Experience freezing roux?

[MaryIsobel]

According to several sources on the internet, it can be done. Mine would be a fairly dark roux (for gumbo.) I will be making the gumbo at my sister's house and there will be two other people cooking at the same time, all making different components of the meal. I thought it would free up the kitchen considerably if the roux could be made ahead of time. I will be leaving on a Tuesday, it is about a 5 hour drive and the meal will be served on the following Thursday. Just wondered if anyone had done this (or kept it in the fridge for about 3 days) with satisfactory results?

Edited February 18, 2022 by MaryIsobel (log)

[weinoo]

When I make the Japanese curry roux, the directions certainly say that it can be portioned and frozen, or kept in the fridge.

 

Quote

The roux can be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator for a month or in the freezer for 3-4 months. I recommend cutting the block of roux into cubes. Then, you can add pieces as you need in your curry recipe.

 

[MaryIsobel]

5 minutes ago, weinoo said:

When I make the Japanese curry roux, the directions certainly say that it can be portioned and frozen, or kept in the fridge.

 

 

Thanks Weino. There are certainly lots of sources on the net that say so, but some even say to leave it on the counter for a week or two so nice to hear an opinion from someone who actually knows.

 

[AlaMoi]

anything from medium to brick roux I do when I have the time to babysit it - then it gets cooled and frozen.

blonde roux I do ala-minute - but the deeper colors/flavors do not lend themselves to preparation while the whole rest of the world is tumbling in on your dinner menu....

[MaryIsobel]

57 minutes ago, AlaMoi said:

anything from medium to brick roux I do when I have the time to babysit it - then it gets cooled and frozen.

blonde roux I do ala-minute - but the deeper colors/flavors do not lend themselves to preparation while the whole rest of the world is tumbling in on your dinner menu....

My thoughts exactly. I have found that for our tastes, I like to go somewhere in between "peanut butter" and "milk chocolate" for gumbo roux. Takes time and no distractions! I have done the oven roux and it's fine, I just prefer that hands on, stovetop approach.

 

[weinoo]

15 hours ago, MaryIsobel said:

Thanks Weino. There are certainly lots of sources on the net that say so, but some even say to leave it on the counter for a week or two so nice to hear an opinion from someone who actually knows.

 

 

I generally make a small batch of the Japanese roux, and keep it in a glass OXO thing in the fridge.  I just spoon out what I need when I make some of that curry. I think if I froze it in portions, it might get lost in my freezer!

[EatingBen]

Any flour paste that hasn’t yet been added to liquid will freeze well. Ive at periods of time frozen roux at different stages without issue its always before adding any liquid once that flour hydrates its no longer stable in my experience without stabilisers like xanthin gum so i tend to freeze the unthickened “broth” separately.

 

I’ve added all kinds of spices, herbs, additives to the roux and frozen them in ice cube trays and ive not had an issue dropping a frozen cube into hot stock and using a whisk while it melts.

[MaryIsobel]

The gumbo has been made and consumed. For some reason, it was the best gumbo that I have ever made. Perfect consistency, crazy depth of flavour, the only thing that I did differently was to make the roux ahead of time. It was refrigerated for 5 days before the day of cooking. Maybe it was the company, maybe it was atmospheric, but it was wonderful, so will probably make the roux ahead of time from now on. Certainly lessened the length of time required to make gumbo.