by Luke Mon Mar 24, 2014 5:14 pm
Need to drop some science, which will only be beneficial for all.
This is valuable information, not me talking down to you. I have over twenty years of culinary experience, from Kraft dinner (for shame calling it mac n' Cheese, for shame) to crab stuffed lobster with truffle oil. Not saying I'm a better cook than you guys (well, kinda) but I have boat loads of knowing how to cook things correctly.
You guys are probably making your Kraft dinner all kinds of wrong. And to make Rockin' Kraft Dinner, you need to start with the noodles, and then the "sauce".
Here goes:
You need four quarts of rapidly boiling water in a large pot (large enough for 2 gallons of water). Rapidly boiling is the key,. Once a rapid boil is attained, add the noodles, stir with a WOODEN SPOON (makes a difference) to make sure no noodle sticks to the bottom of the pot.
Boil for six minutes, seven max.
Before draining, place the lid of your soup pot upside down in your sink. On top of the lid, place your colander and turn on the garbage disposal if you have one. Why? Because the sink will back up some nasty water on your noodles if you don't.
Reduce your stove top to medium low.
Place drained noodles into pot. Stir like crazy. If the noodles stick, take it off the heat. Your goal is to dry out the excess water vapor from the noodles to leave them al dente. When the pot stops steaming, you know you're in business, and it is time to drop in a half stick of butter, at room temp. Cold is acceptable as well, but don't melt the butter before adding it.
After the butter melts, add the powder, making sure to add the entire pack. I smack the pack of powder something fierce. Once the powder is mixed in thoroughly, take a 1/2 cup of WHOLE milk, and drizzle in a tablespoon at a time. You should only use 1/4 cup (or half of a half cup) depending on how thick you like your sauce, but some like it firm, some like it soft. They key is to add the milk a bit at a time.
My standard is: Once the mac and cheese starts to stick together, it's done. I usually use around one third of a cup of milk, but in the end it is all about the noodles retaining a bite.
