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How to Thicken With Cornflour
Cornflour is your go-to for almost magically transforming thin liquids into velvety smooth, rich, thick sauces, with an enviable glossy appearance, without altering their colour of flavour. Here is how to thicken almost any liquid with cornflour.
Ingredients
- 2 tsp Cornflour / Corn starch
Instructions
- Prepare a "slurry" – by mixing equal parts of cornflour and cold water in a small bowl. For moderate thickening start with 2 tsp of cornflour per 4 cups of liquid.
- Mix until smooth – Stir until the cornflour and water are completely smooth without any lumps.
- Add to your dish – Pour the slurry into your hot dish, stirring all the time. Adding slowly and stirring constantly will ensure you distribute the thickener evenly and prevent any clumps whether it be a sauce, stew, gravy or soup.
- Heat to thicken – Slowly bring the dish up to a simmer, as the cornflour needs heat to activate and thicken.Cook for a couple of minutes, this will allow maximum thickening, the white slurry to turn clear, and to get rid of any residual taste of the cornflour.
- Adjust if needed – If you need to thicken more, prepare more slurry and repeat.
Notes
- NEVER is add the dry cornflour straight into the hot dish, as you will never get the lumps out.
- Mix the slurry properly – it is really important to mix the slurry properly before you add to the dish, with a ratio of 1:1 cornflour to liquid by volume. I find that at this stage it does not matter if you use the hot liquid fro the dish or cold water PROVIDED you mix it properly
- Stir constantly as you add the slurry – this will prevent lumps and ensure the dish thickens evenly.
- Do not overheat – cornflour is an amazingly effective thickener, however over heating / cooking will cause it to break down and your dish will thin. Once you have the perfect thickness, reduce the heat.
- Go sparingly – too much cornflour can make the dish gummy, so go slow and repeat if needed.
• Please note that the nutrition information provided below is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
• Unless stated otherwise cup conversions have been made with an online tool. For accuracy please check with your favoured conversion tool. We recommend buying inexpensive digital kitchen scales.