On Sunday, October 23, 2016 at 1:14:09 PM UTC-10, Dave Smith wrote:
> On 2016-10-23 6:10 PM, dsi1 wrote:
> daylight saving time
> >>> What a load of crap! Double boiler was used for many things, I
> >>> still use it occasionally, but never for white sauce.
> >>
> >> My mother used to do it in a double boiler. She used to make it
> >> frequently to make cream salmon or cream chicken with patty shells.
> >> It was a slow and laborious job, perhaps one of the reasons I never
> >> did it. My wife showed me how to make white sauce and it was much
> >> faster to do in the pot on direct heat.
> >
> > My guess is that in this day of non-stick pans and microwave ovens, a
> > double boiler is not necessary. I think my induction range will do
> > quite nicely instead.
>
> I don't think it has anything to do with non stick pans. I have made
> enough white sauce to know that if you add cold milk to roux in a hot
> pan there will be lumps forming. You can get them out with whisking, but
> they can be avoided by adding the milk, preferably warmed, off the heat.
>
> I was reacting to Lucretia's accusation of bullshit about the double
> boiler, because I remember my mother doing it with a double boiler. I
> Googled it and was not at all surprised to see recipes for white suace
> using a double boiler.

People used to use double boilers a lot back in the day. That's an old school technique. My guess is that it's still being taught in cooking schools in Europe. It could get popular again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEBlbUECI3A