Anyone have an EASY fool-proof turkey gravy?

[pengillian101]

Mine is always hit and miss at the last minute. I want to make it in advance and add a little turkey drippings at the end.

Thanks in advance.

(I found one back-up recipe using butter and flour - make a roux. Add chicken broth and there it is with a bit of drippings. I would add a few seasonings.)

Suggestions welcomed!

[shanti]

1. i don't think

you can make a good turkey gravy until the turkey is done. you need the fat to make the roux. it's kind of a juggling match in the last 30 minutes before everything is done, and the gravy is last. i make that at the same time i bake the rolls. my "secret" to making a good gravy is to pull the giblets out of the turkey the day before and simmer it with some seasonings and onion. i use this broth in the gravy. oh, and i use the extra fine flour to thicken it.

[grasswire]

2. here's one way

Buy some extra turkey wings, and roast them off the day before with celery, onion, salt, and some poultry seasoning or sage and thyme. Add some broth to the pan to deglaze all the brown drippings. Then use that to make gravy ahead of time. It may be too late for that this year, but try it some time.

[Mind_your_head]

3. Well, first it must be known how do you cook your turkey?

If you Roast it, there will be lots of drippings and you can just boil those drippings with a flour/water or milk mix.

If you fry your turkey, you've got to "do something else" to get a gravy ~ but I dunno what......

Explaining how you cook your bird would aid those of us who would like to post recommendations!

Happy Turkey Day! Happy Thanksgiving.

[Arkansas Granny]

4. I've always gotten good results this way. I cook the giblets in some

salted water with a stalk of celery, a carrot and some onion to make a stock. Otherwise you can use canned chicen broth. When the turkey is done and out of the pan I pour the juices into a saucepan and pour the hot stock or broth into the roasting pan to get all the little brown bits off the bottom and then add that to the saucepan. If there is a lot of fat floating on top, you will want to skim some off. Then taste and adjust the seasonings and bring to a simmer. Next, mix equal parts softened butter and all purpose flour together in a bowl to form a smooth paste. Add that a little at a time to the simmering broth, stirring constantly, until the gravy is thickened to your liking. If the gravy looks a little pale, I add a few drops of Kitchen Bouquet and stir it in to get a nice color. If you cooked the giblets you can cut them up real fine and add them to the gravy at this point. I like it that way, but some people don't.

[Stinky The Clown]

5. Here is a simple, generic poultry gravy

Heat 2 cups fully flavored** chicken stock

Melt 2T butter in a sauce pan

Add 2T flour to the butter.

Stir the two over low heat until cooked to a nutty smell and slightly golden color. It should look about like wet beach sand.

Slow add the heated chicken stock and stir in well. Start by adding it a T or 2 at a time. As the roux thins out, you can add it a bit more at a time. Keep adding until the gravy is juuuuuust slightly thinner than you want it. You may or may not have used all your chicken stock. This makes about a cup and a half of gravy.

Anyway ..... turn off the heat and let it sit until you're ready to eat. Then heat the gravy up and stir constantly. It will thicken a bit as it rewarms.

You might also wish to make the gravy extra thick to start, and then thin it with actual pan drippings from your bird.

Adjust the amount of gravy by adjusting your amount of roux. You get just under a a cup of gravy from 1T butter and 1T flour.

You could use melted chicken fat in place of the butter for a bigger flavor.




**Fully Flavored: Either flavored right out of the can or because you add your favorite seasonings to it. If you can find chicken consomme, that would be perfect.

[eyesroll]

6. Make a stock out of the turkey neck, and some onions, carrots, and celery.

I've actually used the carrot peels, celery leaves and onion discards from the stuffing. Rosemary and/or sage would be a good addition.

Let that simmer while the turkey cooks. (I have roasted mushrooms with the turkey to add to the gravy at the end, too.) You can add a splash of wine if you want, too.

You can make a roux out of butter and flour, also while the turkey cooks.

At the end:
Strain the stock and add it to the roux, and add some defatted turkey drippings. Simmer to thicken. Add the roasted mushrooms if you want. Whisk out the lumps.

(It's probably too late to do this for this year, but for posterity...)

[Warpy]

7. Traditional pan gravy

is what can get tricky. If you use a roux, it's time consuming and you never know how much to make. If you don't, then you get lumps and raw tasting flour.

Two secrets are potato starch and rice flour. Both will thicken the drippings without lumping and both will give a nice gravy that tastes like the drippings, not the starch. Just add a little white wine or water to deglaze the pan and starch as needed to thicken.

Just use that whisk instead of a fork, m'kay?

[pengillian101]

8. Thanks all responders!

I took a little bit from everyone's suggestions, and I thank you all!

Gravy turned out pretty good! Poured the main gravy into the gravy boat. We ate, sat, talked, yadayada for at least an hour+. Nice Thanksgiving dinner all around.

Yikes - go to cleanup - all the leftover gravy still was on a hot burner!

Cooked to beyond eating. Good thing I have some leftover broth to start a new batch.

Thanks everyone for your helpful hints! Didn't I always say it was always hit and miss/touch and go with my gravy? lol.

[fadedrose]

9. Turkey, chicken, beef, whatever

Roast the meat and when it's done, remove it from the roaster (or large frying pan) and put it back in the oven to keep warm on a cooky sheet.

Then, remove most of the fat in the pan - leaving in about 2 tabs. fat for every cup of gravy you want to make. Keep the removed fat separate for those people to use who want their meat au jus.

Next, get the amount of water you want to make the cups of gravy you want. Pour it in the roaster and heat till boiling so that all the wonderful brown crumbs are loosened in the pan. You now have a pan or roaster with boiling meat flavored water.

Next, get 2 tabs. of flour, or 1 tab. of cornstarch - place in a bowl and add the same number of tablespoons of COLD water.

Blend the cold water with the cornstarch or flour in the bowl. When smooth, slowly add some of the hot water to the thickener in the bowl, mix till smooth and the mixture has become very warm. When it's warm mix with the hot water in the pan. You can add onion before or after - strain the gravy or not, and it's always smooth.

When you add the thickener to the roaster, always turn off heat while doing this till entire mixture is smooth, and turn on heat again.

[fadedrose]

10. Gravy

I like L. B. Jamison's Beef or Chicken flavored Soup Base.

They tell you on the jar how much to use, and you can modify it any way you want with turkey or beef parts or fat.

I've bought other soup bases that I ended up throwing away because they are so heavy on sugar for some reason.

Even with the Jamison's, go light, less is better than too much.