Thickened Sauces

A traditional way to thicken sauces is by using flour or starch. Unfortunately, sauces thickened with such substances have a tendency to become lumpy. To prevent this from happening, it is best to dissolve the thickener in water or in a fat before combining it with the rest of the liquid.

An ordinary thickener can be made with different types of flour and starch that are first dissolved in water to make a runny mixture that can easily be stirred into the rest of the liquids. Potato flour makes a thick sauce because the starch granules are large, but the result can be somewhat grainy. Using corn- or rice starch, which is made up of smaller granules, results in a smoother sauce that has a glossy appearance. In all cases, stirring the sauce vigorously as it is being prepared helps break up the starch granules, leaving it with a more even texture. As flour also contains a certain amount of protein, sauces thickened with it often have a grainier structure and a less glossy surface than those made with pure starch.