How do you make gravy?

[Cam-Mac]

Gravy is God's gift to men. Right behind the woman and bow. So how do you make it?

My life will be incomplete without the recipe!

Thanks in advance-

[Tubby]

get ready for a few pages of responses...

first question is: brown or white?

[Captrix]

lots of sausage grease, milk and flour, keep stiring...Mmmm gravy

[Cam-Mac]

get ready for a few pages of responses...

first question is: brown or white?

White! (But I'm NOT prejudice, I just like white gravy)

[Tubby]

bacon or sausage drippings, flour, stir, stir, stir, mix in a large glass of a mixture of milk and water, stir, stir, salt, stir, pepper, stir, more pepper... I don't measure anything, I just eyeball it....

goes great w/ catheads!

[justintyme8303]

ok white but for chicken or red meats?

[justintyme8303]

bacon or sausage drippings, flour, stir, stir, stir, mix in a large glass of a mixture of milk and water, stir, stir, salt, stir, pepper, stir, more pepper... I don't measure anything, I just eyeball it....

goes great w/ catheads!

X2

and I have seen people add chicken broth instead of water if they are pourin it over chicken or turkey.

[Bowtechlady]

Drippings from chicken fried steaks, fried chicken, southern fried steak, etc.
drain off excess grease but leave a little
add a little flour and start stirring
add a little more flour and keep stirring
little by little add some water and keep stirring
continue adding a little water at a time and keep stirring
add salt and pepper to taste
MMMM MMMM Good!

[txfireguy2003]

Here's my momma's recipe, which she got from my aunt, who got it from grandma....well, you get the drift.
You will need:

1/4 cup oil (vegetable oil, fat drippings from meat, don't matter, just oil of some kind, but fat drippings taste the best)

1/4 cup flour

2 cups liquid (we use 1/2 milk and 1/2 water usually, but for a creamier gravy, use all milk, whole milk is best IMO, but I normally use 2%, you can also use heavy cream)

salt, pepper, garlic powder

Heat the oil (if not already hot) in a large skillet, then add the flour, stir until all flour is disolved or forms a runny paste, no dry flour, and no loose grease floating around. Let this mixture continue to brown for a few seconds while stiring constantly until you smell a "nutty" aroma, then add the liquid and stir like you life depended on it. Bring it back to a simmer/low boil, and remove from heat. Season to taste.

For thinner gravy, use SLIGHTLY less flour, or don't boil so long. For thicker gravy, you can use SLIGHTLY more flour, more liquid, or boil for a little longer. The longer it boils, the more water evaporates and the thicker it gets.

[Tubby]

of course this goes without saying...

it's gotta be made in a cast iron skillet w/ a wooden spoon!

[Deb]

It takes practice to make good gravy. Don't be discouraged if your first couple of trys go in the trash. The most common mistake is adding to much flour.

[Tmag]

of course this goes without saying...

it's gotta be made in a cast iron skillet w/ a wooden spoon!

Wife taught me this way a few years back and it sure made for some great breakfasts at the lease when she wasn't there to do it for us.

[CaptainDave]

It takes practice to make good gravy. Don't be discouraged if your first couple of trys go in the trash. The most common mistake is adding to much flour.

X2

More than anything, it's just practice.

Like others have said, just use the grease from whatever meat was fried or even pan grilled. Pork grease has better flavor than chicken, which is a little more bland. The key is not to use too much grease (about enough to coat bottom of pan is about right) and get the right amount of flour, which for a standard size frying pan is only a few table spoons. The tricky part is browning the flour mixture just right and adding the milk at the right temp. For the milk, standard 2% works just fine. The other tricky part is not letting the pan get too hot, but hot enough to thinken the gravey and being able to pull it off just at the right time. Too long and its too think, too short and its still liquid.

It just takes a little practice and like Tubby said, it's really more of eyeballing the right amounts and cooking time. Just give a few trys and it will get better from nothing more than trial and error.

[Cam-Mac]

Success (kindof)! Fried up some hamburger patties and used the extra grease from those. Put the patties on a piece of toast w/ some cheese, and poured on the gravy train.

It was a little bit bland, but at least I got the system down. I can mess w/ adding seasonings later. Or tommorow. And every day after that!! I love me some gravy!

Thanks to everybody for the advice- appreciate it I'll keep practicing.

[mhundt]

Deb is right, making gravy takes a try or two to perfect.
I never use plain vegetable oil, unless it was used to fry chicken or chicken fried steak. For white gravy (say for biscuits), I use bacon or sausage drippings left over from frying those- or butter if for some weird reason you aren't having a breakfast meat with your biscuits. Your ratio of flour to grease drippings should be approximately the same, though I would err on the side of a tad bit more grease than flour. It should look like loose wet sand in the skillet.

Be sure your grease is hot when you add the flour.

Be sure you COOK the flour in the grease before adding the milk - don't burn it, keep it stirring (it won't take long - this step is the one most newbies have the most "guessing" trouble with) until the flour takes on a slight tan tinge.

Add the milk, and probably more than you think you need - keep the heat pretty high...a little past the middle flame (I only use gas) . I don't know how much milk to tell you, frankly...this is another step that just comes with experience. It will look pretty liquid at this point.

Keep stirring with a slotted spoon, being sure to scrape up the bottom into the mix. Cook until you reach the desired consistency.

Season with salt and lots of pepper and garlic powder if you want (I only use S& P for biscuit gravy myself).

For chicken fried steak gravy, do add garlic (S&P, of course) and maybe a little onion powder and about a half and half mix of milk (yes, whole milk is best) and chicken or beef broth. Be fairly sparing with the salt at first..and taste all along the process. You can always add salt later, but you can't take it out. I'm not sure you CAN add too much pepper, though

Good luck!