The Surefire Way To Smooth Out Lumps In Cheese Fondue - Tasting Table (2024)

FAQs

The Surefire Way To Smooth Out Lumps In Cheese Fondue - Tasting Table? ›

Specifically, mixing lemon juice (about a teaspoon or two should do the trick) will help return your fondue to its silky, smooth glory. Alternatively, a dry white wine can likewise achieve some of that acidic power. For the best results, mix wine with cornstarch before you whisk the duo into your fondue.

Whatever the case, you need to fix your fondue fast. Do so by creating a slurry consisting of ¼ cup (60 ml) cold white wine and three tablespoons of cornstarch. (This is good for about 1 ½ pounds/650 grams of grated cheese.) Once combined, whisk it into your sauce little by little until it finally comes together.

If the fondue has been over-cooked and the cheese is turning into hard lumps then adding a teaspoon or two of lemon juice should help to restore the texture. If the cheese has split and looks greasy but not lumpy then adding extra cornflour (cornstarch) will help to re-emulsify the mixture.

Wine and Acidity

Wine is one of fondue's few essential ingredients, and its importance goes beyond just flavor: the natural tartaric acid in wine prevents the cheese's casein proteins from clumping together and turning the fondue into a stringy, broken mess.

If your beautiful fondue has taken on a lumpy texture, the issue could be too high of heat. Once a cheese has reached its melting point, the curds can separate from the whey and seize up. This causes those dreaded lumps you do not want to deal with.

Cheese Sauce, Take 1: Cornstarch, Stovetop

This helps the entire mixture stay smooth and emulsified, resulting in a creamy sauce. He recommends tossing the shredded cheese with the cornstarch before cooking so it is evenly dispersed and does not form clumps when cooked.

There's a way to save gritty cheese sauces, and you likely already have it in your fridge: lemon juice. A squirt of lemon comes to the rescue of ruined sauces in a pinch. All you have to do is cool the broken sauce, add a tablespoon of lemon juice (or white wine, if you don't mind the flavor), and whisk vigorously.

When making cheese fondue, always use a thickener. Cheese should be shredded and tossed with flour or cornstarch to aid in thickening and to improve the viscosity of the fondue. A good rule of thumb is to use one tablespoon of flour or cornstarch per pound of cheese.

DON'T: Double dip.

Since fondue is a communal meal, dining etiquette says to avoid double-dipping. Also, don't put the fondue fork in your mouth.

Why is my cheese fondue not coming together? ›

However, if your fondue splits completely and won't come back together, just whisk together about a tablespoon each wine, lemon juice, cornstarch, and add to the pot, stirring until it smooths out. You can dip other things in the fondue, but bread is the traditional accompaniment.

For dips, you'll want to use a tablespoon of cornstarch per pound of cheese, then add at least five ounces of evaporated milk. After that, you can use more evaporated milk to thin out your dip as much as you need.

Like any other food fad, the fondue was not meant to last as a trend. By 1999, amid allegations of corruption and concerns over the high costs of cheese subsidies and fondue's decline in popularity, the Schweizer Kaseunion collapsed.

Add a generous pinch each of pepper and nutmeg, and cook, stirring gently, until creamy and smooth, about 10 minutes; don't overcook the fondue or it will get stringy.

By adding wine, you're also adding quite a bit of water. Adding water increasing the overall moisture content and helps dilute the protein, leading to a smoother Fondue. The cornstarch further helps stabilize the emulsion and thicken the water phase of the Fondue.

Place the cream cheese in a medium bowl of very warm water (hot water straight from the tap works great) and allow it to sit 15 minutes. Flip the cream cheese every 5 minutes to allow for even softening.

If heated too high, you risk clumping and if too low, not melting properly. With soup, you might be able to fix it with an immersion blender, or you might not. At a temperature of 150 or so, the protein bonds in the cheese break down and as a result, too much fo the moisture escapes too quickly.

They're most likely calcium lactate crystals, also known as “cheese crystals.” They are completely safe to eat, and usually signify that a cheese is flavorful and well-aged. Calcium lactate crystals form naturally during the aging process and are most commonly found in aged cheddars, including Smoked Medium Cheddar.