pan juices

Teri said:

I'm cooking Mimi's sticky chicken and see that it's released quite a large
quantity of pan juices. What do you do with the pan juices? (If you
suggest making a gravy of sorts, i would appreciate a recipe and
directions - i seem to have a problem getting gravies to thicken properly -
can anyone explain the 'science' behind getting gravies to thicken?).
Thanks.

I have no idea what Mimi's "sticky" chicken is.... but if it's really
sticky (is honey an ingredient?), I don't think a flour based gravy
would be appropriate. So, unlike all the suggestions I see below, I'd
go with arrowroot as a thickener - cornstarch if you don't have
arrowroot on hand and if you have a lot of juice, just reduce it a bit
and go with that.
--

Practice safe eating. Always use condiments.

Alex Rast said:

Unfortunately, I've not found the last point to be true. In fact, there
seems to be to me some "magic" behind getting gravy not to clump that I
don't understand. I do a roux just as you describe. There's never any
problem with making it smooth during the roux stage. And then I can brown
the roux as desired. But then, when I add liquid - usually hot broth,
occasionally hot water - invariably, the roux clumps badly. I can declump
it, by stirring for about 1/2 hour, carefully pressing the clumps against
the side and spreading them out, then stirring back in, but this is
insanely tedious. It doesn't matter how much liquid is added, the result is
the same, it would seem, every time. Can anyone speculate what I might be
doing improperly?

My epiphany was to use a flat whisk to stir gravy. It comes out lump
free every time.
--

Practice safe eating. Always use condiments.

Dave Smith said:

Teri said:

When you add flour to pan juices - do you need to bring it to a boil? If
you stir long enough, will it definitely thicken (sometimes - i wonder if i
didn't give it enough time to thicken up) if you've added flour.

What you should so is to poor off the juices leaving enough fat to mix with the
flour to make the roux. Then return the pan juices.... minus the extra fat....
and add liquid as required. You can use vegetable water, broth, wine....

It depends on the type and cut of the meat, the type of pan. My sister in law
taught me to make gravy by pouring off most of the fat, let the pan cool, add
the flour and stirring it in and then heating it up. I found that if the there
were lots of nice little brown bits stuck to the pan it was better to deglace
with wine, and then use the slurry.

Spot on, but Teri should know that it helps if you use a wooden spoon
with a straight edge on the bottom to make it easy to scrape up all the
little brown bits. When I'm roasting I always have veggies in the pan to
ensure that there are little brown bits. What happens is that they
dissolve into the gravy, which improves the flavour no end.

Christine

"Teri" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm cooking Mimi's sticky chicken and see that it's released quite a large
quantity of pan juices. What do you do with the pan juices? (If you
suggest making a gravy of sorts, i would appreciate a recipe and
directions - i seem to have a problem getting gravies to thicken
properly - can anyone explain the 'science' behind getting gravies to
thicken?). Thanks.
Teri

I've never made this recipe, but I do make gravy. 🙂
Gravy is really simple, just takes practice. For pan gravy from roasted meat
drippings I usually use a slurry. Combine your pan juices with whatever
stock you want to make enough liquid. Combine 1/4 c flour with 1/2 cup of
stock or water in a small jar and shake the heck out of it until it is
smooth. Bring juices to a boil and whisk in the slurry. Allow to boil 1
minute. It should be enough slurry for 2 cups of gravy.

kimberly

Nexis said:

"Teri" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm cooking Mimi's sticky chicken and see that it's released quite a large
quantity of pan juices. What do you do with the pan juices? (If you
suggest making a gravy of sorts, i would appreciate a recipe and
directions - i seem to have a problem getting gravies to thicken
properly - can anyone explain the 'science' behind getting gravies to
thicken?). Thanks.
Teri

I've never made this recipe, but I do make gravy. 🙂
Gravy is really simple, just takes practice. For pan gravy from roasted meat
drippings I usually use a slurry. Combine your pan juices with whatever
stock you want to make enough liquid. Combine 1/4 c flour with 1/2 cup of
stock or water in a small jar and shake the heck out of it until it is
smooth. Bring juices to a boil and whisk in the slurry. Allow to boil 1
minute. It should be enough slurry for 2 cups of gravy.

Slurries are underrated. I almost never waste pan juices. I consider
them the most precious product. Esp. turkey drippings. I often say
that if I won the lottery I would have a dozen turkeys roasted a week.
I'd give 11 of the to a homeless shelter, but reserve all the drippings
from all.

Quoted message said:

kimberly

--Bryan

On Thu 02 Mar 2006 10:22:20p, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it Food Snob?

Quoted message said:

Nexis said:

"Teri" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm cooking Mimi's sticky chicken and see that it's released quite a
large quantity of pan juices. What do you do with the pan juices?
(If you suggest making a gravy of sorts, i would appreciate a recipe
and directions - i seem to have a problem getting gravies to thicken
properly - can anyone explain the 'science' behind getting gravies to
thicken?). Thanks.
Teri

I've never made this recipe, but I do make gravy. 🙂
Gravy is really simple, just takes practice. For pan gravy from roasted
meat drippings I usually use a slurry. Combine your pan juices with
whatever stock you want to make enough liquid. Combine 1/4 c flour with
1/2 cup of stock or water in a small jar and shake the heck out of it
until it is smooth. Bring juices to a boil and whisk in the slurry.
Allow to boil 1 minute. It should be enough slurry for 2 cups of gravy.

Slurries are underrated. I almost never waste pan juices. I consider
them the most precious product. Esp. turkey drippings. I often say
that if I won the lottery I would have a dozen turkeys roasted a week.
I'd give 11 of the to a homeless shelter, but reserve all the drippings
from all.

Quoted message said:

kimberly

--Bryan

hehehe! I'm not overly fond of turkey, but I love using the drippings/

--
Wayne Boatwright o¿o
____________________

BIOYA

at Fri, 03 Mar 2006 01:37:13 GMT in
<[email hidden]>,
wayneboatwright_at_gmail.com (Wayne Boatwright) wrote :

Quoted message said:

On Thu 02 Mar 2006 06:20:23p, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it Alex
Rast?

Quoted message said:

at Fri, 03 Mar 2006 00:04:15 GMT in <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] (AC) wrote :

....

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

here are some basic gravy tips that i've learned from trial and error

...if there is only fat, the result will be smooth.
once all of the flour is well coated and cooked/toasted, you can add
the liquid/ju [censored] nilly and it won't clump. it may require some
stirring to smooth.

Unfortunately, I've not found the last point to be true. In fact,
there seems to be to me some "magic" behind getting gravy not to clump
that I don't understand. I do a roux just as you describe. There's
never any problem with making it smooth during the roux stage. And
then I can brown the roux as desired. But then, when I add liquid -
usually hot broth, occasionally hot water - invariably, the roux
clumps badly. ...

You are possibly adding the a too hot liquid too quickly to a too roux.

Deciphering, am I to understand that your concern is my liquid is too hot
and my roux too cold? If so, interesting. I'd always assumed that hot
liquid was best (after years of watching my dad, an accomplished gravy-
master, use liquid that had been boiling moments ago). Perhaps this has
been an issue.

Quoted message said:

I find it easier to avoid lumps by letting the cooked roux cool
slightly, and only gradually adding warm (not hot) liquid to it while
whisking briskly. Once it is all added, bringing up the heat to a boil.
That never lumps for me.

With beef gravy, I like to brown the roux a lot, so it should be pretty
hot. Chicken and turkey, however, I brown minimally.

On adding gradually - yes, I do this. I pretty much assumed that would be
the way to go.

I've generally used a spoon instead of a whisk, in part because of the
practical issue I've faced (flattening and spreading lumps against the side
of the pan)

--
Alex Rast
[email hidden]
(remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)