The Art of Making Ooey Gooey Cheese Sauce with Alka-Seltzer

Two tablespoons of butter are needed for this recipe, and it's best to use unsalted butter because there's plenty of salt in the cheese. The sodium citrate in the salt will help to bring out the flavor of the cheese. Now, let's add a cup and a half of shredded cheese to the Alka-Seltzer solution. This is going to be perfect, as it's about a quarter block of cheese. Stir that in well.

Next, we're going to microwave this mixture at 30-second intervals until everything is melted and gooey. And it already is beginning to emulsify. Look at that! It poofed up like big time when we took it out of the microwave. Now, let's whisk it well. Do you see that? That's it. Beautiful and luscious, hot and totally melted. Okay, right now it's hot, so we're going to let it cool a bit.

As we can see, this sauce is perfectly emulsified, with no chunkage at all. It's smooth and gorgeous. And apparently, this will thicken as it cools too. Make sure you give it the full amount of heat so that it gets totally melted. We don't want any lumps in this whatsoever. Now, let's pour it on some tortilla chips. Actually, we don't need to cool it down; think it's totally pourable right now.

If you're feeling extra fancy, you can add some pickled jalapenos to this sauce. They're the best! Alright, I'm going to try this one handed. And oh my, look at that! That looks delicious. So shiny and glossy. It's finally time to taste this. Are you a lot of cheese person or a little cheese person? Let's go for it.

This ooey gooey cheese sauce is made possible by the use of Alka-Seltzer, which contains sodium citrate. The sodium in the salt reacts with the citrate to create a chemical reaction that thickens the mixture and gives it a rich, creamy texture. It's also worth noting that using unsalted butter will help bring out the flavor of the cheese.

The result is a deliciously cheesy sauce that's packed with flavor. It has a nice sharpness to it, similar to sharp cheddar cheese, but without the sharpness comes a nice nuttiness. If you don't like sharp cheddar cheese, you can use mild cheese or even extra sharp white cheddar if you prefer. The best part is that this sauce is made for a fraction of the cost of traditional cheese sauces.

A whole block of cheese was about $5, and we used only a quarter of it - that's just $1.25 worth of cheese! And Alka-Seltzer was also relatively inexpensive, with enough to make 12 batches. This makes it an excellent way to save money on your cheese sauce cravings. All you need is some sliced pickled jalapenos to take this sauce to the next level.

In conclusion, making ooey gooey cheese sauce with Alka-Seltzer is a game-changer. It's quick, easy, and deliciously cheesy. So go ahead, give it a try, and see how you can use this unconventional ingredient to make your favorite snacks even better.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en(bright music)- Greetings, my beautiful lovelies.It's Emmy, how are you?It's great to see you.And welcome back.Today we are going to be makingthe easiest ooey gooey cheese sauceusing an ingredient that is interestingand 100% unconventional.We are going to be usingAlka-Seltzer.Have you ever heard of Alka-Seltzer?Perhaps you have not.These are little tablets thatyou drop into water that fizz,and you take it as something to help youwith indigestion or an upset stomach.I have actually never taken them before,but it's considered a,I guess you would categorizethis as a medication,even though the activeingredients are citric acid,which is what gives things sournessin sour candies, for example,and sodium bicarbonate,which is the scientific namefor baking soda.So we have an acid-basereaction with the baking sodaand the citric acid, and itcreates little fizziness,and that's supposed tokinda calm your belly.We are going to be usingthe non-aspirin version.There's no pain relief in this.This is just the originalnon-aspirin formulation,and that is really importantif you're gonna make this recipe.Also, you wanna find it in originaland not the flavored version,because then your cheese sauce is gonnataste like lemon-lime,potentially, which we don't want.Unless you want that, then by all means.But let's stick with the original.So this recipe comes from Swetha Sivakumarover at Serious Eats.I'll put a link downbelow to the original.This recipe is absolutely genius,because it's all about science.I love food science.I love science in general, butfood science in particular,I really love becauseI really enjoy eating,and then I learn about sciencewhile I learn abouteating and making things.It's such a great way to learn.So what's going on here andwhy are we using Aqua-Seltzerto create a gooey cheese sauce?Well, first of all, if you tryto make a gooey cheese saucewith just regular old cheeseand combine it with milkor water and heat it up,you'll find that itturns into a clumpy mess.Why is that?Well, if you saw my two-ingredientmozzarella cheese video,I'll put a link down below to that,you'll know that cheese isthe protein from the milk,and we've extracted it from the milkby using some sort of coagulant,either rennet or somesort of acid like vinegar,pulling out all thoseproteins into a solid,leaving behind the whey or the water,and that solid part is the cheese.So we have a mass of protein.So if we heat it up theproteins tighten even more,and it's really difficult toget it to melt into the water,because it's a solid mass of protein.It also has fat, and fatand water do not mix.So you get lumps.You get liquid and youget lumps of cheese.So how do they make cheese saucesif you're making mac and cheese?Well, you'll need some kind of emulsifier.Oftentimes it's butter and flourmixed together to make a roux,and that kind of easesthings and makes a sauce.So another way to get the cheese to flowand mix with liquids,whether it be milk or water,is to use sodium citrate.That's what they use in the food industry.In fact, that's what they useto make American-style cheese.American processed cheesefood contains sodium citrate.So if you look at the sliceof Velveeta cheese slices,right here, this isprocessed American cheese.You'll see in the ingredientsright here, sodium citrate.So from my understanding,the sodium in the sodium citrate'sreally attracted to thecalcium in the cheese,and it allows the cheese to be broken upso that water can enter itand becomes really fluid.General...Chemistry people don't come after me,but that's my generalunderstanding of it. (laughing)And anyway, what happens when we addAlka-Seltzer to the water,the baking soda and the sodiumcitrate form H2O, water,carbon dioxide, gas fizzy, fizzy gas,and sodium citrate,the ingredient that'sused in the food industryto create melty, ooey, gooey cheese.Genius.So, in summary, this plusa little bit of water,plus a little bit of butter to make thingsa little bit richer,shredded cheese will yieldthe most beautiful ooey, gooey, luscious,homemade cheesy wizzy sauceat home in less than five minutes.Sounds marvelous, right?That's why I'm here.We're gonna test it outand see if it's true.All righty, let's goahead and get started.Ooo, cheese, homemade CheeseWhiz, homemade Cheese Whiz.So, besides the whole food sciencey thing,what I really love aboutthe potential of this recipeis that you could useany cheese that you like.Cheese Whiz is delicious,don't get me wrong.Love it.But I really like sharp cheddar cheese,really flavorful cheese.So I could use extra sharp cheese.I could use a milderjack cheese if I wanted,or Gouda, or orange sharp cheese,which I have here, to gofor that Cheese Whiz look.So, in a bowl,we're gonna combine two Alka-Seltzer tabs,which I believe is one of these packets.Boom.So here we got two of 'em.That's kinda old school.Like that.Don't smell like anything.Okay.That combined with a quarter cup of water.Ooh, fizzers, look at that.(Alka-Seltzer fizzing)So it's releasing CO2, water,and creating sodium citrate.Now, we're gonna let thisfizz for about one minuteuntil the Alka-Seltzeris completely dissolved.So, while our Alka-Seltzer'sdoing its thing,we're gonna shred some cheese.I'm using sharp cheddar,and I am opting to go with this route,which is thehand-shredded route.I don't know why it took me so longto figure out what I was trying to say.So it goes.So this is, I think,gonna be about a half a block of cheese.We want a cup and a half.Oh, I love cheese.That looks about right.Yeah, it looks like a quarter block.Mm, mm, mm, I can't resist.Every time I shred cheese, I'm like yum.So good.All right.Our reaction looks to be pretty much done.I've never tasted Alka-Seltzer before.What's it taste like?Naaa.Salty.Now we're gonna use some butter.Two tablespoons.And this happens to be unsalted butter,because there's plentyof salt in the cheeseand in the salt, the sodium citrate.So, butter in there.And now we're gonna microwavethis for 30 seconds,just to get the butter incorporated.30 seconds, go.So, after about a minute of microwaving,the butter is melted inour Alka-Seltzer solution,which contains sodium citrate and water.Now we're gonna add a cup anda half of shredded cheese.Cup.Generous cup.And, oh yeah, this is gonna be perfect.And a half.Yeah, that's it.It's about a quarter block of cheese.And that was a one-pound block.Okay.Stir that in.And then we're gonna microwave this againat 30-second intervals untileverything is melted and gooey.And it already is beginning to emulsify.Look.But, that's not whatwe're looking for, is it?All right, into the microwave.(microwave beeping)Whoa, look at this.It poofed up, like big time.So just took it outta the microwave,and now we're gonna whisk.Okay, yep.Do you see that?That's it.Beautiful and lusciousand hot and totally melted.Okay, right now it's hot.So we're gonna let it cool a bit.And it's a little foamy.We're gonna let it chill out.Oh my gosh, look at that.Yo.Look how beautiful and creamy that is.Totally emulsified, right?No chunkage.So smooth and gorgeous.Ah.Perfectly ooey gooey.Wow.Beautiful.So apparently this willthicken as it cools, too.Make sure you give itthe full amount of heatso it gets totally melted.We don't want any lumpsin this whatsoever.And so I gave mine a totalof probably about 50 seconds,and it is gorgeous.So smooth.I'm gonna let this cool a little bit,and then we're gonna pourit on some tortilla chips.Actually, we don't need it to cool.Think it's totally pourable right now.So, pile some chips onto a plateor we could dip, just dip, too.But, oh man, I should havesome pickled jalapenos.Those are the best.All right, I'm gonna try this one handed.see if I can do it.(cat meowing)Oooo-eeey.Oh my, look at that.That looks delicious.So shiny and glossy. (gasping)Gorgeous.All right, my lovelies.It's finally time to taste this.Look at that.Look how amazing that looks.This one right here?Are you a lot of cheese personor a little cheese person?Okay, let's go for that.Alrighty, my lovelies,Alka-Seltzer and cheese.(laughing) Itadakimasu!(Emmy crunching)Mmm.(Emmy crunching)(cat meowing)(Emmy crunching)Delicious, mm-hm.Creamy, rich, salty.Definitely salty.Use unsalted butter if you have it.Mm-hm.Fantastic.Rich.Melted to perfection.Has a really great cheesy flavor,meaning it has that nicesharpness that I loveabout cheddar cheese.Sharp cheddar cheese.It's a little bit morepotent, a little nuttier.If you don't like sharp cheddar cheese,you can use mild cheeseor you can use extra sharp cheese,extra sharp white cheddar if you like.So good.And for the fraction of the cost.Entire block of cheese was about $5.I used a quarter of that.So $1.25.Alka-Seltzer was $5, and there'senough to make 12 batches.So a good way to save some moneyand make an excellent cheese sauce.Just really need somesliced pickled jalapenos,then it would be just sublime.Mm.Alrighty, my lovelies, there you have it.That's how you can make yourown ooey gooey cheesy saucein less than five minutesusing a very unconventional ingredient.Thanks so much for watching.I hope you enjoyed that one.I hope you learn something.Please share this video with your friends.Follow me on social media,like this video, subscribe,and I shall see you in the next one.Toodaloo!Take care!Byeee!!!(bright music)When I first heard about this, I'm like,is that the stuff theyuse to clean dentures?They don't use it toclean dentures, right?No, upset stomach relief,uh-huh. (laughing)I'm thinking of Pepsodent?\n"