As this recipe only makes 2-4 servings, you won’t need a very large pot. However, you can easily double (or even triple) the recipe if need be. The more gravy you need to make, the bigger the pot you’ll need.
If your butter is just chunking up, leave it alone to sit for a bit – it’s too cold. Move your broth to low and come back in 5 or 10 minutes. Then resume as normal.
Keep whisking throughout the rest of this recipe. This keeps the air flowing and will result in your gravy thickening more quickly.
Once you think it’s thick enough, give it the spoon test. Dip a spoon in and then lift it out. Does it stay covered? Does it drip off like a gravy should?
Remember that the gravy will likely be eating in tandem with another food. If the gravy itself isn’t strong, that’s fine. It will be combining with other flavors anyway.
Cut up 8 tablespoons (½ cup) of ‘’un’’salted butter into chunks (salted will make your gravy too salty). Then add the chunks to a medium-sized saucepan. With the pan on low heat, melt the butter until it’s foamy. If the butter starts burning, the oven is on too high. Add ½ cup of white flour to the pan.
Eventually (6-12 minutes) it’ll start to smell like a pie is baking in the oven. It won’t happen immediately. At this point, your flour has cooked and your gravy won’t taste flour-y.
Again, it will be thin – don’t be alarmed if it looks more like soup at this juncture; that’s totally normal. That’s what it’s supposed to look like.
Stir it regularly so it doesn’t film over, the bottom doesn’t overheat, and the air and heat circulate evenly. It will take a while, so be patient. It’s not done yet! Don’t be alarmed if it still seems like it’s in the works, because it is!
Ketchup Soy sauce Coffee Sugar Cream of mushroom soup Sour cream
Put them into a wide-brimmed bowl. You’ll need to separate it later, so the wider the brim, the better.
Make sure that you keep track of how much fat you have, because you will need an equal amount of flour. You should end up with about ¼ cup (however, if you don’t have that, don’t worry). Keep the rest of the drippings, too (the non-fat part) – you will need these later as well.
If you want to make a large serving of gravy and do not have enough fat from the drippings, you can use butter to make up the difference. Simply add the butter to the pan with whatever fat you have, and then let the butter melt before adding the flour (you’ll need more flour, too). Don’t have flour? You can easily substitute cornmeal.
If it is scorching on the bottom, it is burning. The best way to avoid this is to stir evenly and to turn down the heat just a bit if you suspect it is too hot.
If you do not have enough drippings to make the amount of gravy that you desire, you can use canned broth. Try to use broth that matches the type of meat you are serving, i. e. beef broth with beef, chicken broth with poultry.
