Making Gravy?

Question

Does anyone have a good recipe for making gravy that I can use with Beef Dishes ? Mine always turns out thin and lumpy without much flavor. Would also like a good Chicken and Pork Gravy. Thanks to all who answer...

Answer 1

Making gravy seems hard but it's not.
With any gravy, start with a few tablespoons of drippings (bacon grease or the beef drippings from a roast).
Stir in enough flour into the drippings to make a paste and brown it over medium heat, stirring constantly. As it starts to brown, add liquid (beef broth or beef bouillon cubes reconstituted) a little at a time. If you add to much at a time, it lumps up.
As you add a little liquid, and keep stirring, it will slowly start to get thinner. Let it get a little thinner than you want, then turn down the heat and let simmer about 15- 20 minutes. Stir often and add a bit more water or broth to keep it at the consistency you want.
I keep French's Au Jus mix on hand to add to my beef gravy to give it more flavor. It is delicious, especially over curly French Fries.
For incredible pork gravy, brown a lb of pork sausage in a heavy skillet, add about 1/3 c. flour to the sausage and keep stirring until the flour starts to brown. Add some milk mixed with water and keep stirring, heat about 15 minutes, to make the best sausage gravy ever.
Serve with hot biscuits and a good appetite!
For chicken gravy, especially fried chicken gravy, pour off all but about 2 T of the grease after you have cooked the chicken. Leave the little browned bits in the skillet. Add about 1/4 - 1/3 c. flour and stir it while it browns. Add 1/2 milk and 1/2 water to the browned flour, stirring to scrape up all the good browned bits on the bottom of the skillet. Once the bottom of the skillet feels smooth, turn the heat all the way down, cover and let simmer about 15- 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. For even more flavor, dissolve a chicken bouillon cube in the water before adding it with the milk.
Awesome with fried chicken and waffles or fried chicken and biscuits.

Answer 2

take any type of fat drippings. I use a cast iron skillet melt the drippings enough to cover the bottom of pan. Do not add flour to hot drippings this is causing lumpy gravy. Then add flour (about 1-2 tbs sry I never measure anything)to drippings mix with small whisk/fork making sure to mix well and getting all lumps out of roux. Then turn heat back on and cook the raw flour taste out of roux. Then slowly add canned milk or whole milk(I find these two types of milk are the best for gravy, heavy cream is even better but when money is low milk will do) Then stir mixing roux and milk well. Add salt and pepper still stirring with whisk. Cook well add milk if too thick or if too thin make a flour mix with extra grease and flour. (melt grease add flour mix well then add to gravy to thicken just a little at a time until thickened) This is how I make gravy. I do have to toot my own horn and say I make the best gravy in town. I am known for the best gravy around. I am always asked to make extra gravy when I go to any type of function. I hope this helps.

Answer 3

Start with butter or fat drippings from cooking the meat. Add flour and stir over low to medium heat until the flour is cooked a bit and starting to brown lightly. Next add your meat stock or juice from cooking, or both. A light tasting, white wine like a Chablis can be a good addition along with the stock. The alcohol will cook out but it adds a nice taste. Taste to check flavor and add herbs, garlic, salt and pepper to taste if needed. A pinch of sugar is usually a good idea if it is too salty or tastes flat.

Take the flour mixture off the heat before you add the liquid and let it cool a bit or you could be burned by splattering of the liquid and the grease. Stir constantly over a medium to medium low heat as the gravy thickens making sure that you are scraping the bottom of the pan constantly to avoid lumps.

Answer 4

Beef gravy:: either use a good fresh stock or beef base. I use minor bases and its found at BJ wholesalers. Follow amounts on back with the addition of a bay leaf and thyme leaves. When all dissolved, add a cornstarch roux to thicken it.

Pork and chicken the same way. If you cannot find pork base, just add some pork trimmings to the pan and simmer away.Remove the drippings before serving

Answer 5

You need to use the pan drippings, as that's part one of getting flavor.

add flour to the pan drippings, and cook over lowish heat, keep stirring it, and make sure you get all the flavorful bits off the bottom (use a whisk).

Let it cook until it's a really DARK brown (this is part 2 for where the flavor comes from).

Add water, and whisk, until it's just a little thinner than you want.

Add salt and pepper to taste and let it cook down to a nice, thick consistency.

That's how my mama makes it, and she makes the BEST gravy in the whole of the universe!

What I said works for any meat: beef, pork, chicken.

For turkey gravy Mom gets more elaborate. She cooks the neck and gizzards with carrots, onion, and celery, and possibly a bay leaf, and uses it to baste the bird.

She uses what's left of the liquid instead of water, cuts up the organs, actually, minces them, and adds them to the gravy.

She also adds a drop of Kitchen Bouquet to her gravies.

But the tricks are to use the rendered fat from roasting the meat (or frying it, or whatever), and to really cook your rue (the fat + flour) until it's dark, really dark, before adding the water.

Answer 6

To make good rich gravies you need the following for each cup of gravy:

2 Tablespoons all purpose flour
2 Tablespoons fat
1 cup liquid.

If you roasted your meat, use the fat and drippings from the pan. Otherwise, use butter for the fat and broth (beef, chicken, vegetable) or milk for the liquid.

To make it lump free, here is how to make it...

Melt the fat in a pan over medium heat. When it is hot, add the flour, stirring constantly and cook until the flour is slightly browned.

Add the liquid, still stirring constantly, and bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for two or three minutes.

Season with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste and serve immediately.

Bert

Answer 7

to make a mean beef gravy start with the juices from the beef and add enough flour to get a medium thick paste,then add stock or water a little at a time untill u get the thickness u like and to avoid lumps make sure the liquid is cold

Answer 8

I can`t make gravy to save my life so a co-worker told me to put my beef into a pot and add 1 pack of onion soup and a large can of mushroom soup and 1 can of water.
Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let
cook stirring frequently until meat starts to fall apart. (about 1-2 hrs.)
When I make a roast like this I make hot roast
beef sandwiches.
When I just make cuts of beef like this, I put it
over noodles or just on a plate with mashed potatoes and a veggie.

Answer 9

My mom makes great gravy too - but neither my sister or I can manage a good one. Try Heinz gravy in the jar, or Campbells gravies in the pop top can! (Perfect every time!)

Answer 10

my mom makes the best gravy in the world!
ok so bisto, flour and the beef drippings
mix it together in a pan with a packet of french onion soup mix, then strain it so the bits of 'onions' from the soup mix are drained, enjoy its AMAZINGGg