I make a nice cheese sauce via a roux. works perfectly. the only way to boo-boo it is rushing / overheating.
that said, the Giant brand Colby cheese I’ve used for a decade+ has changed - it’s crummy, goes all grainy no matter what. I thought I was being careless - so last time I pot sat the roux&cheese over long slow heat - in a 3 mm copper pot on top of a Bella Copper diffuser plate - and it still turned out as a grainy, funny tasting mess. I have abandoned all Giant private label cheeses - they all come from the same creamery and it looks like somebody needed a bigger bonus - and product quality has been discontinued until further notice.
so - the cheese makes a huge difference - a mild cheddar should melt down smooth as silk. I switched to a mild BoardHead Cheddar - which works splendid - but costs $16/pound - which makes mac&cheese not a inexpensive option… so I’m playing with other options.
if you are melting down 100% cheese, the basic ingredient ie the cheese will be the difference in success and failure.
ps never did the sodium citrate thing; found no need to investigate…
