Decent gravy please.

ged1980

Hi

May be a silly question but...

How do you make a good gravy


I use a slow cooker and put my stew / tatties / carrots in and they cook well but the gravy is mmmm just gravy if that makes sence


To make my gravy i just use a couple oxo cubes is there anything else i can do to make it better

tanith

I always thicken with Cornflour or sometimes Bisto... if you like to you can add a splash of red wine and of course onions add flavour..

babybug

I add loads of stuff to my base gravy - oxo cube, teaspoon of Marmite (or Bovril if it's a beef dish), splash of Worcestershire sauce, pepper (no salt as the oxo covers that)... And my secret ingredient is usually a splash of HP Steak Sauce.

The marmite doesn't make it taste marmitey, it just adds a nice savoury depth, if that make sense. The steak sauce adds a little bit of tang. You could also add a drop or two of Tabasco

Oooh, also, if it's beef related, a small squeeze of tomato puree works quite well too.

Pink.

Hi ged,

I add a stock cube and sometimes some wine to the meat juices then thicken with a roux or cornflour. If making it in the slow cooker, I add less water than most recipes require as the liquid doesn't evaporate in the slow cooker in the same way as it does on the hob or in the oven, so the gravy isn't as concentrated.

These earlier threads may help:

Decent gravy please.

Making gravy when you haven't had a roast. How?

slow cooker help! need to thicken


Pink

SailorSam

I cheat, i use Bisto Best, it comes in a variety of flavours, I was in Asda this morning and they have it on offer, 2 jars for £2.50

Ladyhawk

I can't stand gravy granules so always make from scratch.

1) Make a roux from from the fat/ juices of whatever you have cooked. NB do not make this too thick otherwise your gravy will become lumpy.

2) Add stock/ veggie water/ wine

3) Stir in oxo cube or two and some marmite/ bovril (I hate both but they do add an extra dimension to gravy)

4) Season

5) Enjoy!

ChocClare

Roast eg chicken on a bed of halved onions and whole carrots. You can eat these afterwards if they're not too greasy.

While the chicken is roasting, crumble two oxo cubes and a dessertspoonful of cornflour in a pyrex jug. Mix to a paste with COLD water and then add half a pint of boiling water, stirring all the time. Go and do something else (ie, this can be done ages in advance by very unadvanced cooks - This used to be my job on Sunday mornings when we came back from church when I was about seven. Make the gravy then b@ off and play )

When your chicken is cooked, put it on a plate to rest, then pour off any excess fat from the roasting tin and rescue any edible vegetables. Those that are too mushy leave. Put the roasting tin on the hob over a high heat, and scrape it round with a wooden spatula. Deglaze the tin by chucking in a splash of wine if you have it and scraping the bits off the roasting tin while it sizzles OR if you haven't got/can't be bothered to add wine, deglaze the pan with the gravy base that's in the Pyrex jug (stir it first as it will have got bored and separated). Bring to the boil and reduce to a simmer. Let it bubble away for a good five mins if poss - add more water or wine or juices from the meat/chicken if it starts to look too thick. Mash in any veg and chuck in the wing tips, odd scraps of meat that are stuck to the pan etc. You will need to strain this obviously - I have one of those fat-removing jug deelies which also has a straining lid.

Secret of good gravy: LESS IS MORE. A few spoonfuls of really tasty sauce is a million times better than half a pint of insipid sauce. I don't always even do the oxo cube bit if I'm doing chicken: just add wine and water to the roasting tin and let it reduce down until it's syrupy and yum. However, this doesn't really work if you're feeding an entire family rather than just two of you - hence the Pyrex jug with the oxo/flour in it.

ciderwithrosie_2

Things you can add to make gravy tastier....

Stock cubes/homemade stock
some pureed veg (if making a stew)
Meat juices
bovril or marmite
fried onions
garlic
water drained from cooking veg
wine, port, beer or cider
worcester sauce
tomato puree or tomato sauce
BBQ sauce
Oyster sauce or soy sauce
black pepper
red currant jelly
mustard or horseradish
mint jelly
sweet chilli sauce
mushroom sauce
herbs and spices

Have to be careful not to add too many of the saltier items though or you might ruin your gravy.

regards CWR

babyshoes

I usually use bisto with the meat juices because I find it is quicker and easier than doing proper gravy, but I always add some port or wine, and often a bit of blackberry jelly. Other fruit jelly would work too.

bitsandpieces

For slow cooker, I put seasoned plain flour in a bowl, heat up pan and oil, dip meat in flour so both sides are lightly coated, brown in the pan and add to slow cooker with veg and any more seasoning/herbs etc. There will be bits stuck to the pan - add water/stock/wine to the pan (not too much) and simmer to get the bits to dissolve into the liquid and to reduce the liquid if you want. Add this to slow cooker.

This will give you a thicker gravy than not using the flour. If it still wants reducing, I'd take the liquid out when the stuff in the slow cooker is cooked and reduce in a separate pan.

Cooking meat on the bone is often good for producing a better gravy. You could try things like oxtail, too (or even add some oxtail to a beef stew to give a richer flavour). It's not really gravy, but I find chopped capers good to sharpen a sauce too.