Exposing my ignorance once again: will I change the essence of the turkey gravy if

M

marilynfl

Moderator
I use homemade chicken broth rather than water?

I grew up with turkey fat roux and water, but the past several years we ate out, ordered the meal pre made or used bottled gravy after getting almost no drippings or enough fat to make the gravy from scratch.

I'd like to be prepared this year and have plenty of broth, but wondered whether it might change the taste to chicken gravy rather than turkey gravy.

(cake ratios are SO MUCH EASIER to deal with.)

 
I never use water, but a combo of turkey/chicken stock that I make once a year

I never use turkey fat either. I start with butter and flour, then add my home made stock, and add whatever else I want. It is delicious.

 
it's been a while, but I used to brown the neck and giblets in a frying pan, then simmer them in

chicken broth while the turkey was cooking. Then that was added to a brown roux made with turkey fat and flour--the fat spooned out of the pan before the turkey was done. This was the base, and then when the turkey is done the roasting juices were degreased and added, and the roasting pan was deglazed with wine and that was added in too.

The base is pretty good on its own so it's not as dependent on pan drippings to be a success.

 
I always make the turkey stock w/chicken broth.I'm a convert by way of Curious1's make ahead gravy!

Works like a charm every year! I do use a roux, and make the gravy fairly thick.
Then on T-day, I fat-separate the turkey drippings from the roasting pan and add the juices to the thick gravy, thinning out to a good consistency. If I don't like the color, I keep a small bottle of GravyMaster handy to doctor the look. smileys/smile.gif

Hope that helps!

Happy Thanksgiving!

M

http://eat.at/swap/forum/index.php?action=display&forumid=1&msgid=219106

 
Yup. I do this Joe. And I also roast a turkey earlier in the year and keep the drippings

in the freezer then I have immediate drippings for gravy while the turkey is still roasting on Thanksgiving. I use both the drippings and homemade stock/broth. The stock/broth goes on the stove in the morning and I put an onion, carrot, bay leaf into it besides the neck. I use the drippings to start the gravy then add stock/broth to it. then I save the Thanksgiving turkey drippings in the freezer for the next turkey dinner.

I would never use water to make gravy. Ever.

 
I use Cathy's method as w

Traditional at our house means having lots of good rich stock for dressings, gravies, spätzle, and the like (wouldn't even dream of using water--the rich stock is where all of the flavor is). Just not enough off the bird you're roasting for dinner to do all of that and have it in time to make the other dishes. Pulling out those frozen packets of broth from the freezer makes it happen.

A tip for storing broths? I put it in gallon freezer bags, then lay them flat on baking sheets so they freeze into nice stackable and even-sided slabs that can also be "filed" like books on a shelf. Makes the freezer less chaotic.

 
I usually roast the turkey neck etc until well browned and add them to chicken stock.

Like Joe defatted turkey drippings are added to the gravy made from said stock. Using browned flour for the gravy makes a big difference as well.

 
For what it's worth, my mom always made delicious gravy in the pan, sometimes with water

and sometimes with a broth made from the neck and gizzard, and Wondra flour.

But then she overcooked the turkey every year, which may have given more flavor to the drippings.

 
Gravy turned out delicious, if a bit too sweet (my problem). I used

the NYTIMES "simple roasted turkey" method which adds a bottle of hard cider and white wine to the roasting pan at the beginning. I didn't have any hard cider, but I did have my reduced apple cider so I used some of that instead.

Still tasty, but I'm not used to a sweetness in the gravy.

I actually made TWO turkeys since I got them ridiculously cheap (~13 pounds for $7.50! It was less than the rotisserie chicken I picked up on the same trip) and with no guests, I could screw up all I wanted. I did a test between generic grocery store frozen versus fresh free-range (from Lucky's in Orlando). One was 12.8 pounds and the other was 11.1 pounds for $15.50. Both were dry-brined and air-dried per the recipe. I used a ChefAlarm probe and stopped each at exactly 165 degrees. Both turkeys were moist, although the fresh was air-dried one day longer and its white meat was a tad drier.

On Wednesday's "frozen" version, I used the turkey fat drippings with equal flour, cooked 3 minutes and then added the dripping broth and extra chicken broth. On Thursday I added the fresh drippings (this time I didn't add the reduce apple juice) to the gravy and boy, that is a good gravy. Seriously, I just kept tasting it over and over again. I didn't even need the turkey.

Today I simmered all the bones from both turkeys and ended up with a single quart of broth. But really, really good broth.

 
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