Perfect sauces

If you want to get rid of lumps in a béchamel sauce or custard, strain it through a very fine sieve while it is still hot. Use the back of a spoon to ‘squash’ the sauce through the sieve. Alternatively, if you have a sauce that is too thick, you can thin it by adding a little hot milk to it while stirring. Avoid using cold milk as this may create new lumps.