How to make gravy- (skillet or pan gravy)

[Thor]

OK, it's really easy. It all depends on what you intend on what you're using the gravy for, but let's say that we're going to make sausage gravy for biscuits.

Fry up sausage. Get a sausage that has some fat to it because that's what we're looking for. (Jimmy Dean doesn't work very well for this) Crumble it as it cooks.

Remove sausage from skillet and set aside.  Put heat about med-med high. Put in 2-3 TBsp of flour. (This all depends on how much fat one has left over)  Stir the flour into the fat and let it cook down for a bit, 3-5 mins. Make sure that all lumps are gone. It should have the consistency of glue. Stir quite a bit, but not necessarily constantly. (This is called a "roux". It can also be made with butter or any other fat) Add in salt and pepper at this time, about a teaspoon of each, unless you're using bacon fat.

Add in milk, slowly, typically about a cup. Let it cook for a while, again, stirring and watching for thickness. (5-10 mins, maybe more ) Add sausage back in once it gets to desired consistency. Pour or ladle over biscuits.

I also do similar with chicken gravy. However, I separate the chicken juice from the fat ( a gravy separator is essential for this unless you want to wait overnight. If you want to wait, put all the juices in a container and refrigerate. Separate fat from juice when congealed. ) I make the roux with the chicken fat & flour. Once the roux is ready, I pour in the reserved chicken stock and maybe add in some milk if the gravy is still too thick at this point. Depending on how you season your chicken, you may want to taste the gravy before you add any salt or pepper. The key is that you want the gravy to be a little on the "thin" side, initially, until it cooks down and  obtains the right consistency.

The cheating way is to make a roux, add in milk or water and chicken or beef base. Add in pepper. Chicken and beef base already have a lot of salt, so be sure to taste before adding in any additional salt.

A note: I cook by taste, texture, look and feel, so I don't really measure anything.

You'll have a few mistakes until you get it right. You may or may not get it right the first time, but that all depends on your cooking skills.

[IassaFTots]

I would say that is a pretty good lesson Thor.  I learned how to make white sauce, and then cheese sauce from my Grandmother, so I could get my Girl Scout Cooking badge.     Somehow we skipped right over gravy making.   I saw my Mom and Grandmother do it often enough, I figured I could too.  I ended up with sauce, every time.  It took me a good long time to get it right. 

[Wineslob]

Know it well. Mine comes out like garbage, every-single-time. 

[Eupher]

When I'm making sausage gravy, I don't bother removing the sausage after it's browned off. Just throw in the flour, stir in, cook with the sausage a few minutes, then add milk a little at a time. Slowly heat up, watch it thicken, season to taste.

For other sauces, it really depends how much fat is left in the pan/roasting vessel. If there's not a lot of fat, I'll deglaze on the stovetop with wine or sometimes brandy (brandy gets ignited for a pyro-show). Cream is the great equalizer - it adds texture and consistency to sauces of all types.

A homemade stock is the way to go if you want real, honest-to-God flavor. I'm talking about the type of stock that has you begin roasting bones in the oven at 450 deg. F., then incorporating a mirepoix (complete with onion peels, celery heads, carrot peels, whatever. But not many of us have the time for that.

[Thor]

When I'm making sausage gravy, I don't bother removing the sausage after it's browned off. Just throw in the flour, stir in, cook with the sausage a few minutes, then add milk a little at a time. Slowly heat up, watch it thicken, season to taste.

For other sauces, it really depends how much fat is left in the pan/roasting vessel. If there's not a lot of fat, I'll deglaze on the stovetop with wine or sometimes brandy (brandy gets ignited for a pyro-show). Cream is the great equalizer - it adds texture and consistency to sauces of all types.

A homemade stock is the way to go if you want real, honest-to-God flavor. I'm talking about the type of stock that has you begin roasting bones in the oven at 450 deg. F., then incorporating a mirepoix (complete with onion peels, celery heads, carrot peels, whatever. But not many of us have the time for that.

I KNEW that you'd eventually show up on this thread.....  I've done it with the sausage or beef (for SOS) still in the pan, but that's a little trickier. it's far easier for me to remove the meat and judge the viscosity of the roux, itself.  I was trying to use the KISS method.

And yeah....... home made stock would be the ideal, but, like you said, how many of us have time for all that??

[Thor]

Know it well. Mine comes out like garbage, every-single-time.  

Practice makes perfect. Eventually, you'll get it right. You must be missing something for it not to come out well. Define, "garbage".....

BTW, I forgot to mention that I ONLY use whole milk. Lowfat or non-fat just doesn't cut it.

[soleil]

Practice makes perfect. Eventually, you'll get it right. You must be missing something for it not to come out well. Define, "garbage".....

BTW, I forgot to mention that I ONLY use whole milk. Lowfat or non-fat just doesn't cut it.

You're right. You need the thickness of the whole milk! It was tricky for me at first. I burned it a lot. Even now, my husband makes better gravy than I do. I prefer to use the fat off of bacon, but it is 6 in one hand, half a dozen in the other. And for those who store their bacon fat, you can use that instead of cooking bacon, but if you store bacon fat, then you already know that!!

[Wineslob]

Practice makes perfect. Eventually, you'll get it right. You must be missing something for it not to come out well. Define, "garbage".....

BTW, I forgot to mention that I ONLY use whole milk. Lowfat or non-fat just doesn't cut it.

Tastes like the flour it's made from (). The color is off and I can't get the consistancy right. I dislike wasting food when I can just grab the mi.......
No whole milk, it's not allowed in the house. I don't drink milk and the wife and kid hate whole milk. Plus the both of them HATE country gravy. They discribe it as "gross". So I'd be making it for just me.

[Eupher]

I KNEW that you'd eventually show up on this thread.....  I've done it with the sausage or beef (for SOS) still in the pan, but that's a little trickier. it's far easier for me to remove the meat and judge the viscosity of the roux, itself.  I was trying to use the KISS method.

And yeah....... home made stock would be the ideal, but, like you said, how many of us have time for all that??

Well, I do it by the way it looks. I think you said the same thing. The hard part is waiting for the gravy to come up to a gentle simmer after every addition of milk. Sometimes that's a PITA, but it's something that's gotten to be pretty accurate.

[debk]

When I'm making sausage gravy, I don't bother removing the sausage after it's browned off. Just throw in the flour, stir in, cook with the sausage a few minutes, then add milk a little at a time. Slowly heat up, watch it thicken, season to taste.

I do it the same way as you do. Except I sift the flour over the browned sausage...and I use Jimmy Dean turkey sausage (  Thor )

And I use 2% milk, because that's what's usually in the refrigerator.

Well, I do it by the way it looks. I think you said the same thing. The hard part is waiting for the gravy to come up to a gentle simmer after every addition of milk. Sometimes that's a PITA, but it's something that's gotten to be pretty accurate.

Tastes like the flour it's made from (). The color is off and I can't get the consistancy right. I dislike wasting food when I can just grab the mi.......
No whole milk, it's not allowed in the house. I don't drink milk and the wife and kid hate whole milk. Plus the both of them HATE country gravy. They discribe it as "gross". So I'd be making it for just me.

If your gravy is tasting like flour, then you haven't cooked it long enough. Turn the heat way down and like Euph said you have to let it simmer and stirring and keep tasting. The flour taste will completely disappear AFTER it has cooked long enough.

Just make sure that your heat is down low enough that it doesn't burn and you stir it often enough so that it won't stick and then burn. I have a gas cooktop and it seems to burn more easily on it than it did when I used electric...it seems harder to get the flame down low enough.

[Wineslob]

Deb, I'll try the cooking longer.

BTW, is that you in your avatar?   

[debk]

Deb, I'll try the cooking longer.

BTW, is that you in your avatar?   

Yeah...it was taken at the fundraiser we went to last week.

RB sent it to me this morning, with a "you might want to change your FB picture"......subtle, huh? The one I had up was taken - oh, 3yrs ago, maybe more. 

[Thor]

... The one I had up was taken - oh, 3yrs ago, maybe more. 

maybe more?? uh huh......   

Deb, one can use whatever sausage they want. IMO, it seems that Jimmy Dean sausage is too lean and doesn't leave enough fat. (We DO buy that brand for consumption around here, though).

BTW, I DO like that pic best so far in the years I've known you.

[Wineslob]

Yeah...it was taken at the fundraiser we went to last week.

RB sent it to me this morning, with a "you might want to change your FB picture"......subtle, huh? The one I had up was taken - oh, 3yrs ago, maybe more. 

You're gorgeous.   

[soleil]

Yeah...it was taken at the fundraiser we went to last week.

RB sent it to me this morning, with a "you might want to change your FB picture"......subtle, huh? The one I had up was taken - oh, 3yrs ago, maybe more. 

you look like someone I either know or someone famous. Can't tell, but you look very familiar!! Pretty too!

[debk]

maybe more?? uh huh......   

Deb, one can use whatever sausage they want. IMO, it seems that Jimmy Dean sausage is too lean and doesn't leave enough fat. (We DO buy that brand for consumption around here, though).

BTW, I DO like that pic best so far in the years I've known you.

Thanks .... I don't take very good pictures, and I wasn't thrilled with this one either but it was the best of the 4 that RB emailed me( I thought). She chopped my head off of my body in the pics that were taken. Told her she could have at least zapped out the wrinkles too.

You're gorgeous.   

Thanks....

you look like someone I either know or someone famous. Can't tell, but you look very familiar!! Pretty too!

Reba McIntire with short hair? When I was young, a short Twiggy.  But thanks!!