Fat

Appears in

Published 2014

The cooking fats employed for making roux are as follows:

Clarified butter is preferred for the finest sauces because of its flavor. The butter is clarified because the moisture content of whole butter tends to gelatinize some of the starch and makes the roux harder to work.
Margarine is sometimes used in place of butter because of its lower cost. However, its flavor is inferior to butter, so it does not make as fine a sauce. The quality of margarine varies from brand to brand.
Animal fats, such as chicken fat, beef drippings, and lard, are used when their flavor is appropriate to the sauce. Thus, chicken fat can be used for chicken velouté, and beef drippings can be used for beef gravy. When properly used, animal fats can enhance the flavor of a sauce.
Vegetable oil and shortening can be used for roux but, because they add no flavor, they are not preferred. Solid shortening also has the disadvantage of having a high melting point, which gives it an unpleasant fuzzy feeling in the mouth. It is best reserved for the bakeshop and the fry kettle.