PSA: Your sheet pan liner could be ruining your roux if you're not careful

I've been running the line at a spot in Portland for about 4 years now and last month I noticed my rouxs were coming out granular no matter what I did. I thought it was my flour or my heat control, swapped brands, adjusted the burner, nothing worked. Then a prep guy pointed out that I'd been using those textured silicone mats on the flat top for everything, including when I was whisking in butter. Turns out the mat adds a slight drag and uneven heat pattern that was leaving little burnt flecks in the mix. I switched to a plain steel pan just for the roux and it came back smooth on the first try. Anyone else had a tool that worked great for one task but messed up something else in an unexpected way? I'm curious if I should ditch the mats for other delicate work too.

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sam5306d ago

Man, this is like me blaming my whisk for lumpy gravy when really I was just too lazy to sift the flour. Your mat thing makes sense though, that slight wiggle under the pan could totally mess with how the flour toasts. In my experience silicone mats hold heat in a weird way, so I'd keep them for sticky stuff and use bare metal for anything where smoothness matters.

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