Knock on wood – I’ve never burnt a roux before, but I know people who have. They walked away from the stove for just a half-second, and when they turned around, their roux was burnt! What a waste of time after stirring for sooooo long! Standing in the same place at the stove for hours isn’t always my friend, so a few years ago, I’ve learned to bake my roux. And I have to say, it’s quite am-a-zing! I can do many other things while my roux is cooking! Who knew?!
There are a few ways to cook a roux, but they all include the word slow. If you’re trying to cook a Cajun meal that requires a roux, you need to plan ahead.
You can even cook it the day before, let it sit on the stove overnight with a lid, and then dump out the excess oil that is sitting on top in the morning. Even though a baked roux doesn’t require you to continually stand over the stove for an hour at a time, you do still need to be around for about 2 hours!
A great reason for baking a roux is that you don’t have to worry about the temperature of your burner or flame being too hot or not hot enough. The baking process includes a steady temperature of 350°F, and stirring intervals of 20 minutes. Therefore, you will need to stop what you’re doing every 20 minutes to go stir the pot, but you don’t have to stand there in the same place at the stove for hours.
For me, this is the best reason for baking a roux: I can still do everything I need to get done at home in a few hours, while also cooking a roux!
Another thing I’ve adapted to, is using butter instead of oil. I’ve tried many different oils in the past, including olive oil, but my olive oil roux came out kind of slimy one time. Since we’ve been staying away from vegetable oils (soybean oil) and canola oil, and not cooking olive oil anymore, the best choice would be an organic butter.
Butter has given me the tastiest roux I have ever made. I could eat it just like that! Coming from a girl who never used to like gumbo or anything made with a roux, that’s a good thing! Refined (flavorless) coconut oil also works well.
I have also made a gluten-free version for a stew (fricassee) one time, and it came out tasty, but it did taste a little different from the traditional roux. Don’t get me wrong, it was flavorful and everyone liked it. So, if you’re wanting to make a gluten-free version, it will be tasty, but it will not taste exactly like a traditional roux. Since the amount of flour isn’t very much, and I’m not extremely sensitive to gluten, I do enjoy traditional roux from time to time.
The ratio of butter to flour in a roux is pretty much 1-to-1, but I usually end up sprinkling a little more flour onto the mixture. The hotter it gets, the more runny it will become.
It’s a really simple process. Once you master your roux, you are ready to start your gumbo or fricassee (stew).
First, preheat your oven to 350°F. Start on the stove top by melting your butter, then adding the flour and mixing.
Place the pot into the oven, covered, and set your oven timer to 20 minutes.
When the timer beeps, come back to stir your roux. Make sure that every time you stir, you are scraping the bottom of every square inch of the pot. I recommend a flat, wooden spoon to do the job well.
It may take about 3-4 intervals before you notice that your roux is getting darker. Remember, this is the slowest way to cook a roux…
Keep resetting the timer after every time you stir, and come back when your timer beeps.
Your oven is doing all the work!
Just when you think it will never get dark, it WILL get dark! Be patient!
I always compare the color of my roux to a semi-sweet chocolate chip morsel…
Once your roux is done, you can either save it for later, or put your pot back onto the stove and add your Cajun 4 Seasons!
Why organic? Read my personal testimony and learn the whole reason why we have slowly revamped our pantry, the cost of switching, what happened when we switched, and how to get your family on board with healthier choices. Also included is a link to my Free Printable Healthier Ingredients Guide to help you start transforming your pantry.
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Flour, organic
- 1 Cup (2 sticks) Butter, organic
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- On the stove top, at a low-medium heat, melt Butter.
- Add flour and mix well.
- Turn off heat, place pot in the oven, and cover.
- Set the oven timer to 20 minutes at a time, stirring well in between each timer interval.
- Once your roux is the desired color, leave on stove to cool for later use, or use immediately.
The Story Behind Healthier Ingredients