Do I cook the giblets with the turkey, saute them, or gently simmer them?
[The recipes online all involve eggs, so I don’t trust them. Besides, I trust you more.]
[Sorry if there is another emergency Turkey Thread]
Simmer the giblets in a pot of water along with some veggies. Remove them, dice up what you want to use (I usually discard the kidneys) and set aside. Strain the veggies out of the water and use the water to make your gravy. Add the diced giblets to the drippings with the flour, make your roux, then add the giblet water. You can either strain the gravy or not. I prefer ‘not’, but some people are weird about bits of meat in their gravy.
I usually roast the neck and giblets alongside the bird for a little while, just to brown them a bit, then take them out (leaving the turkey to continue cooking), and simmer them with onions, celery and herbs to make stock for the gravy.
One important point, never,never cook the the giblets inside the turkey. The bird will be to nasty for words. The meat turns gray and tastes… just take my word.
My very hungry family ended up eating pizza it was so awful.
I like to brown them first, then simmer with chicken broth to make my gravy base. I’ll add the turkey drippings later, you know, when I have them.
Roux? Roux? What roux?
Oh. It’s just the base. Funny, it never occured to me that simple turkey gravy was a roux.
Does anyone else brown the flour slightly first?
Thanks all.
Actually, I use cornstarch, (no browning) but that’s how my grandfather taught me.
Do people generally make stock from the turkey carcass afterwards? I do - It’s great - a medium sized turkey makes pints and pints of great stock that can be frozen down in old ice cream cartons and used for soups, gravy, risotto etc in the future.
Also, if there’s a lot of meat, I pack it in a foil carton, immerse it in gravy, seal tight and freeze - it’s not the same as a fresh roast when it comes out, but it’s quite good in its own right and makes an easy Sunday lunch at some later date, maybe when you’re in a bit of a rush.
My mother would start with browned flour, and then add corn starch to thicken it up because she didn’t have enough flour.
I’m don’t eat soup, so I never make stock. The spouse loves soup, but doesn’t trust any food over three days old, even frozen stock.
I think about half the turkey must get thrown out …
Cornstarch (or arrowroot) for thickening in my house too, stirred up with cold water. There’s no worry about lumps, or about a flour mixture getting too brown or burning.
To make stock, I pick the bird of whatever big chunks of meat are left, and the rest goes into the big pot. This includes the celery and onions and whatever I’ve stuffed the bird with.
Is that a whoosh? When you cook the flour and butter together until it changes color (I like a dark one for turkey gravy) that’s a roux. That’s all a roux is.
Sort of; when I first read Chefguy’s instructions, I panicked. I don’t like cream sauces, so I don’t make ‘roux’.
Except, of course, when I make gravy. [head thump smilie]
Anyhow, my first giblet gravy was good. Not enough salt, but there never is so people make allowances.
And I didn’t brown enough flour, either. I guess some things are genetic.
Oh, thanks for the help.
Seriously? And when was the turkey killed, anyway? 
A roux isn’t exclusively for cream sauces – normal poultry gravy isn’t a cream sauce. Uh, did you add cream to yours?
I used two rousses, and then at the end had to add cornstarch. And they weren’t even really dark rousses (is that even the right plural?), but I guess I started with too much chicken stock, and boy, did the turkey give off a lot of drippings (mostly my brine, I guess).
Mangetout, I don’t know what people generally do, but the carcass and other leftovers are in the stock pot now. Seemed a shame to throw out all that leftover mass. Now I just need to figure out what to do with it. Soup seems obvious. I could try freezing it for future use, but I still have six cans of chicken stock left (it was cheap by the case at Sam’s).
No, I meant ‘cream’, as opposed to ‘clear’, not ‘cream’ as in dairy. I do know how to make gravy, I’ve just never used the giblets in one before.
[Pardon me while I try to banish the idea of cream in gravy from my mind. Sorry for even suggesting it. Shudder with faint gagging].
GorillaMan, 30 minutes before I walked in the store, obviously. I called ahead to say I was coming so they could prepare it for me. [winking smilie]
Actually, I am one of those people who will toss anything in refrigerator, and ignore it until it knocks on the door to be let out. The spouse’s attitude is a reaction to me.
Here is what I have always done: Simmer the little pack of organs with the turkey neck in a pot of water with celery, carrots, onions, bell pepper, salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning for about an hour. When done, strain the solids out.
When the turkey is done, I put it on a serving plate and pour all of the “turkey juice” into a large pot and let is sit and cool. The fat will rise to the top.
I take the fat and put it back into the turkey roasting pan and mix in equal part flour and whisk continuously, making sure to whisk the turkey leavings back into it. When a nice consistency of the roux is reached, I pour in the rest of the turkey juice, add a little bit of the turkey stock I have made, and bring to a simmer.
After 3-5 minutes of simmering: taste. Too thin? Add more flour. Too thick? Add more stock. Too bitter: Add more salt AND stock. Lumps: Whisk harder. And keep simmering
When you get the right balance, the turkey flavor sort of pops out.
I have never had a negative comment…