How to Make Roux

I cook with salted butter, and I wondered if you use salted or unsalted?

At Rouxbe, we find unsalted butter to be best. It allows us to control the amount of salt in a recipe and season each dish to our liking.

Is whole wheat flour ever used to make a roux?

Based on my experience, I used whole wheat pastry flour. Whole wheat pastry flour is fine enough to produce a very smooth sauce and its low protein level will help prevent it from forming lumps and make the sauce heavy. You might want to reduce the amount of flour in the beginning and then just add more if it's necessary. Maybe you can sieve the flour first before using. I also used brown rice flour as well. Both flours will have a slightly different texture and also a little bit of color but it worked fine for me. I hope this helps.

Yes your answer and tips help a lot. I rarely use white flour of any kind and w.w. pastry flour sounds like a good substitute for all purpose white. I like the idea of using brown rice flour as well.
Thanks Divina.

I made my first ever roux today. I wanted to start with the white and then continue on to make the blonde and the brown roux. But I think I was too impatient and scared of scorching my roux, so I stopped at blonde. Then I added hot water to see the thickening properties. At first the roux got very thick, like mashed potatoes. It took about three cups of water to bring it to a sauce-like consistency.

Now my question is, how do I turn a roux into a sauce if I am not roasting a bird (I don't have pan drippings)?

And does roux keep in the fridge?

Swati, you're going to be a super chef before you know it.

Adding water to the roux was an exercise to illustrate the thickening power of roux. Although you could transform this thickened liquid into a soup or sauce is was really just an experiment.

As for turning a roux into a sauce or soup or dish, you will learn this starting in the Sauce Lessons (bechamel and veloute). But basically it works like this:

ROUX + MILK = BECHAMEL SAUCE (WHITE SAUCE). This is used for dishes like lasagne. You will also soon learn that you can start to create derivatives of this basic bechamel sauce (e.g. add cheese and you get mornay or cheese sauce).

ROUX + STOCK = VELOUTE SAUCE (the base for many dishes like chicken pot pie). In fact in our recipe on the site, we use chicken broth but you can use a white stock from chicken here. Veloute is also the base for many soups... e.g. add sauteed mushrooms, minced onions and you can transform the sauce into a delicious mushroom soup... You will soon see.

Focus on mastering the basics and you will see. I promise.

I can never get my roux to brown the same way as the brown roux in the video. In what I think is 6-7 minutes (I don't have a clock in my kitchen), it is definitely blonde but not quite brown. And I am somewhat confused about the nutty smell that I am supposed to look out for: I get a distinct smell as the flour blends in with the butter. Is that the smell, or does it get nuttier than that? Maybe I should use a timer one time and time myself to stir upto 7 minutes to make sure I am going as long as I am supposed to.
Otherwise, I finally managed to get my roux to the right consistency. I used to make it too thick.

Couple of things to note Swati... First, a brown roux is not used very much in cooking. You will use the white and blonde mostly so don't worry too much about it.

As for timing, 6 to 7 minutes is just a general guideline as everyone will have slightly different temperature that they cook with. So this is not an exact science. You just need to look for the indicators (e.g. color) to change from white to light brown. And it doesn't have to perfectly match the color you see on the screen. In fact, your screen color might be off a bit as well. If you get a light brown color you are done. You will also have achieved that nutty flavor that is subtle (not very strong), but that nutty flavor will come out more when you make a sauce from this.

Sounds like you are right on track. Keep up the great work.

All - Thanks for showing this. I've always measured out equal volumes of flour and butter, and my roux has usually been a bit tighter/more paste-like than the white roux shown. I'll have to try for the wetter variant.

At what point do you add the flour to the butter - just when it's melted, or when foaming subsides, or further? Since the goal is to bind the starch and the fat, is it better to cook out the water in the butter first (without browning the butter)?

You just need to melt the butter and then the flour can be added. You don't have to cook out anything in the butter before the flour is added.

As for the consistency, I also learned equal part flour to butter, but now I always make my roux like in the video.

Do try the thinner roux, I find it is easier to work with than the more tradition thicker/paste-like roux. It is easier to incorporate and there is less tendency to lump. Good luck!

As I was practicing making roux I watched for changes as I cooked it through the stages from white to brown. I noticed it was somewhat thinner as it turned brown. Does that normally happen? Thanks!

Yes, a brown roux will appear thinner than the white or blond roux. As the roux cooks, so do the starch molecules in the flour. Their chains break up, becoming shorter and shorter, thus making the roux more runny. A brown roux will also have less thickening power than a white or blond one, but its flavour is what you're after mostly, such as for a gumbo.

Hope this helps.

Thanks Tony. Very helpful.

Sean

Salted vs. Unsalted butter:
Traditionally in my training (classic French) we always used unsalted butter. As mentioned, you can control the amount of salt in a dish, although personally I feel that is an overrated point. Salt also acts as a preservative, so there are claims that unsalted butter is usually fresher in the store.
I use both in my cooking now. Often, I will use salted when sauteing things to add flavor enhancement (many times this is very nice when making say crepes).

Roux - Classically, equal parts flour and butter, but by weight, not volume. (Although it is close using volume)

Yes, the roux will thin as it gets darker, and also the darker the roux, the less thickening ability it retains.

Hope this helps!

Bon Appetit!

Ditto for me. I have always subscribed to the classic equal parts flour and fat, but this looks a lot easier, as it is a real pain with the resultant paste to cook it even long enough to get rid of the taste of raw flour, much less cooking it to the point of brown roux. This looks much easier, and worth the slightly lesser thickening power this must have. And what the heck, need more thickening, add more "runny" roux; I have nothing against extra butter. :)

A point, here, however. If you wish to stick to the classic proportions, it's much more easily accomplished in a non-stick pan.

Regarding salted vs. unsalted butter, I agree with Charles in that this is an overrated point. I always end up adding salt to a bechamel or a veloute anyway, whether I used salted butter or not. Come to think of it, this is pretty much the case with any recipe that insists on unsalted butter. (well, except in baking...)

So, I would say, if you decide to make a roux and discover you only have salted butter on hand, it's probably not worth a trip to the store for unsalted. You'll probably add salt to whatever you use the roux for, anyway.

Classic country gravy substitutes the fat from sausage for the butter, after all, and that's generally a good deal more salty than the saltiest of butters. :)

Personally, I bake my brown sauces... whether it's brown or brick, it finds its way into a cast iron pot and into the oven at 350 degrees. But, unless you're cooking cajun or creole you probably won't need it... even most brown sauces now use a blonde roux and pick up their color and flavor from caramelization of other ingredients.

As to the fats... you know I actually steer away from butter and turn to vegetable oil more often now. . . it's less rich and allows me to have more control of the finished flavor.

Sorry, that was meant to say I bake my brown roux, not sauces.

I tried making a bechamel sauce today for home made macaroni and cheese and I'm slighty confused on how the roux should look after the Butter and Flour have been combined.

I added equal parts butter and flour but once it was combined it was extremely clumpy, but in the videos its shown as being almost like a soup. What exactly am I doing wrong? Are your videos showing the roux post liquid addition?

I ended up adding 1 stick of butter and 4 TBS of flour. Am I adding too much flour? I add it in very slowly. I noticed that in the video all the flour was added at one time, and that turned out horribly for me.

Help!

With the name Rouxbe, we should know a lot about Roux :-)

Daniel, I suggest reviewing topic 3 in this lesson. We do not add equal parts butter and flour. This would result in a very dry Roux. We mention in the video that some cooks like using a dry Roux, but what we would like for you to do is to forget about the measurements all together. Just melt some butter and than add flour until you get to the consistency shown in the video.

The big challenge for many cooks is they get all hung up on measurements, when if fact you should simply learn to look for key indicators just like a chef. I can tell you from first hand experience, chefs do not measure many ingredients (except maybe with baking or pastry).

After making the Roux to the consistency in the video, then add the milk a little at a time until it just comes to the boil, then continue to adjust by adding more milk until you get a great sauce-like consistency (so no milk measuring either).

You can do it. Look forward to your report back.

What is the cooking temperature you're looking for for best results? Must it reach a simmer or slight boil? I tried cooking a large batch on my first try (making gumbo) and it never thickened. It eventually turned brown but the flavor was flat. It cooked a long time.

Brown roux for jumbo doesn't have the same thickening power as a blond or white roux. The long cooking to caramelize the starches in the flour actually compromises its thickening properties. You'll need to either use more roux or simply add some flour right into the roux and stir for a few seconds before adding your liquid, which is always added slowly. The idea behind a brown roux is to give a rich flavor to the sauce of the gumbo.

Does it need to come to a boil?

The roux only needs to bubble - so whether your simmer or boil, it really doesn't matter. It just needs to bubble to cook the starch flavor out. If you haven't done so already, there is a lesson in the Cooking School on How to Make Roux which gives you plenty of information and visuals. Happy Cooking!

I have to remark that I have never had any trouble with adding cold liquid (milk) all at once to a bechemel and getting lumps. I use 1:1 fat to flour ratio. The only reason I can think of why this may be so, is that I am very used to using whole wheat flour in my cooking and making sauces. The thickening power of whole wheat flour may not be as great as that of white flour. Also, I have noticed that it is easier to get sauce without lumps when there are other things in the pan along with the fat (ie when you saute vegetables first) My guess is that the particles of germ and bran that are in the whole wheat flour keep the starch particles separated so they are not as likely to clump. I just pour the cold liquid into the roux all at once and use a whisk to combine them thoroughly until it is thickened. I will have to try the white flour to see if I have more trouble with lumps.

The lesson demonstrates skimming the fat off the top of a fresh pot of stock for use in making a roux. Could I also use congealed fat, like what I would get from putting the stock in the fridge overnight?

Yes you can use the congealed fat from the stock to make a roux. In fact we do that in the Braising Lesson (topic 8 around 1:25).

If I use the runnier version versus the paste like version, will I have to use more because it's not as concentrated?

Thicker rouxs generally contain more flour, so the thickening power will be greater than a thinner or runnier one. The runnier version just makes it much easier to use and incorporate into dishes.

I have made quite a few rouxs before I even found this website. However, the cooking video lesson has made my understanding of roux all the more clear. I was wondering something though. Most of my experience with rouxs, before I set up an account with Rouxbe, have been from observing different recipes and dishes. For white rouxs, my experience before has been the same as what I learned in this lesson. However, for the blonde and brown rouxs in the video, it seemed as if they only cooked it for a couple extra minutes. Most of my experience before hand has been that I would cook these for much larger amounts of time (up to an hour for the brown roux). Is this not necessary? I am simply a little confused. If I don't ever have to cook a roux for an hour to recieve the color and flavor I want again, I would be sooooo happy! What can you tell me to clear things up a little?

Good question. Much depends on the heat, the lower, the slower, but also the better. For a brown roux, and especially a Cajun roux, low and slow is preferred. Also, for large amount it takes much longer to cook the mixture. Understand that there was a time when rouxs ruled, and the saucier would take all the time necessary to bring out the best nutty profile of the flour and butter solids - even the quality of the flour and butter or lard made a huge difference. Rouxs don't serve the same purpose anymore, but thanks for putting in the spotlight.

So, it's up to you: low and slow, or let's raise the heat a bit.

Where I grew up, we regularly brown our roux to a darkness and consistency far beyond what is shown in the lessons (and we use vegetable oil). To compare colors, it is closer to dry cocoa powder, whereas the roux shown in the lessons never even approaches a caramel. The family joke is that the roux isn't ready until you think you've burned it. This dark roux is normally used for a heavy gravy, and always includes at least some onions and celery. We will also add drippings, giblets, small bits of meat from bones, etc. depending on the meat we are cooking.

Does anyone else have any experience with making a very dark roux like this? Is there a reason to avoid it? How do the properties of the roux change when it gets this dark?

My guess would be that this type of roux has limited applications due to its strong flavor, although we do use it as a base for gumbo and a few other dishes.

You are correct. Very dark rouxs are used in particular dishes in Creole/Cajun cooking. The longer roux is cooked, the less thickening power it has, so you'll likely need to use more to obtain the desired consistency of the sauce in your dish.

The comes down to different rouxs being used for different applications/dishes. One is not better than the other - they are just used for different purposes, flavors and colors. Cheers!

Ok if I want just to keep a batch of roux in the freezer or fridge. how long will it keep? If I need to make it hot if it already is frozen if I am adding it to a cool liquid how should I do that?

Can roux be made with shortening, such as vegetable shortening instead of butter or drippings...

Roux will keep for quite awhile in the fridge (just like butter). To use it once frozen, you may want to let it thaw in the refrigerator. Cheers!

You could likely use shortening - any fat should work. Cheers!

As incredible as it sounds I managed to screw up the roux I was making. I've tried to make it twice and both times I see the consistency too runny, then when I add more flour it becomes all sticky (even if it's just 1 teaspoon.) Also when I get the roux out of the fire the flour and the butter don't seem to be well integrated, the consistency is grainy and I can see some fat on top of the flour. I used margarine instead of butter, but I thought it wasn't supposed to make a difference. Based on this description can you guess what I did wrong?

Depends on the margarine, which is a hydrogenated fat. I can't help you out on the brands of margarine because I don't use them. It can cause problems when heated. Also, since it is 100% fat - as opposed to butter which is 80% fat - you will need to add a bit more flour right in the beginning, and add the flour all at once. Just take it to a pasty consistency and it should work. Personally, I'd use oil instead of margarine, such as sunflower or safflower.

After I changed to real butter, I can report that I successfuly made white roux :) then I made bechamel and finally Mornay sauce. Great!
I'm surprised that I had to add a lot of milk in order to get a runny bechamel, never underestimate the roux ticking power.

O.K. ,I am thinking ..Can i take the roux and use my beef stock to make a brown gravy and use it threw the week or can i refreeze it after making the gravy this way? or am i way off base with this thought ?

A roux is generally made with a fat not just a liquid (that's more of a slurry) but you can use the fat from your beef stock to make a roux.

Once made you can indeed use it throughout the week or freeze it for later use.

For more information on making a roux you may want to check out the lesson on How to Make a Roux - topic 6 talk specifically about using different fats. Hope this helps. Cheers!

O.k. i went back to the braising recipie i can use the fat from the beef stock.Would you also suggest useing the Mirepoix if i blended it like on the video for added flavor to the gravy ?

If I am understanding correctly you are asking about adding the the mirepoix to the gravy just like we did in the sauce for the braised dish and if so then I would say yes give it a try. Sauce is really just a fancy name for gravy anyways so essentially you would be doing the same thing. You just might find that you will not need as much roux as the mirepoix will also thicken your gravy. Have some fun and experiment with it until you find the consistency that you are looking for. Hope this helps - cheers!

Yes this is what i ment and i will be experimenting alot this week the video's gave me great insight especially on my Pot roast and now i wont have to buy store bought gravy anymore wich i always frowned on when i had no gravy ..Thank you so much

Great to hear Lynn, keep up the good work!

I made my first brown roux tonight for my Roast Beef gravy it came out excellent ,I used a stick of butter and basicaly used my eye for flour amout.I wont being using the water and flour method anymore ..

Did the basic exercises and I have to say it was very educational. I've always done roux by eyeball but never stopped to take the time and go through step-by-step to compare and contrast. Also, experimenting as Swati B did with plain water to test the thickening power was very good review.

However, I'd add to the exercise: Before discarding the final plain roux-water product, taste it (which I never really paid much attention to before)! I got a much better appreciation of the different tastes white-blonde-brown roux are likely to add to the final product using a neutral medium (water--duh!). I now have a much better appreciation for those nuances of taste vs. thickening power.

My past experience has led me to always do a basic white roux tending toward the pasty side using clarified butter. I'd then refrigerate it into easily usable pieces. A thinner roux makes it easier (pour into pan, cool, score, cool, then break into pieces). If I needed a blonde or brown roux, I'd start with the (refrigerated) white roux and cooked it further. The end product was OK, but always seemed a bit mealy (not sure why).

I'm going to experiment with my new Rouxbe roux after preparing a batch and refrigerating it to see how it reconstitutes and how further cooking to blonde/brown works. But if there's anyone who can give me a head start I'd appreciate it...

1. I've always used clarified butter in the past, as that was suggested for better storage longevity. However, the nuances of cooking some of the milk solids might be lost? Any opinions on whether it makes a significant difference? I tend to clarify almost all butter as soon as it gets home (reserve the solids as seasoning). Am I being too much of a slave to habit?

2. When reconstituting the stored white roux--especially cooking it further to blonde/brown--are there any special tricks or things to watch for? Or is that something I should avoid entirely?

3. Toasting/roasting the flour prior to cooking with the butter/fat? I've done this a bit with bread (added some nice notes, done in moderation), but never roux. Might the same approach be used for roux? Specifically, is there a reason why the flour/starch has to be cooked in the fat?

Again, I'll continue to experiment, but any suggestions as to what I might expect or what to avoid would be appreciated. Although I must say after going through the basic exercise, this is cheap experimentation and invaluable experience--and all for a few dollars worth of butter, a bit of flour, some water and a few hours over the stove.

Thanks again; any feedback/suggestions appreciated.

Unless you use large amounts of roux on a constant basis, I'm not sure why you need to make a large batch of white roux and refrigerate it. Not sure how much time is being saved there.

The thing about making particular components in advance is that you - the cook - have to decide if it is worth it or not. You will be the judge on whether it saves you time and/or if the dish is affected.

Clarified butter will keep for longer periods of time, but it is more work to make. You can use it for roux, but yes, some flavor will be lost having no milk solids. It's up to you and your personal tastes.

I haven't experimented myself with toasting/roasting flour prior to cooking it with the fat. When you cook the flour and fat together, the raw starchy flavor is cooked out, the flavor develops and the color darkens. This method has been used for centuries because it works. That being said, keep on experimenting and feel free to share what you discover. Cheers!

Thanks Kimberly; critical feedback very much appreciated.

As you suggested, and after retrospection, I figure the make/store method is not really saving me that much time for my relatively low volume, especially for white roux (might make more sense for blonde/brown for some people). Making it as-needed, and thus more frequently, is also good and necessary practice.

Lesson learned: Being able to create a proper roux on-demand is an essential and better skill (and much more portable) than creating it in batches every few months--for which I'd invariably scurry back to notes and have to think it through each time. Moreover, that quest for 'efficiency" and mimicking others was likely counterproductive and an impediment to committing it to my "cooking DNA".

Good to get back to basics and critically review habits. Thanks again.

You're welcome. It's always good to try and take a step back to figure out why you are doing what you are doing. We try to do this all the time at Rouxbe to wade through the fluff of all the cooking information that is out there. For example, too often people get stuck in a particular habit "because their mom/grandma did it"...but they never took the time to understand why or if it made sense. Happy cooking! :)

In other places I have read that you should add cool roux to hot liquids, or hot roux to a cold liquid, but never hot with hot. Is that "rule" gone with the more liquid roux that you teach (compared to the sand-like consistency many others use), or was it never really a rule in the first place?

Keep in mind that at one time in the industry roux was made in large batches and kept cold, so liquids were heated and flavoured and then added to the roux. Then with refrigeration, milk especially was added to the hot roux in the pan (hot or reheated so it dissolved into a paste. Hence the hot to cold, or cold to hot. These became habits rather than hard rules. Today, we tend to make the roux when we need it in the pan, so it's hot, and then add the liquid. To avoid lumps, best to either temper the liquid by either adding it slowly or heating it closer to the temperature of the roux so the fats in the roux don't seize and create lumps. Forget for the moment about the rules you read: the key technique in thickening with a roux is the tempering, and the key strategy is to combine liquid and roux in increments, dissolve completely, and add some more, bring to a simmer, and adjust consistency.

I made roux for the first time that was not equal parts. And I love the thiner roux. I will never go back to measurements again. Next to the knife sharpening (I need a steel), this one is the best so far... Thank you.

You always start a roux with fat. Then add the flour. Is there a rule of thumb as to for example you have 4 tbl fat, add flour to desired look with roux, the question is, how much stock or liquid is appropriate to add according to the amount of fat you start with for the roux?

It depends on the liquid you are thickening (i.e. whether it is a soup or a sauce). The best way to understand is to try the practice exercise in this lesson to understand the thickening power. The result can be a light - medium - or very thick. For a soup, usually 1 tbsp of fat and 1 tbsp of flour will thicken 1 cup of liquid which will give the consistency of heavy cream; so, for a sauce, it'll be a bit more flour. You'll understand it more as you go through the practice exercises and recipes in this lesson and the lessons on bechamel and veloute. Cheers!

i did the practice session on rougn today. my husband kept bugging me about how i should already know how to do this. he does not understand. he can be so irritating.

during the brown rough practice i thought it would never get brown so i raised the heat and eventually it got brown. hooray! i was so excited but my excitment quickly came to an end when i realized the roux began to burn. it seemed as soon as it got brown it seemed to burn. i turned off the heat immediately added the water and turned the heat back on. it was pretty thick at first so i just added more water. but after the water was added it looked more blonde than brown. is that normal,? if i was making a bachemel sauce how would i keep the brown colour?

Brown roux should only be used for gravy and stews, and make sure to do them on low heat as they can burn in a second's notice. For making a bechamel, you don't want to cook your roux for too long, basically for 2-3 minutes to develop some flavor.

I would like to know the advantages of using a roux vs. corn starch + cold water as a thickening agent. My mother never used a roux in her cooking. She said it made her gravy taste like flour. She probably wasn't making it right.
Just a side note. I love these lessons. Like everyone else on the planet, I am visual learner and love seeing the process, end product, what not to do and how to possibly fix cooking boo-boos.
Keep up the great work!

Roux and cornstarch generally have their own purposes in cooking. Roux is more common with sauces and gravies. Not only does it add more flavor it also has other advantages (which will be discussed in a future lesson on thickeners). The reason your mother said that her gravy tasted like flour was likely because she didn't cook the roux and/or she did not cook what ever she added it too long enough to cook out the starch flavor.

Cornstarch gives sauces a glossy finish. This is often not desired in sauces or gravies as it can give them an almost artificial look - like they came from a mix or a powder rather than being homemade. That being said, many Asian sauces such as sweet and sour etc. use cornstarch as they are looking for that high gloss finish. For things like pie fillings the shine is also often a good thing, which is why things like cornstarch, arrowroot and tapioca flour are used as thickeners instead of flour. If using cornstarch, just remember that just like a roux, it must be cooked briefly to cook out the starchy flavor. It is also important to note that cornstarch has more thickening power than flour. Hope this helps. Cheers!

Ok I have seen two videos one from Marco Pierre White and one from Gordon Ramsey that both say use cold milk when making a roux Marco goes as far as saying never use milk and roux of the same temp. He says hot roux cold milk cold roux hot milk. These two seem to know a little about cooking are they wrong or is there a bunch of different ways to make a roux? Is it one of those just find what works for you. Thats one of the things I like about Marco , he says why do we need recipes cook with feeling just let it come from you. Hopefully Rouxbe will help me be able to do a little of that. Also I was taught to make a roux it was the 321 rule.
For a thick roux it's 3 TBS flour 3 TBS butter and 1 cup of milk .Medium thick 2TBS flour 2TBS butter 1cup of milk
Thin roux 1TBS flour 1TBS butter 1 cup of milk
Do those measurements sound about right?
Thanks for your help

Welcome to the world of cooking. Many ways to get to the finish line. As a teacher, I was taught to preach certain "rules", some apply and some don't. As long as you're paying attention when you're making a bechamel, or all cooking for that matter, you can make a perfect bechamel with any temperature roux and milk. The rule of thumb to use cold milk to a hot roux is to prevent the butter in the roux from "melting" out from the hot milk. But if the two are incorporated slowly, no issues. When you read Italian cookbooks about making bechamel, the issue of milk temperature is not the focus: the focus is using your hands, tools, eyes, and judgement to make a good bechamel.

The 3-2-1 rule works, but that's just one of many routes one many take. In fact, I never even use flour to make my own roux at home. I use potato flour, which has a more neutral flavour and texture. Though there's tons of info and theories out there on fundamentals like bechamel, the learning cook can become confused with it all instead of moving forward. And learning must happen in your kitchen. DO, RE-DO, DO IT WELL, PUT IT IN YOUR BACK POCKET, MOVE FORWARD TO BIGGER FISH.

In general, what is the best substitute for butter? Margarine? Oil? Vegetable shortening?
And what about clarified butter? Is there a substitute for that?

"What is the best substitution for butter?" - that is hard to say as I would tend to say there is no real substitution for butter. I have tried quite a few non-dairy butters and they do not taste like butter in my opinion. It really depends on what you are cooking and your personal preference.

As for a substitution for clarified butter, again, this comes down to personal preference. It also depends on what you are using it for. Are you looking for the flavor of butter? Normally, I would say that for some things you could use butter instead of clarified; however, it seems as you are looking for a non-dairy substitution. So again, I would say it depends on what you are making and using it for.

Here is another thread on this same subject that you might find helpful as well (see Kimberley's answer). Cheers!

We eat wheat but prefer to minimize it when possible and I have some gluten-free friends I cook for occasionally. I have used arrowroot for roux once or twice but it has been a while. What are my gluten-free and/or grain-free options (including arrowroot) and what considerations or alterations would need to be made to use these in a roux?

You can also make roux with potato starch. There are several discussions in the forum on this topic. Just type in "roux" in the search bar at the top right of any page and you'll find input from many users. Cheers!

I, too, have family that have wheat gluten intolerance. I read that potato starch can be used to make roux. Are there noticeable differences in taste, texture and application of alternatives vs. wheat flour? Also, tapioca is a starch. Can it be used to make roux?

Here is another thread that was started a while back called "flour substitute for roux" that should answer your questions. Cheers!

Can rice flour be used to make a roux?

In the link above there a few posts on the subject of substitutions. Here is one from Tina N regarding rice flour. Cheers!

Most Cajun / Creole cooks will tell you that a gumbo is only as good as the roux it's built upon - but it can be quite a task to constantly whisk a roux until it reaches a dark brown/mahogany color. There's also the chance that the roux scorches, imparting a bitter flavor, in which case you have to start over.
Try toasting the dry flour on the stovetop for about 5 minutes and then adding vegetable oil to combine. Put the covered pot in a preheated 350 degree oven for 45 minutes, and you'll eliminate both the tedious work of all that whisking and the risk of burning your roux.

Great ideas for cooking stews. Similiar to my recipe but put together different. I'm anxious to try their recipe. Very helpful and easy to understand.

Most of the recipes I've found call for vegetable oil to make the roux for gumbo. I'm partial to butter myself, so I'd rather use butter (or clarified butter) instead of vegetable oil. So I have two questions. First, will the milk solids in regular butter burn during the long cooking of a brown roux? And second, will clarified butter make the dish less authentic?

It is possible to make a dark roux using clarified butter: however, it is more difficult as the chances of a dark roux burning if made with butter are much higher. For this reason, most recipes call for oil when making a dark roux.

Now, you ask about whether or not using clarified butter will make a gumbo less authentic? I am guessing that that would depend on who you asked. I do know that there are many opinions and even debates about Creole and Cajun cooking in general, so I will leave that one up to anyone else that might like to add their thoughts. Cheers!

Thanks Dawn,

I ended up using clarified butter and it worked great, though it did require a lot of attention. It took about 25 minutes to get a good chocolate look, but I used a medium-low heat setting since this was my first time making dark roux.

Thanks for the great lesson!