The Gravy Thread

[The Ocho]

a good gravy is the foundation of a good thanksgiving. i love gravy more than jessica alba and all the puppies and reeses butter cups in the world put together.

last year, i [censored] up the gravy. not gonna happen again this year. please post any and all recipes and gravy-related tips so that all can have a good holiday.

[M2d]

how did you f up the gravy last year?

[Shenlong]

heated it for too long?

[cbloom]

I'll give an actual tip :

add flour to the pan initially as a thickener, but if you need more thickening later do NOT ever add more flour at a later time. You can either just cook more to thicken, or add some cornstarch. Dissolve the corn starch in a bit of water before adding.

[The Ocho]

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how did you f up the gravy last year?

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i made a mixture of cold water and flour (is this a rue?) and whisked it into boiling turkey drippings. i guess i added way too much because when the gravy cooled it was so thick it was approaching pudding consistency. i didnt add any spices other than salt and pepper because i didnt know what else would work.

[LuckOfTheDraw]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
how did you f up the gravy last year?

[/ QUOTE ]

i made a mixture of cold water and flour (is this a rue?) and whisked it into boiling turkey drippings. i guess i added way too much because when the gravy cooled it was so thick it was approaching pudding consistency. i didnt add any spices other than salt and pepper because i didnt know what else would work.

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No, a roux is flour and fat. It's also much easier to work with than a flour and water mixture. An easy foundation for a gravy is to take your turkey juice (fat and drippings) after you cook the turkey and then add flour to that.

[anisotropy]

A roux is a fat (usually butter or drippings from whatever animal you have just cooked) and flour that are mixed/heated together. What you made (or tried to) is a slurry and is usually done with corn starch, not flour.

At any rate, sounds like you used too much flour and made it too thick. At that point, add water (or maybe chicken stock) to thin it out.

EDIT: beaten by 1 minute. Oh well [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[JPinAZ]

To make a roux, use 1 tablespoon of flour & 1 tablespoon of fat per cup of liquid to be thickened. Cook the flour & fat over medium heat while whisking constantly until it smells a bit nutty & is a light beige color. Around 5 minutes. Also, a hot liquid should be added to a cold roux & vice versa. Keep whisking constantly while you add the liquid.