Sharp Cheddar Cheese Sauce With Roasted Green & Chipotle Chilis Sous Vide

VacMasters! Don’t be put off by sodium citrate; it’s basically a form of salt that works as an emulsifier. In this recipe it lowers the cheese’s acidity, making the proteins in the cheese more soluble, preventing it from separating into greasy goo; instead creating a smooth, creamy texture that will never “break.”

At first glance sodium citrate looks like iodized salt and tastes slightly sour along with its own saltiness. If your still on the fence on using new and strange ingredients. Chances are very high that the club soda you have been enjoying during happy hour has sodium citrate in its ingredient list. The point? It’s been around forever!

This cheese sauce gets its amazing creamy texture from the sodium citrate but it gets its flavor from top notch ingredients. The best cheese will give you the best sauce.

Ingredients:

• 10 ounces cheddar cheese, sharp

• 1.2 ounces Sodium citrate

• 10 ounces whole milk

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1-3 whole chipotle chili (packed in adobo), ribbed, seeded and diced

• 4 ounces green chilis, roasted, if canned, drained 

Directions:

1. Preheat the SV1 to 167 °F / 75 °C

2. Cut cheese into small pieces or alternatively grate.

3. Using an appropriately sized VacMaster bag and the VacMaster bag stand add the cut cheese, sodium citrate and whole milk.

4. Using a VacMaster chamber machine vacuum pack the bag and after it’s sealed agitate gently to disperse the sodium citrate.

5. Place the bag in the SV1’s preheated water bath and cook for 15-12 minutes or until the cheese is melted and hot.

6. Carefully remove the bag from the water, snip off a corner of the bag and pour the melted cheese into a suitable sized mixing bowl. While the mixture is still hot using a stick blender process the cheese mixture until you obtain a smooth sauce.

7. Using a rubber spatula gently fold in the diced chipotles and green chilis then season with the salt.

8. Use immediately while warm or let cool thoroughly and place into a suitable VacMaster bag and vacuum seal, and refrigerate until needed.