Thickening Agent

Introduction
• Thickening Agent is a substance which, when added into a
liquid mixture will make the liquid viscosity increase,
without substantially modifying its other properties, such
as taste.
• They will provide body
• Increase the stability
• To describe the texture, usually chef will describe it as
“nappe”
• It means the texture should be right enough to coat
foods.
Types of Thickening Agent
• There are 4 types of thickening agent used in production
of a sauce:
Roux
Beurre Manié
Starch Slurries
Liaison
Roux
• There are 3 types of roux:
White roux
Blond roux
Brown roux
• Ratio of roux is 1 part of flour and 1 parts of fats.
White Roux
• White roux should be removed from the heat as soon as it
develops a frothy, bubbly appearance. (enough to cook
raw taste)
• Color : pale yellow
• Time: 3-5 minutes
• Used in white sauces where little / no color desired
• Ex: Béchamel based
Blond Roux
• Blond roux cooked a little longer than white roux.
• Color: begins to change slightly darker,
• Time: 5 – 6 minutes
• Used in veloute based sauce – pale ivory color
Brown Roux
• Brown roux cook until develops a darker color and nutty
aroma
• When cook this roux, need to use very low heat, to prevent
burnt and scorching
• Color: light brown
• Time: 10 – 15 minutes
• Used in brown sauces based.
Rules of Using Roux
• Cold stock can be added to the hot roux while stirring with a whisk.
• Room temperature roux added to hot stock while stirring with
whisk.
• After the roux are completely mix into the liquid, cook the mixture
for around 20 minutes again to make sure no flour taste.
• Stainless steel pots are best to use for white sauce.
• Whipping in aluminum pan will make the sauce gray.
• Use heavy pots to prevent from scorching / burning
• Avoid extreme temperature. Not to hot or to cold.
• Avoid over thickening
Roux Video
Beurre Manié
• Is an equal mixture of flour and butter
• How to make?
Mix and kneaded together
Whisked into the liquid in small quantities, thickening as it
cooks out
• Also known as pounded butter / cold roux
Starch Slurries
• Example of starch slurries
Corn flour
Arrow root
Potato flour
Rice flour
Barley flour
Etc.
• This types are commonly used in Asian dishes.
How to make starch slurries?
• Starch slurries will thicken quicker than a roux.
• Stir in the starch together with cold liquid until the starch
dissolved.
• The mixture should have the consistency of heavy cream
• Gradually added while the liquid are simmering and stir
continuouslly until the liquid thickens.
• Time: 2 – 3 minutes
Liaison
• Mixture of egg yolks and heavy cream.
• Liaison used primarily to give richness of flavor and smoothness of
texture to a sauce.
• Secondarily is to give a slight thickening
• The egg yolks could curdle in the sauce, so it’s need special
treatment.
• So that this is only used in finishing technique
How to mix liaison?
• Pour a little by little amount of liquid to liaison mixture.
• Then stir it continually until it see already mix and stable.
• Then you can pour the rest all at once.
• Eggs can be easily scramble, that’s why we need to heated quickly
and not to put sauce on high heat as the sauce will separate.
• Ratio of liaison is 1 part of egg yolk and 3 parts of cooking cream
How to mix liaison?
• Pure egg yolk coagulate at 60 – 70 C.
• For this reason, they are beaten with heavy cream before use.
• This make their curdling temperature to 82 – 85 C .
• The heavy cream also adds thickness and flavor to the sauce.
Thank You