Let's Talk Gravy

Cafe Society
1

The Thanksgiving threads are in force but there isn’t one dedicated to the art that is gravy making. For my money, it’s not a Turkey Day dinner without copious amounts of delicious gravy. On the bird, on the stuffing and most importantly a little greasy hot tub of gravy sloshing about in the middle of a pile of mashed taters.

Me and the g/f are taking over the P’s kitchen on Turkey Day and making a full dinner. We ordered a locally sourced free-range bird to be picked up on Wednesday and brined overnight. There will be regular and garlic mashed taters and we’re going to probably be lazy and just stick with Stove Top stuffing. The catch is the gravy, all these things need delicious gravy and I need help on how to make it as good as it possible can be.

  1. Will brining a bird have an impact on the ability to make a pan gravy?
  2. We like to roast on a bed of vegetables as opposed to a rack, will this ruin a pan gravy?
  3. What about giblet gravy? This makes me a little leery as organ meat is a non-starter in my house but I gather this would solve potential problems caused in the 2 points above.
  4. Roux or Sluury?
  5. Seasonings other than just the fond?

Long story short, help me make copious amounts of awesome gravy for the big day. Recipes please. Tips and advice. Dire warnings and caveats.

2
  1. dunno - never brined a bird. But I can’t see how it would have much of an affect.
  2. no. Best way to do it actually. Use those veggies (with all the drippings they absorb) when making the gravy and then strain them off/discard.
  3. I throw in the giblets as well - whole. And strain them off like the veggies.
  4. Roux
  5. A little black pepper, a shot or two of L&P, and a shot (just a drop or two) of tobasco. Yes, tobasco.
3

I have made gravy from Brine, didn’t seem to be an issue.

My Turkey sits on a rack, but in the bottom of pan is chicken stock covering carrots, onions and celery. The drippings go into the broth so that I don’t worry about any burning in the pan.

After I pull the bird for resting, I defat the drippings with a grease separator. I use the fat to make my roux.

I then slowly add back the drippings to make the gravy, adjusting salt / pepper / sage as I go. Since we measure gravy by the cups/person - I also have a stock pot simmering on the stove top with the extra bird parts, and I take liquid from that if I don’t have enough from the drippings.

4
  1. Will brining a bird have an impact on the ability to make a pan gravy?
  2. We like to roast on a bed of vegetables as opposed to a rack, will this ruin a pan gravy?
  3. What about giblet gravy? This makes me a little leery as organ meat is a non-starter in my house but I gather this would solve potential problems caused in the 2 points above.
  4. Roux or Sluury?
  5. Seasonings other than just the fond?
  1. yes- more juicy = more drippings!
  2. No, it will improve it- add your stock directly to the pan after removing the bird for resting simmer all those wonderfully roatsed veggies with all their brown bits in the stock, strain 'em out (degrease the liquid) and make a roux with some of the fat in the pan, add back the stock, and voila! Gravy!
  3. The night before I take the heart and gizzard (do not use the liver, it will impart an off taste) and the neck, saute them to get them brown. The next day, when I put the turkey in the oven, I put the neck, heart and gizzard in sauce pan, maybe with some onion, carrot and celery, and some homemade chicen stock (but canned will do fine- but use turkey broth instead) and simmer it for a few hours, covered, adding water as needed. There is the stock I use in my gravy (and Dressing, for that matter)
  4. Answered in 2. above. Richer, smoother gravy, more flavor.
  5. I keep it simple- I want to taste the turkey, although lots of pepper (a little hot sauce- not enough to taste!) and a little thyme would be nice. Rosemary, as much as I love it, overwhelms the delicate flavor of turkey, IMHO.

Great; now I want turkey, taters, and gravy. :slight_smile:

5

If you’re concerned about the saltiness, make your gravy in advance.

Turkey Gravy in Advance

To avoid the last-minute panic on Thanksgiving, it’s an easy matter to make gravy in advance of the day. The added benefit is extra turkey meat, but you won’t have any giblets to add.

For the stock:
4 TBSP butter (perhaps more)
6 turkey legs or other dark meat parts (about 6 pounds)
salt and pepper
1 medium onion, peeled, stuck with 3 cloves
3 large carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks
3 stalks celery with leaves, trimmed, cut into chunks
2 bay leaves
12 black peppercorns
1 cup water

For gravy:
12 TBSP flour
salt and pepper

Heat oven to 375. Melt 4 TBSP butter. Sprinkle turkey parts with salt and pepper, place in roasting pan and brush with melted butter. Roast 2 hours, basing with butter every 20 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool a bit and remove most of the meat from the bones. Discard skin. RESERVE THE FAT/DRIPPINGS IN THE PAN.

Transfer bones to stockpot, set roasting pan aside. Add onion, carrots, celery, bay leaves and peppercorns to stockpot. Add cold water just to cover. Bring to simmer and cook, mostly covered, about 6 hours.

Place roasting pan on stove and bring juices to a simmer over low heat. Pour in water to deglaze the pan, stirring and scraping. Pour all liquid into a bowl and refrigerate. When liquid is cool, lift of top layer of fat and reserve. Add deglazing liquid to stockpot.

Gravy:
Roux: Melt 12 TBSP reserved turkey fat in a skillet over medium heat. Use additional butter, if necessary. Gradually whisk in the flour. Cook until golden brown and toasty smelling, 3-5 minutes or longer.

Whisk in a small amount of stock, then add remainder more quickly and whisk until smooth. Simmer, continually whisking, until thickened. Thin if necessary. Season with salt and pepper. If desired, whisk in a few tablespoons cold butter to smooth and enrich.

Yields 3 quarts. Can be frozen for up to a month.

Seasoning: I like to use sage for turkey dressing, but not so much for turkey gravy. I’ve been known to use herbs de provence in the past.

6

I asked about the brine because the classic Alton Brown Turkey recipe that gets referenced so often around the web is pretty complex in it’s flavorings. It’s not just salt and bird. We’ll probably use this as our starting point and add or subtract flavors as needed. Things like brown sugar, allspice and ginger in the brine and apple and cinnamon in the cavity seem like they might be out of place in a gravy.

I worry about the veggies on the bottom of the pan because they might reduce the browning effect due to the extra liquid and the veggies protecting that turkey goodness from browning on the pan. That brownness is kind of key to the flavor.

7

Can I piggy-back?

So, I’ve abandoned my previous slow cooker turkey idea, once I found out that I can buy a Honeybaked ham for much cheaper than I thought. I am meh on turkey, but boy, I love ham!

We plan on making a ton of mashed 'taters, so I want to do gravy. The problem, though, is I honestly don’t know how to make gravy sans drippings. I’m sure there’s some total “duh!” answer to this, but anyone with any advice? Do I fry up some bacon or something and use that? Help!

8

Sounds to me like you should use ChefGuy’s recipe. Make a bunch of the stuff with turkey legs which are practically free ahead of time. Save the meat for soups or something.

9

Broth/stock, a thickening agent (like a roux of flour and fat or just a slurry of flour or cornstarch & cold water), and, well, that’s about it.

10

Yes, the veggies will probably affect some of the browning, and the brined bird will affect the saltiness of your final gravy. I would just have some unsalted stock on the side (made with the roasted turkey neck and whatever other parts you can dig up) to cut with the pan drippings to be able to better adjust salt levels. It’ll still be tasty either way.

11

This, well mostly.

The heart and the liver are the chef’s “OK the damn thing’s finally in the oven” after treat.
Neck, gizzard (both preferably cut small, the neck really requires a cleaver . . . but no fingers in the pot please!) and whatever aromatics you like (I save all the onion and celery trimmings for stock making) along with some whole black pepper and a bit of Bell’s poultry seasoning. I find water instead of stock works fine here. If you brine, then you can do it night before too . . . one less pot on the stove.

My big trick is last year’s carcass made this year’s stock for both the gravy and the stuffing. But if you’re committed to making turkey soup from the carcass Chefguy’s turkey gravy/stock is basic, textbook, and perfect how-to!

CMC fnord!