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The Starch and the Sauce

Most sauces use starch to thicken and reduce viscosity. The most common starches are cornstarch and wheat starch, usually in the form of flour. How does this work?

Starches are used to thicken sauces, soups, and pie fillings. The thickening doesn’t occur until the starch gelatinizes. Gelatinization is the process whereby the starch particles absorb moisture, expand and become firm. This process starts at 140 degrees and is complete when the sauce becomes bubbly. If you quit cooking the sauce before gelatinization is complete, the sauce will not be as thick as it could be. The sauce will thicken further as it cools.

Cornstarch in particular sets up almost like gelatin making it especially valuable for pie fillings. Sauces made with cornstarch are clearer and more translucent than those made with wheat flour since the wheat flour is comprised of more than starch.

Sauces come in an infinite variety of flavors and types. The basic dessert sauce is a mixture of a liquid, a sweetener, a fat, and a starch. (Dinner sauces are similarly constructed without the sweetener.) The sweetener can be sugar, brown sugar, honey, or more. The fat gives a pleasing “mouth feel” to the sauce, usually with butter or cream. The starch can be either corn or wheat flour. Flavors are added from spices and extracts to chocolate.

Not every sauce is made with starch. With enough sugar and cooking, the starch is often omitted. Fruit sauces are often made without starch. They rely on the pectin and solids in the fruit for thickening. Some sauces are thickened with eggs.

The starch must be evenly distributed in the sauce to avoid lumps. There are two basic ways to do this. In most recipes calling for butter, the starch is mixed with the melted butter to form a paste and then the liquid is added all at once and stirred well for distribution. In other recipes, the sugar and starch is well-mixed in the pan before the liquid is added. In either method, frequent stirring is required. A bell-shaped whisk is the preferred way to stir and is an indispensable tool for making sauces.

You do not need a recipe to make a sauce. With just a little practice, you can make sauces without following a recipe.