Finally, lump free gravy

No matter how much whisking I did, I have never made lump free gravy- I have had to pass it through a fine mesh strainer to get rid of the lumps. Today we cooked a chicken. I got a sealable container, and added water and flour to it. Then, I put the lid on and shook it like crazy. Ckicken drippings and juice in the pan, then whisked in the flour and water mixture. It resulted in no lumps. Even the wife said I did well.

oc_in_fw said:

No matter how much whisking I did, I have never made lump free gravy- I have had to pass it through a fine mesh strainer to get rid of the lumps. Today we cooked a chicken. I got a sealable container, and added water and flour to it. Then, I put the lid on and shook it like crazy. Ckicken drippings and juice in the pan, then whisked in the flour and water mixture. It resulted in no lumps. Even the wife said I did well.

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Pretty standard for mixing in corn starch to soups. Glad it worked out for you.

Well done. Hope it tasted as good as it looked.

paintflinger said:

Pretty standard for mixing in corn starch to soups. Glad it worked out for you.

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I had never heard about it- now it seems so elementary.

oc_in_fw said:

I had never heard about it- now it seems so elementary.

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I only know because that's how my mom makes her beef stew.

I use corn starch and cold water mixed to add to casseroles etc to thicken. I have seen someone use the water/flour pre mixed for gravy but not done so myself.
My pan gravy tool of choice is a fish slice not a whisk. As it is flat, it seems to break up the flour and blend with the liquid well in my flat pan.
Add flour to pan drippings and stir in with the fish slice, letting the flour cook off a bit.
Then add a splash of water, stirring with the fish slice till combined, you can use it to squash down on anything that looks lumpy. Slowly add more liquid stirring till combined again, repeat till all liquid is in.
Key is really slow at the start then you can increase the liquid adding rate as it comes together.

Congrats on a lump free gravy Owen, stay with what you are doing. I just wanted to share how I do it, I need to try your new way some day.

The trick is to never add drie flour or corn starch to warm broth. I'll make a corn starch mixture by mixing corn starch in cold water, then mix it into the meat broth a little at a time until the gravy is the desired thickness. Lump free every time.

I just knew Owen wasn't lumpy.

DCRIII said:

The trick is to never add drie flour or corn starch to warm broth. I'll make a corn starch mixture by mixing corn starch in cold water, then mix it into the meat broth a little at a time until the gravy is the desired thickness. Lump free every time.

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This.

My wife taught me to do it. Particularly for fruit pie fillings that are pre cooked. If you think lumps are bad in gravy and sauces, wait til you find them in a cherry pie filling!

I'll have to give that a try. I did well over thanksgiving. I made the rue the normal way but them put just enough juice in to make a paste when the rue got to the color I wanted. I whisked the death out of the paste then added the rest of the juice. No lumps and the juice was hot. I expected lots of lumps.

I am real glad it came out well because I told mom to put the jar-o-gravy nastiness away.

DCRIII said:

The trick is to never add drie flour or corn starch to warm broth. I'll make a corn starch mixture by mixing corn starch in cold water, then mix it into the meat broth a little at a time until the gravy is the desired thickness. Lump free every time.

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This.

DCRIII said:

The trick is to never add drie flour or corn starch to warm broth. I'll make a corn starch mixture by mixing corn starch in cold water, then mix it into the meat broth a little at a time until the gravy is the desired thickness. Lump free every time.

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X10

The other thing you can do is to make a roux by adding fat + flour/cornstarch to the pan and cooking it gently until it is a paste. Then, slowly add the liquid and whisk.

ciderguy said:

X10

The other thing you can do is to make a roux by adding fat + flour/cornstarch to the pan and cooking it gently until it is a paste. Then, slowly add the liquid and whisk.

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Correct you are. I do this for milk gravy when making biscuits and gravy.

oc_in_fw said:

No matter how much whisking I did, I have never made lump free gravy- I have had to pass it through a fine mesh strainer to get rid of the lumps. Today we cooked a chicken. I got a sealable container, and added water and flour to it. Then, I put the lid on and shook it like crazy. Ckicken drippings and juice in the pan, then whisked in the flour and water mixture. It resulted in no lumps. Even the wife said I did well.

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Yeah, right. The next thing that you're going to tell us is that you've found a way to keep from burning the bottoms of the rolls. Sheesh.

What kind of Thanksgiving would it be without lumpy gravy and burned dinner rolls. May my dear mom rest in peace!

kelbro said:

Yeah, right. The next thing that you're going to tell us is that you've found a way to keep from burning the bottoms of the rolls. Sheesh.

What kind of Thanksgiving would it be without lumpy gravy and burned dinner rolls. May my dear mom rest in peace!

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I never claimed to be a genius

kelbro said:

Yeah, right. The next thing that you're going to tell us is that you've found a way to keep from burning the bottoms of the rolls. Sheesh.

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Use either a non-coated aluminum sheet pan, and/or parchment paper lining on the pan, my friend.

It's called a "slurry," Owen. Welcome to the sixteenth century!

Something else I found that works if I don't want to mess with a slurry is to add my flour to cold (or just melted) fat and whisk like all life depended on it. Typically, I avoid adding a wet slurry to hot fat because of the spattering, especially if I'm using a skillet.

TexLaw said:

It's called a "slurry," Owen. Welcome to the sixteenth century!

Something else I found that works if I don't want to mess with a slurry is to add my flour to cold (or just melted) fat and whisk like all life depended on it. Typically, I avoid adding a wet slurry to hot fat because of the spattering, especially if I'm using a skillet.

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Besides eggs, mac and cheese, grilled cheese, and a few other things, I didn't do much cooking before I came to B&B. I have always made the Thanksgiving turkey (the easy part), but the wife always handled the gravy (if we didn't buy it in a jar).

Mom would dump hers into the Oster Mixmaster and blend the tar out of it then back into the pan to heat it back up.

oc_in_fw said:

No matter how much whisking I did, I have never made lump free gravy- I have had to pass it through a fine mesh strainer to get rid of the lumps. Today we cooked a chicken. I got a sealable container, and added water and flour to it. Then, I put the lid on and shook it like crazy. Ckicken drippings and juice in the pan, then whisked in the flour and water mixture. It resulted in no lumps. Even the wife said I did well.

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Glad it worked for you! It's always great to get props from the wife. I've only used the roux method for making gravies and the trick for me to avoid lumps is, hot roux with cold milk whisking in slowly. Also, there's something to be said for how long (or dark) you cook a roux and then pairing that with what you're cooking. For example, gumbos are excellent with a very dark roux.