Stupid simple question but the cheese powder milk mixture in

Make it from scratch with a bechamel sauce with added yellow cheddar.

>>8870697
What is KD? Maybe we could help if we knew what it was.

>>8870701
Standard Kraft Dinner is my go-to comfort food. I want to know if this batch is salvageable first.

>>8870708
I forgot that it's called Kraft Macaroni & Cheese outside of Canada. Everyone I know just calls it KD (Kraft Dinner).

>>8870697
you're supposed to just add the cheese powder to the macaroni, follow the instructions on the box

>>8870718
I've made it this way for over 10 years and this problem only happens very infrequently. I don't know if the cheese powder is old or what.

>>8870727
I just checked the milk, box, and margarine I used, and they're all weeks to a few months before their best before dates.

I'm eating it anyway. The consistency is kinda gross, but it doesn't taste bad.

I've made it the same way since I was a kid, and I kept my eye on it as well. As soon as I put that cheese powder in, it just thickened up and wouldn't mix properly with the milk and melted margarine. I don't know if I heated up the milk too much or what could have happened. I can't find any specific answers online either as they're all related to making macaroni from scratch.

>>8870697
Use a whisk.

>>8870697
Also, why don't you call/e-mail Kraft and ask them? They might have a solution or an answer for you, and they'll probably send you some free product.

>>8870711
You drain the water, all of it, add the milk/butter/cheese, stick it back on low heat and stir it until everything is mixed.

If this is your go-to how did you not know that you're supposed to drain the water?
If I'm not accurate about this let me know, also definitely send the manufacturer a message about how fucked up your brain is because you will get at least $15 coupon value out of it.

>>8870790
I cooked the pasta on high for 7 minutes, dumped it all in a colander to drain it, and then put in some margarine (Becel Olive Oil) and milk (2%) in it like I always do. I kept an eye on it while it was heating up, stirring occasionally, and when it looked hot enough, I added the cheese mixture and stirred it in like I always do. It immediately thickened and wouldn't stir in properly. I don't know why this happens, but it's happened before, and I can't find anything online talking about it.

>>8870809
I mean I put the milk and margarine in the pot, not in with the pasta. I cook the cheese stuff separately before dumping the pasta back in and mixing it. The problem doesn't seem to be with the pasta.

Oh right, and I added some salt to the pot before I began cooking the pasta.

>>8870809
why are you heating the "cheese sauce" ingredients like that?

follow instructions instead of trying to fry/curdle milky cheese solid proteins?

>>8870809
You didn't do anything wrong, but switch your butter, olive oil probably causes clumping.
Use margarine or stick butter without olive oil.

>>8870823
Is an idiot that doesn't really know what he's talking about.

>>8870831
http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/kraft-macaroni-cheese-dinner-56248.aspx

>Bring water to boil in medium saucepan. Add Macaroni; cook 7 to 8 min. or until tender, stirring occasionally.
>Drain. (Do not rinse.) Return macaroni to pan.
>Add margarine, milk and Cheese Sauce Mix; mix well.

>>8870838
You're adding tons of cold ingredients, over 30% of the meal, so heating it back up is extremely common among people who aren't mental.

>>8870823
>>8870831
>>8870838
It's how I've always done it, and even how my parents have always cooked it. I don't think the issue is the method I used to cook it (otherwise I would have literally hundreds of botched attempts over the years). KD is my favorite food. It's simple to make and not really extravagant, but it's something I'd gladly default to. I would say that only in the past few years have I seen this situation occur. It doesn't happen often, but it's a big downer when it does. I'm sure that there's gotta be some particular reason why it's happened these select few times and not every time.

I keep the boxes of KD in a storage room out front with little insulation to keep the temperature from being too different to outside. What if the changing temperature affected it somehow? I'm just reaching for ideas, but I think it has to be something that doesn't always happen.

>>8870697
>2.32MB, 2448x3264
Good GOD. The photos in my dissertation weren't this high-resolution. Get it together OP.

Wtf did you even drain the pasta?

>>8870727
>admits to following the instructions incorrectly
>WHY ISNT IT WORKING REEEEEEEE

why is your shit so soupy looking? how much milk and butter did you use?

youre not supposed to boil milk, dumbass. it seperates if you boil it aggressively. make the god damn KD properly!
REÈEEEÈĔËÈEEEEƏĘEEEÊEEEĖEEEEEEEƏËEEEEE

>>8870991

3rd worlders always give me a chuckle.

>>8870859
>I've always done it this way but sometimes it fucks up, how do I keep it from fucking up?!

have you tried following the actual directions?

>fuck you there's nothing wrong with my methods why aren't you helping REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

>>8871375
I think they changed the instructions a while ago to make it more "healthy" or some shit. I still follow the old instructions that called for half a stick of butter and 1/4 cup milk. sometimes I use half and half instead and it's even better.

>>8871454
"Healthy"

Luteray wheat, chemicals, and cheese powder.
Try rinsing the noodles off, you'll fucking shit yourself and probably switch to unenriched wheat instantly.

>>8871460
just finished a tall glass of vitamin c fortified sugar water and thought of you my sweet vitaminfag desu

>>8871375
Well, when it fails only 10/800 times I'm liable to think that the issue isn't in the way I cooked it those 800 times but in some rare variable that pops up. The room I had it in is usually cold throughout the winter, but in the past few weeks, it's gotten a lot warmer. It's like how certain foods are supposed to be stored at certain temperatures, but I've never really considered if there are right and wrong temperatures for pantry foods like dried pasta and sauce mixes. Obviously room temperature is alright, but are hot/cold temperatures also alright? It would explain why this only happens every once in a while when the temperatures outside drastically change, but I really don't know for sure. I might have just gotten a bad box for all I know.

Even if that's not the case, I came on here to ask if there was someone who had experienced something similar or knew exactly what was happening. This isn't a problem with how I cook it because I'd be seeing this a lot more often and I'm sure I did it exactly as I always would this time.