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their "solitary" should be together, and in a special section of the kitchen so that they are constantly having to do the cook off until they realise they suck

They cooked the noodles before they baked. Those noodles might have been al dente when they went into the oven. 45 minutes later, and they have the consistency of play dough.

likely cause by mac overcooked to hell and back and cheese is nothing but cheese that has all of it's moisture absorbed by the mac

You can also just melt nearly any cheese into a roux to make a mornay sauce if you are careful about it, which is the secret to both mac and cheese and queso sauce. Sodium citrate helps to keep it from breaking but is not strictly necessary in most cases.

Edit - yes, cheese and milk

You've saved my life 😋

Prison.

This is perfect, you can easily scoop up just bacon and peas to eat and skip the rest

1 - you don't have to worry about leaving a dish

2 - you don't have to clean it after a get together that is probably exhausting

3 - aluminum is one of the materials that is actually very recyclable, so it's not a big deal like plastic is.

Because you're going to a potluck and don't want to worry about getting your dish back?

As a non-American, how much pasta goes with all that cheese? And how many serves do you get out of it?

This is, of course, the proper way of doing things.

My practical version for everyday cooking/trying not to consume large amounts of cream looks like -

Bring a couple cups of milk (usually have 2% in the house) to a near simmer, then whisk in another cup of milk with a few fat spoonfuls of flour mixed into it (as a slurry.) Let it barely come to a boil for a few minutes, thickening the milk mixture, scraping the bottom and sides slowly the whole time. Once it coats the back of the spoon well turn the heat way down and add salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder to taste. Turn the heat off and add an obscene amount of shredded cheese (usually whatever partially used bags and random slices that need to be used from the fridge.) Once melted, double check seasoning and add to fully cooked pasta for a stovetop version. For baked Mac and cheese, undercook the pasta a bit and save some shredded cheese for the top.

Boiling the mix after the cheese has been added increases the risk of the cheese splitting and getting oily. Adding a slice of American cheese provides enough sodium citrate to create the same smooth, saucy texture. Shredding your own cheese may also be best practice, but I've never had an issue with pre shredded cheese.

Sodium citrate. It's not plastic, it just makes cheese look like plastic.

The cheese part is debatable.