White Gravy
White Gravy
This southern classic isn't just for breakfast!
Sausage or bacon fat
AP flour
Milk
Salt and Pepper
“How much of each?” you ask. Nobody told me! Seriously, I asked Mom, and she said: "The right amount." Luckily, I figured out the magic ratio:
1 TBSP fat : 1 TBSP flour : 16 TBSP milk
For each tablespoon of fat, you need 1 tablespoon of AP, and 16 tablespoons of milk (that's 1 cup of milk). You can scale up or down to make the amount of gravy you want, depending on the amount of fat that renders out of your meat.
This gravy is not low calorie or low fat. If you want gravy, you need fat. Turkey bacon and tofu sausage don't work. Precooked microwave patties don't work, either. You need a meat that renders plenty of fat. Pork sausage is traditional. You can also use lard.
Large cast-iron or other heavy skillet/fry pan *
Gravy whisk **
Measuring spoon and cup ***
* Don't use non-stick pans for making gravy.
** Mom doesn't use one, but I highly recommend a gravy whisk!
*** If you can eye-ball the measurements, you don't need these. I usually measure.
If using lard, start at step 3.
Cook your meat per usual; If you need to drain the pan between batches, don't discard the rendered fat until you know you have enough for your desired amount of gravy. Make sure to use a heat-safe container to hold the hot fat.
Once all your meat is cooked, remove it from the pan and drain the fat into a heat-safe container.
Put the pan on between medium and medium-high heat; add 1 TBSP of fat into the pan for each cup of gravy you want. If the fat starts smoking, the pan is too hot.
Once the fat is hot, add 1 TBSP of flour for each TBSP of fat.
Whisking constantly, cook until it reaches your desired shade of brown (at least 1 minute to make sure the flour is cooked).
While constantly whisking, slowly pour in the milk; keep whisking until smooth.
Add salt and pepper to taste. If you wait until the gravy is done, it won't taste as good.
Whisking often (or even constantly), bring the mixture to a low boil and cook until it coats the back of a spoon; remove from heat promptly.
Experience really does help when making gravy. I had several hilariously-spectacular failures before I finally succeeded in making good gravy. If you don't get it right the first time, don't worry about it. Eventually, you'll be able to eye-ball the amount of fat and add the right amounts of flour and milk to get great results. Knowing the magic ratio makes this much easier!
The gravy will thicken as it cools, so don't make it too thick in the pan.
You can whisk in a bit of water or milk if the gravy is too thick, or cook it a bit longer to make it thicker. This is the “secret” to getting good gravy.
Make your gravy in the same pan where you cooked the meat, and make sure to scrape the fond off the bottom when you're whisking. This adds lots of flavor, but it works better if you don't burn the meat when you're cooking it.
Measure and have the milk ready to pour into the pan before you start browning the flour. You don't want to have to take time to measure the milk after your flour is brown.
If you want sausage gravy, crumble sausage into the gravy at the end.
Seasoning the gravy while it's still cooking makes a big difference.
Really, get a gravy whisk!