I've only made it twice.
1st was mushroom gravy that turned out good.
2nd, was this mourning, and was country style to go on some biscutes, but it was not very good.
I think I put too much flower as the roux was clumpy.

Start with a cold pan.  go with a 1-1 mix flour and butter for the roux.  Put the butter in the pan and let it heat til it melts.  then add flour and mix it up.  Then slowly add your stock...

Chicken broth or beef broth works in the absence of real drippings.    

I like to add a can of chicken or beef broth in a pan under the meat i cook to catch the drippings off the meat.  I put that through a grease separator (to get the fat out), then a wire filter to get the chunks out....this makes for a creamy gravy without lumps.  

This is REALLY good when you do it under a piece of meat in a smoker.  smoky gravy is the best gravy.  

add a little more fat to the pan to thin out your roux. nearly anything will work, butter,oil, bacon grease. stir like hell to get rid of lumps, use a whisk if necessary. you can 'temper' your deglazing liquid by mixing a little roux with your liquid before you add it to the main roux. a blender will work for this and make it smoother. or you can just stir like hell.

Use a cast iron pan to sear the meat, whether pork, beef or poultry.  Remove the meat.  Add a little oil or butter, and flour.  You can add finely minced onion now, and minced garlic.   The garlic should be added almost immediately before adding the stock or wine, since it can burn and become bitter if it's heated too much.  Stir vigorously over moderate heat to get the flour to moisten and turn golden brown.  Add a little wine, stock or broth.  You'd think the more wine, the better, but that's not so.  It tend to make the gravy a little bitter.  Stock or broth is safe.  From there, you can add mustard, cream, worchestershire sauce, a touch of soy sauce, or any number of other flavor.  Salt carefully.  If you want to sweeten, consider something like ketchup, which adds sweetness and other flavors.  Stir with a whisk.  If things go south, you can strain through a strainer, or whip with a stick blender, but that should not be necessary if you have the flour well mixed with the oil or butter, and you add liquid slowly with constant stirring. Seconds before serving, add a knob of butter and swirl until it's melted.

the right wine

Da roux is usually around 1 to 1 flour to oil. If its clumpy just add some more oil and stir.

Shake and Blend for the win.

Dude if you are having trouble making gravy, and do not take this the wrong way, but invest in a decent cook book. Not a modern Rachel fucking Ray one either. Go to the thrift store and look for an old Joy of Cooking or a Juila Child cook book. Trust me. Learning to cook the meat will yield a proper start for deglasing the pan and collecting the drippings to make into a "gravy". Learn how to lier or to thicken using various methods. It is way easier than it sounds but one needs a proper start and this comes with cooking the protein.

Cooking the roast on a rack of mirepoix (equal parts onion, carrot, and celery rough chopped) will yield the best results, once cooked remove meat, using an acid in this case a strong red wine, pour this onto the pan with the crispy, burnt offerings and dried up goodness. scrape with wooden spoon to separate, add water to help. Strain this into a sauce pan (some people use a grease separater first but becareful too hot and they will break), bring temps up. Now you have a basic AuJus. Further degrease by skimming fat with spoon or ladel finish by using strips of a paper towel and pull across the AuJus. One can now season (worchestchire sauce!) this and serve or one can lier (Say: LEaa) and tighten for a "gravy" or sauce. This can be done in a myriad of ways i.e. Roux, Slurries ( flour and water slurry, Flour and milk slurry, Cornstach and water, Tapioca Slurry), puree (or instant potato flakes),  Egg yolk, reduction, or Burre Manie (kneaded flour and butter) my favorite for pan sauces!

With Rouxs and starch slurries you need to cook them to remove the starch. The exception to this is Tapioca which can be utilized immediatley after use.

Bring the AuJus up to a strong simmer and add the Roux or slurry and using a wisk stir. Be advised that it will not tighten up immediatley and one may consider adding more-don't. Once the temps come back up to a simmer it will thicken. Once it has tightened reduce the heat to a low simmer continue to stir to keep the starches from collecting and scorching on the bottom. To know when the starch has been cooked out (20 Minutes+) taste the sauce and with your toungue push on the roof of your mouth toward the front. If it is still starchy you will "feel" the starch rough and dry against the roof of your mouth. If it is smooth it is ready to serve. Season to taste-STRAIN. You did by a nice cheap China Cap/Chinois from the thrift store when you bought the book right? If not do your best to pick out the roux dumplings you find and serve!

Good luck and happy cooking!

Wondra flour, it doesn't clump. Google it.

Wondra is gelatinized flour like Shake and Blend.

Try using corn starch instead of flour.

make sure to get that 1-1 ratio is blended very well. If you dont cook that flour taste out it will ruin ur roux. Ask me how i know

If you scorch a roux and see tiny black flecks in it, toss it and start over.

It helps if you kind of sprinkle the flour into the oil while stirring. If it starts getting clumpy you can stop adding flour and get things sorted out, then keep going.

This ^^^

I make all gravy with corn starch. Brown gravy, cream gravy, sausage gravy, it's all done with corn starch because it just super simple and I've never failed.

Note: I've found that gravy thickened with corn-starch does not refrigerate well; it gelatinizes but doesn't thin back out when re-heated so you almost always have to reserve back some drippings for re-thinning or just add some water...

Better yet, go to Wal-mart and buy one of those Better Homes and Gardens cookbooks...the red and white checkered three ring binder ones. They're classics and they're awesome.

If you're going to add wine...

1) Use real wine not that "cooking wine".
2) Add it early and let it simmer to mellow the flavor.

If you're going to use herbs, add them at the end so they don't have time to develop. For beef gravy I stir the gravy with a sprig of rosemary for a minute while the roast is resting.

The better tasting your stock is the better your gravy will turn out. Home made is best, but is time consuming and messy.

I don't like either Kitchen Bouquet or Gravy Master, I do use this



To give a nice brown color to the gravy.

Lastly, get a cutting board with a channel to catch the juices from the roast.



Pour them into your gravy and whisk them in.

The best book I have for saucemaking is Sauces by James Peterson.

Equal parts of fat (usually butter) and flour.  Melt the fat, add the flour, cook it for about 2 to 5 minutes stirring often.

Temper the roux by slowly adding a cup or two of the hot liquid to the roux,  bring it to a simmer for a minute or two then slowly add the tempered roux to the hot liquid.

X100
Outstanding wealth of information.

Good stock. Shitty chicken broth from the grocery store won't cut it. Make your own stock the day before.

flour to fat is a 1:1 ratio.  Be certain to cook the flour in the fat .... you don't want a raw flour taste.

If you add stock you are NOT making gravy.  Gravy is the pan juices and either milk or some other liquid like water

If you use stock you are making a sauce known as voulette.  They tast the same to me but are technically different.  A glut of wine is a good thing to add in.   Just let the alcohol cook out.

Gravy to go along with biscuits .... cook your sausage and add flour.  Cook that down then add milk .... cook until it thickens us .....

Then add a shot of heavy cream.

Have you tried Progresso low sodium chicken broth?

Is it bad, as an Italian , seeing the title I wondered if it was for a Sunday meat sauce or actual flour gravy

FIFY

 

We still refer to the Betty Crocker the spouse was given 41 years ago, among others. The older the better IMO.

Make sure the oil is good and hot before adding the flour. Sprinkle flour in gradually but fairly quickly, and cook until it just starts to "tighten up" a little.  Add milk, again gradually, but not too slow or it'll go to clumping.  Not too fast or... it'll go to clumping .  Figuring out the rates to make it all come together is an acquired skill, but it doesn't take too many tries to get it figured out.  30 years of gravy-makin', though, and I still screw up a batch now and then.

This is probably considered cheating, but you can heat your broth/drippings first, and dissolve your flour in cold water then mix. It will keep it from clumping and tastes fine, but not as rich as real gravy.