How do make perfect gravy? What is perfect gravy? Perfect gravy should be flavorful and smooth without lumps. People are intimidated by gravy and believing they cannot make it without the lumps. In this post I am going to cover everything you need to know about making gravy.
The Liquid Base
Gravy needs a base that is typically from cooking a protein (beef, chicken, turkey, pork, etc…) or it can come from vegetable broth. The base for your gravy will likely be a broth, meat juice, or meat drippings. To me there is a difference between these three bases. Let’s review that.
Broth is a clear liquid with no fat. Broth has many healthy nutrients in it, and it is easy on the stomach. It is often recommended to drink this when you’re sick. For gravy, broth can be homemade from meat, vegetable or herbs, and bones, or it can be premade from a can or box, powder, or bouillon cubes. This will create a very smooth gravy and you will not need to remove any bits. This is the easiest to turn into gravy.
Meat juice is the liquid from the meat you prepared. It might have some fat it in with it and maybe some herbs or whatever you cooked your meat with. This will compliment your meat the best since it will have the flavors of your meat in your gravy.
Meat drippings is the brown bits of goodness on the bottom of the meat pan that may have some meat juice with it. This will create a flavorful gravy, but often times it is not enough to make the amount of gravy you may need. If that is the case, you can deglaze the pan with broth. Deglazing is the process of adding a liquid and stirring the bottom of the pan. Deglazing the pan will help lift the brown bits and they will mix in with your broth or water to add the flavor to your base liquid. This liquid may have some bits in your gravy.
Thickening the Gravy – Cornstarch vs Flour
There are two ways to thicken gravy, corn starch or flour. In this post I will discuss how to make a cornstarch gravy and I will provide a cornstarch gravy recipe.
Cornstarch and flour will make about a similar flavored gravy, but they will need to be prepared differently. It is very important to know which you will make your gravy with. It is not a simple swap between the two. I have tried this, only to have made a gravy that resembled brown tapioca pudding. Talk about unappealing!
For no lumps from your thickener the rule is cornstarch with cold liquid, flour with hot. Cornstarch cold, flour hot. I still repeat that in my head.
Cornstarch should always be added to a room temperature or cold liquid, and completely mixed so there are no lumps. I call this the “slurry”. The slurry should be smooth before adding it to your hot liquid. If there are lumps in your slurry, there will be lumps in your gravy and they do not cook out or squash out. The only way to remove them is the strain them out.
Flour is usually added by creating a roux. Meaning your flour gets added to the pan drippings and sautéed to cook off the flour flavor. Since I am going to discuss gravy made from cornstarch, I am not going to explain the flour process. Maybe another time.
Cooking the Gravy
Now that we’ve determined our liquid base for our gravy, we will need to heat it up in a small saucepan. As the liquid base is heating up make your slurry of corn starch and water. Add your slurry to the hot liquid and whisk or stir with a fork the entire time. As your liquid comes to a boil it will thicken. Once it is thickened remove it from the heat. It is ready to serve.
Serving
I typically make this gravy with roast beef that I cooked in the slow cooker. The recipe for that is included, along with the link to the post on how to make the roast beef.
I will make Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes and a vegetable to serve with the roast beef and the gravy.
Common Gravy Problems
Too thin? If your gravy is too thin, make another slurry of 1 tbsp cornstarch and 1 tbsp water. Mix well and add to your gravy. Repeat until it is eh desire thickness.
Too thick? Just add a couple of tablespoons more broth or meat liquid. Add little by little so you don’t make it too thin.
Too bland? Some salt and pepper can help with this.
Too lumpy? If there are just a few lumps that you want to remove, you can use a slotted spoon to remove them. If there are too many for a slotted spoon, use a strainer.
How do I add flavor to my gravy? If you want to add some flavor from herbs before you thicken it, you can create an herb or flavor bundle. I use a coffee filter and add the herbs, garlic, onion, etc… and gather up the ends and tie the bundle closed with a piece of kitchen twine. Then add that to your liquid base and let them simmer for 15-30 minutes to blend the flavors. Then remove the bundle and thicken your gravy as usual.
I hope this helps you understand a little bit more about making gravy and you give it a try. It is simple to do. Don’t let it intimidate you.
Happy cooking!
Perfect Gravy
Equipment
- 1 Small bowl
- 1 Small Saucepan
- 1 Whisk or fork
Ingredients
- 1 cup Broth, meat juice, or meat drippings
- 2 tbsp Corn starch
- 2 tbsp Water, cold
Instructions
- Put broth or meat juice in a small saucepan. Heat it up over medium to low heat.
- In a small bowl put in room temp or cool water. Add the cornstarch. Stir until they are mixed well. The corn starch should be fully dissolved, and the liquid should be smooth. Any lumps will create lumps in your gravy.
- Add the water and cornstarch to the saucepan of broth or meat liquid. Using a whisk or a fork, stir continuously until it is slightly thickened.
- You can add salt and pepper to taste. It is ready to serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Slow Cooked Beef Roast
Equipment
- 1 Cutting board
- 1 Knife
Ingredients
- 1 2 ½ - 3 lb Beef Roast, frozen
- ¼ tsp Basil, dried
- ⅛ tsp Thyme, dried
- 1 tsp All-purpose seasoning
- 2 cubes Beef bouillon
- ½ medum Onion
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 cup Water
- 2 tbsp Vinegar or Red wine vinegar
Instructions
- Spray or grease the sides of your slow cooker.
- Put the frozen beef roast in the slow cooker.
- Add the water, bouillon, and vinegar to the pot.
- Add the basil, thyme, All-purpose seasoning, onion, and garlic to the pot. Sprinkle some of these on top of the roast and some in the liquid.
- Put your slow cooker on low for 10 hours. It can sit in the slow cooker on warm for additional time, if needed.
- Serve immediately.
