Great Gravy Secrets

November 22, 2012

Whisk up your smoothest and best-tasting gravy ever with these terrific tips!

Keep it lump-free by using a wire whisk when adding the flour to the drippings. Beat the drippings rapidly with the whisk while adding the flour and there won't be any lumps.
Measure accurately. Too little fat can make the gravy lumpy; too much fat can make the gravy greasy.
Be sure the mixture cooks at a full boil for 1 minute. This cooks the flour or cornstarch so the gravy doesn't have a starchy flavor.
If you don't have enough drippings, you can use water from cooking potatoes, wine or tomato juice.
If you have plenty of pan drippings and like lots of gravy or are serving a crowd, just double or triple the recipe.
For thinner gravy, decrease meat drippings and flour to 1 tablespoon each.

What if my gravy is:	Quick Fixes
Greasy	Place a slice of fresh bread on top of the fat for a few seconds to absorb it; remove bread before it breaks into pieces.
Lumpy	Pour into food processor and process until smooth, or press gravy through a strainer; return to saucepan and heat.
Too thin	Dissolve 1 tablespoon flour in 2 tablespoons water; stir into gravy with fork or wire whisk. Boil and stir 1 minute.
Too pale	Stir in browning sauce, soy sauce or Worcestershire sauce (start with 1 teaspoon).
Too salty	Add a raw peeled potato, cut into eighths; cook and stir 5 to 10 minutes, then remove potato pieces.

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Macie_TX said:	Posted: 11/19/2012 1:25 PM
I cook a darn good turkey but have almost always failed at gravy. I'm going to give a whirl again this year. But that didn't stop my husband from asking "We do have packets just in case, right?" Smarty pants! But hopefully this is the year! :)

Notagirlygirl said:	Posted: 11/19/2012 12:14 AM
Great tips. I make a good tasting gravy but always too thin. Not next time....

SBard7 said:	Posted: 11/16/2012 12:43 PM
ewood, there are many ways to make gravy. This is the way my family has done it for generations. To extend the amount of gravy if drippings aren't enough, create a stock with the neck and giblets of the turkey. Add three cups of water, the turkey parts, 1tsp of salt, a broken carrot and one large cut up stalk of celery. Bring to a boil then reduce and simmer for about 30 minutes. Pour the stock through a sieve into a pan or let it cool and pour into a storage container. (This can be done ahead and frozen until you need it.) To make the gravy, add the stock to the drippings in a pot or the original pan if deep enough. Bring that to a boil. In the meantime, add 3 tablespoons of flour to about a cup of water into a bowl. Whisk until smooth and about the consistency of heavy cream. When the broth is boiling, pour the flour mixture into the drippings and stock. Whisk briskly and continue to cook for at least a minute to cook the flour. Test the gravy for salt. If you want more, chicken bouillon is a good way to add it. To darken the gravy, I use Kitchen Bouquet, but remember a little of that goes a long way. To ensure I get a lot of drippings, I roast my turkey in a oven bag. Using an oven bag speeds up the time the bird needs to roast, too. Good luck.

ewood said:	Posted: 11/16/2012 10:18 AM
tried making gravy with a roux and it turned out kinda pasty, did I add to much flour ? ? My sister was upset because it didn,t taste like my moms (died 4 years ago). Had no dripping from the turkey. Should I just use the package mixes ? ? Linda