Blending of Food Thickening Agents

June 1, 2025

Hello Friends,

Some of the basic food thickeners for soups, stews, sauces and desserts are a mixture of flour and fats as in roux, flour, cornstarch and arrowroot mixed with a liquid or egg yolks. Other simple ingredients can be added to pots of soups and stews to make them have more “body” and thickness. These ingredients are instant potato flakes, oatmeal, rice, couscous, tapioca, pasta, noodles and others. This addition must be done with caution; it is easy to add too much. The longer these ingredients are cooked, the more liquid they absorb; you could end up with a “casserole” instead of soup or stew!

ROUX is a mixture of flour with fat. The cooks from various areas are known to use bacon drippings, oils or melted lard. I always have used clarified butter; this is the standard for every kitchen I have worked in but you can try whatever is best for you. Where I have worked, in the morning a large pot of many pounds of butter is set on the warm stove. When the butter slowly melts, the fat rises to the top; this is “clarified butter”. Any of these fats mixed with flour makes great thickenings for soups and stews.

FLOUR THICKENING can also be blended with water or milk. I find it easier to achieve a “smooth” thickening by starting with the flour and slowly adding the liquid while beating until a pourable consistency. I have my “personal preferences” as when to use milk or when to use water. I like a milk thickening in fried chicken gravy, sausage gravy and for creaming vegetables like sweet peas. I like a water thickening gravy to go with beef roast, beef steaks and many sauces.

CORNSTARCH makes a very smooth thickening; again I start with the cornstarch and gradually add the liquid while blending. I almost always use cornstarch in my puddings, custards, cream pies and other desserts because of its creamy texture which it produces. I also like cornstarch (better than flour) blended with water for my beef gravies.

ARROWROOT is another valuable thickening agent to many cooks; especially in Britain. Although I have used it occasionally over my years and I still do keep it on hand, it is not something I feel I could not do without. Many boast of the clear appearance which it produces in jells and sauces, but I have never had this problem with cornstarch. Some advantages to this plant starch thickener is that it lacks gluten (many diets cannot eat gluten) and it will thicken at a lower temperature than flour or cornstarch. NOTE: Higher temperatures will break down the thickening power. Substitute 2 teaspoons arrowroot with 1 tablespoon cornstarch.

EGG YOLKS are often the primary source (or used with other agents) of thickening for custards, puddings and many sauces. Needless to say, these yolks add wonderful flavor to these recipes. I use yolks in all of my delicious cream pies and the trick is in the blending of the yolks. The yolks need to be separated without having a bit of the white in with the yolks. The yolks need to be beaten separately. In most of my recipes I cook other ingredients (as in my pies the milk and sugar) Then I quickly beat a portion of the hot liquid into the beaten yolks promptly blending the yolk mixture back into the pot of remaining cooked mixture. Working quickly, I have found this method to produce a creamier mixture.

Blending Food Thickening Agents

CREAM ZUCCHINI SOUP

Your friend, Frances