My recipe for home made sodium citrate:
Here's my method for sodium citrate. You can also buy it online, but
I had the ingredients at home to make it, so I did. Besides, it's
fun to make :-)
Sodium citrate for creamy, unbreakable quesos and mac & cheese.
Works with most any cheese or combinations of cheeses.
Yield: 75-80 grams
64 grams of baking soda ($.59/lb)
53 grams of citric acid ($4/lb in the bulk spice section)
235 ml (8oz) water
Dissolve powders in water in a tall bowl. The solution will bubble
furiously and diminish in about an hour. Stir to make sure the
solution has finished reacting - the liquid should be clear when
complete.
Evaporate most of the water in a wide pan on the stove. Turn off
stove when the solution reaches a paste consistency and let air dry
the rest of the way in the pan, breaking it up with a spatula every
so often. Run through spice grinder or mortar and pestle when
completely dry. Store in an airtight container at room temp.
Use about 12 grams of sodium citrate for each pound of cheese you'd
like to gooify with either water, beer, milk, half & half, cream, or
butter. Start with about 75% as much liquid as you did cheese for
cheese sauces - adjust up to preferred consistency. Use 15% cream to
make a velveeta like product you can mold and slice for hamburgers
and such.
-sw