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I just tried to make a simple white sauce for pasta, but it came out grainy and a bit lumpy instead of smooth. I’m not sure if I added the butter and flour too fast or if my heat was too high when I poured in the milk.

That happened to me once. I think I dumped cold milk into a hot roux and it seized up and felt gritty. Now I do it this way: melt butter, whisk in flour and cook it for a minute, then add warm milk in a thin, steady stream while keeping the heat medium. It still clumps if I rush, but a good whisk fixes most of it.

I’ve learned to warm the milk and add it 1/4 cup at a time, whisking like crazy. If I dump too much at once or pour too fast, it goes grainy or chalky. A trick I use is taking the pan off the heat for a second if it starts to seize, then back on and whisk.

I used to think the problem was the roux, but even after that the sauce would stay speckled. Maybe I used too much flour or didn’t cook the roux long enough. I’m not totally sure what I did right on the last try either.

One time I got caught up chasing perfect texture and left the sauce on a hot burner too long after I added the milk, and it thickened oddly with little grains. I’m not sure that was the cause, but it made me slow down and keep heat lower. Do you think the real issue is the sauce or something else?

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