I need to make a large batch (to serve 30) of mac 'n' cheese, and rather than bothering with my standard roux – cheese sauce, I thought maybe I could cheat with a short cut.
I dug up an old recipe for crock pot mac 'n' cheese. I have used it with great success many times over, and never had it fail. I thought I'd do a small "trial run" of it since it's been a while since I used it. Failure. I have a few theories on what may have gone wrong, but I'd love input from impartial cooks.
For what it's worth, the recipe calls for 4 cups cheddar, 1 cup jack, 2 cups milk, 2 cups cream, salt, pepper, dry mustard, few dashes hot sauce (optional), a pound of macaroni and a half cup of sour cream. Throw everything except macaroni and sour cream in crock, cover and cook on low for 1 hour. Stir in mac and sour cream, cover and cook for another hour to an hour and fifteen.
When I stirred in the macaroni, the sauce did look a bit "gloopy" but it wasn't really very warm yet, and If I recall correctly, that is how it always looks at this point.
I did use all milk instead of part milk/part cream, as I didn't have any cream on hand.
Best Answer
I hope I'm answering the right question. Your title says "grainy" but then the rest of the question talks about "gloopy". If the problem really is grainy, I think the issue may be that you are using better cheese than in the past. Well aged cheeses tend to get a little bit drier and crystalline, and then they don't seem to melt as well. I've had grainy in that case too. Sometimes I'm happy to live with a little bit of the graininess to get the better flavor.