Dextrinization

In you will learn how to make roux to thicken sauces. You will learn that roux can be cooked lightly to be kept white or cooked more heavily to a brown color.

When starches are heated dry (that is, with no water but with or without fat), some of the long starch chains are broken down in to simpler compounds called dextrins, which give the starch a golden or a brown color. This process is called dextrinization. Because dextrins have less thickening ability than starches, a brown roux has less thickening power than a white roux.