re looking for a very creamy mac with a crispy top, I’d recommend using buttered panko crumbs + a quick broil! Obviously the broiled recipes were quite a bit creamier than the baked ones out of the oven, but eventually most solidified to the same texture at room temperature. broil: I appreciated that Tyler and Poole’s recipes both had a baked-style mac and cheese but only called for a brief broil at the end (these would be great make ahead dishes since they’re so fast to finish!). (But cream for a showstopping richness!) The addition of sour cream to Edna’s recipe is honestly what I think brought down its score so much–the tangy thickness from the sour cream was quite divisive among the tasters. In the end, it’s rather obvious but milk is the better choice for a mac and cheese you want to eat a lot of because it will lighten the overall dish quite a bit. The fact that Poole’s was voted the #1 mac here is likely due in part to the addicting richness of the cream, but also the mix of cheeses in the recipe. Dairy: The grand majority of these recipes used milk, but Tyler and Edna also use heavy cream while Poole’s uses exclusively heavy cream.I encourage you to at least skim each description to find your perfect mac! Factors The rankings below are just a snapshot of how my group of tasters felt about these recipes, but I think each recipe would be a happy addition to any table. I would eat them all again (and I did, for days). Once again, I must reiterate that NONE of these mac and cheeses were bad. Gold Medal unbleached all-purpose flour.Murray’s white cheddar, fontina, extra-sharp white cheddar, Pecorino Romano, Parmesan, grana padano and Gouda.All ingredients were measured by weight according to the King Arthur website.All tasters ranked each mac and cheese on a scale from 0-10 for overall flavor, texture, and as a whole.All mac and cheeses were baked in a greased pan.All 9 recipes were baked the day of tasting.METHODOLOGY // RESULTS // FACTORS // ANALYSIS // RECOMMENDATIONS Methodology But in general, I prefer a creamy, looser consistency (imagine stovetop but with a crunchy lid) and I love the bite of a sharp cheese and depth of flavor to cut through the single-note richness of some mac and cheeses. It’s particularly hard to identify my ideal mac and cheese since I’ll pretty much never turn down any kind. How can one hate anything composed of pasta and cheese? But we persisted through 9 popular recipes to try to document the perfect choice for your Thanksgiving table! The search for the best baked macaroni and cheese recipe has been…difficult.
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