When mixed together in the right way, these ingredients yield a nice thick sauce that sticks to your macaroni and lingers in your mouth.One hundred grams American cheese and 100 grams mild cheddar cheese, cut into cubes (the amount of cheese on one plate).Ground black pepper, ground nutmeg or other spices you might like.One eighth of a cup of butter (the amount of butter on one plate).Study this ingredients list for the macaroni and cheese sauce:.In a moment you will pour a three-quarter cup of sauce over one of the cups of macaroni to measure how easily the sauce flows. Fill the three tall glasses with the cooked macaroni, leaving about one to two inches at the top for the sauce.Repeat this two more times, adding butter to the two plates that have cheese on them. Cut off one eighth a cup of butter and add it to the plate that is still empty.Repeat the previous four steps, preparing a second plate with cubed American and cubed mild cheddar cheese.Cut the cheddar cheese into cubes, and add them to the plate with the cubes of American cheese.Cut the American cheese into cubes, and put them on an empty plate.Make sure you have an adult on hand to help with cutting and any steps involving the stove and hot items.Cook and drain the macaroni (with assistance from an adult).Ground black pepper, ground nutmeg or other spices you would like to use in your sauce (optional).Soapy water and towel to rinse and dry your utensils.Clean containers in which to save leftovers.Saucepan (Be sure to have an adult help when heating items on a stove and handling them while hot.).

Three cups of cooked and drained macaroni.

Three liquid measuring cups in the following sizes: one cup three-quarter cup one eighth cup.

Three cups of milk (preferably whole milk).

A little less than one stick of butter (three eighths of a cup, to be exact).

Knife (Have an adult help with the cutting.).

200 grams of mild cheddar (or your favorite melting cheese).

Scale to measure 100 grams of each type of cheese (If you do not have a scale available, buy a little less than half a pound-about 200 grams-of each cheese half of the purchased amount will be approximately one 100 grams of cheese.).

In this activity you will explore what thickens a cheese sauce and measure how the viscosity changes when you eliminate the different thickening agents, one at a time. These tiny droplets act like the particles when a liquid is made viscous. In cooking, this typically means tiny droplets of oil or molten fat dispersed in a watery solution. An emulsion is a mixture of two liquids that do not usually mix well. Another way to thicken a sauce is by creating an emulsion. This explains why a small amount of starch can have a big effect on viscosity. Their volume then increases by a factor of about 30. When heated together with a liquid, starches absorb the liquid and expand.

The more particles-and the bigger the suspended particles-the more viscous the liquid is.Ĭooks have a variety of ways to make a sauce more viscous. When you pour a fluid with higher-viscosity, these particles bump into one another the watery part cannot simply run down but needs to elbow its way through the crowd of particles, dragging them along. This typically happens when enough particles are suspended in the fluid. The more viscous a fluid is, the more it resists flow due to internal friction. Sauces cling to food and to our palates, but how do you get just the right thickness or stickiness? Scientists describe the thickness, or gooiness, of a fluid by its viscosity. With this science activity you can be a scientist, a cook and a crowd-pleaser all at the same time! The sauce has to be just the right texture, though, or your noodles are either swimming-or just one big glob! So how can you get just the right texture? Get ready to invite some friends over to taste test. There's nothing like your favorite comfort food after a long day, right? Maybe it's beef stew, a really great salad or many people's favorite-macaroni and cheese.

How to make a cheese sauce thicker