Gotta love the practicality. (Hilarious, genius solution by busy grocery worker on Thanksgiving a.m.)Gfgd420 t1_ixyi8p7 wrote
Reply to comment by Rudy69 in Gotta love the practicality. (Hilarious, genius solution by busy grocery worker on Thanksgiving a.m.) by SoColdSoFair
Like, you're cooking the bird and have all the drippings right there. It takes no time at all to turn that into gravy. Why use canned gravy? Shit is nasty.
FeedMeTaffy t1_ixypyd7 wrote
I can make a lot of things, but I can't make gravy.
What step of the alchemy from drippings -> gravy am I missing?
Gfgd420 t1_ixyr8cf wrote
Take like 1/4 cup of the drippings, add equal amount of flour and cook on the stove top over mediumish heat. Whisk really really well while adding the flour. Stir often and cook it until it gets smooth and starts to bubble and darken. Add around 2 cups of broth/drippings, stir well, heat to a boil and cook for another minute or two. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Make sure to taste before seasoning, it might not need much salt. Don't be shy with the pepper.
drgolovacroxby t1_ixyuuux wrote
To piggyback on this, anyone who cooks regularly should know how to make a roux. It's the base of most thick sauces. It's basically equal parts fat and flour, and you can use it in a lot of ways.
FrankHightower t1_ixyv736 wrote
oh that's what I'm missing! I always think it needs water
davesoverhere t1_ixyz5lq wrote
Make sure you start things out cold. If you’re doing this last minute, mix the flour and cold water together into a paste first. Otherwise, you’ll have big lumps of flour.
Daddict t1_ixz1iyo wrote
You shouldn't need water...
You make a roux with the drippings and flour, no water at all. The best way to make an amazing gravy is to flavor the drippings. Cut up a bunch of onions, parsnips, carrots, celery and done garlic, all of that goes in the roasting pan under the turkey. Then put a cup or so of broth in there, that will keep the drippings from burning off.
At the end, just filter out the cooked veggies (they're going to be overcooked and useless, I just toss them) and let the liquid drippings sit for 15-30 minutes, fat will rise and you can skim it off. Measure it out and mix it up in a sauce pan with equal amounts flour over medium heat. Stir and cook for 5-10 minutes, then mix it into the remaining drippings and another couple of cups of broth(I measure with my heart here). Heat it up to around 170-180 and it should thicken, add more broth if it's too thick.
Season with a little salt and a lotta pepper.
No water needed at any point.
davesoverhere t1_ixz32ix wrote
My point was that if you are rushing and dump the flour into the hot drippings, it will clump. Rookies may not know this. To avoid the clumps, either make a slurry by mixing the flour and cold water, or sprinkle the flour while whisking.
Of course with your version the drippings have cooled so they won’t have the problem.
Daddict t1_ixz3g1l wrote
But you can absolutely use flour in hot drippings. Hot water, no... but hot fat? Definitely. In fact that's exactly how you should do it.
davesoverhere t1_ixz50d6 wrote
Yes, but the grandparent post asked how to make a gravy. I was just providing tip on how to avoid some common mistakes. I was assuming the initial poster in this thread could make pbj and heat some Campbells, not the discuss subtitles of rouxs and whether to wet or dry brine the turkey.
vertigo72 t1_ixz37hn wrote
This works for a cornstarch and water slurry, which is a good thickening agent for sauces, soups, stews, etc. But it is not a roux and that's not how one is made.
GreggAlan t1_iy2wn4o wrote
Ugh. I *hate* highly peppered gravy. Whenever I order a chicken fried steak (which is a rare thing) I always have to specify no gravy or gravy on the side, and half the time the plate still comes drowned in "country gravy" that can vary from a good light gravy to apparently having an entire pepper shaker poured into it. Then there's the breading. Is it lightly seasoned or did they knock the whole pepper shaker into it?
Chicken fried steak without it swimming in a quart of gravy poured onto the steak, mashed potatoes, and rapidly tsunami-ing toward the vegetables is a concept some restaurants seem to have trouble with.
Remember that old saturday morning cartoon PSA "Don't Drown Your Food"? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIyPm0Z06KE
Gfgd420 t1_iy2xn3j wrote
It's all a matter of taste. I think most home cooks and some restaurants use too little pepper but I can understand where you're coming from if you don't love pepper. Where you from if you don't mind me asking?
GreggAlan t1_iy35emf wrote
Idaho, bred and born here.
Whomever thought up the order of born and bred? That's... entirely the wrong order of operations.
ShAnkZALLMighty t1_ixyqobe wrote
I totally get where you're coming from & fuck the haters for saying it's easy.
If you add too much unicorn blood it's too thick. Too many orphan tears and it's too watery. Not enough of either and you're just working with a broth...
Personally I just get my aunt to make the gravy as she sold her soul for the recipe back in '98.
y0shman t1_ixywnut wrote
Cheat way: two jars of gravy with four or five ladles of drippings.
My drippings had a lot of butter in them (3 sticks). Butter injected bird, butter between the breast and skin, and butter on the skin.
My SO's aunt, who I haven't met before, asked me for my recipe for it.
narky1 t1_ixz4ty2 wrote
Fuck these "its super easy just make a roux on the stove" suggestions.
Just start with a powdered gravy and add the drippings. Super easy, insanely quick, and it tastes delicious.
nursejackieoface t1_iy128d8 wrote
If you have trouble with lumpy gravy try using granulated flour. It's a nearly fool-proof flour because instead of perfect dust its tiny grains of wheat flour. If you rub it between your finger and thumb it feels like grains of salt. It comes in a cardboard canister like powdered creamer and sugar for coffee.
If your gravy is too greasy try to skim the grease off the drippings so you can use the meat juices without so much grease, then cook the greasy juices till they start to brown up in the pan before adding the flour.
If you need gluten-free gravy use instant gravy mix or cornstarch, but use meat drippings and broth instead of water to give a better flavor.
GreggAlan t1_iy2w4f3 wrote
Get Wondra flour for making sauces. It's an extra finely milled flour. Some corn starch will also help.
rigobueno t1_ixyxteo wrote
Is gravy where you draw the line on canned goods? What about pumpkin or green beans or corn or cranberry sauce? Those OK from a can?
Daddict t1_ixz2gon wrote
Some canned goods are nearly indistinguishable from fresh. Pumpkin is definitely in that class. Green beans are not. Corn is. Cranberry sauce... well, that depends on what you want. I like a fancy fresh cranberry sauce made with walnuts and apple. I know lots of people who like the gelatin that comes in a can. I consider them two different foods entirely though. I know plenty of people who serve both at their dinners.
Gravy is such a critically important part is holiday dinner though, screwing it up can ruin the whole meal.
If you don't know how to make it, definitely learn, but do so well before the day of the dinner. You also have to appreciate how the flavors you add to the turkey affect the drippings and subsequently the gravy. Wrapping a bird in bacon might give it a richer flavor but it makes for awful gravy from the drippings.
There's a lot that can go wrong if you don't know what you're doing, though. So if that's the case, canned gravy can work. It won't be amazing, it won't win any awards, but if the rest of the food is en pointe, it'll perform well.
Still... if you're gonna claim to know how to cook a turkey and not know shit about gravy, then I think you should probably let someone else handle the whole thing.
GreggAlan t1_iy2w25s wrote
Different vegetables are better canned or frozen.
Green peas, frozen. When canned they turn an odd color, the skins slide off, they're mushy and taste bleah. Frozen they stay bright and when heated just right they retain a bit of crispness.
Green beans, canned. Frozen they do the same taste thing as canned peas and they turn rubbery.
Carrots, canned. When frozen they do the rubber thing like green beans.
Cauliflower and Broccoli, frozen. When canned they're always overcooked, mushy, and taste terrible.
Most restaurants I've eaten at will either use an all frozen mix where the beans and carrots are lousy, or if making their own mix they go for the canned peas and frozen green beans and frozen carrots.
I'd like to see a company do a split vegetable medley with the ones that do best frozen and the ones that do best canned put together. Print on the labels Best Frozen and Best Canned, with a note to look for the other half in the Canned Vegetables or Frozen Foods.
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