The encyclopaedia of gravy
Dairy softens and enriches a gravy, but it splits if boiled and should generally go in at the end, off the heat.
Two different uses¶
As an enrichment, stirred into a finished brown gravy — a tablespoon or two of double cream in a chicken or mushroom gravy, or the standard finish in Scandinavian brown sauces.
As the liquid itself, in the milk gravies of the American South — white gravy and sausage gravy — where milk replaces stock entirely.
Avoiding a split¶
Dairy splits when the proteins coagulate and separate from the fat and water. Three triggers:
- Heat. Boiling is the main culprit, especially with single cream or milk.
- Acid. Wine, vinegar or lemon plus dairy plus heat is the risky combination.
- Salt concentration, in a heavily reduced gravy.
Prevention: add dairy at the end, off the heat or at a bare simmer; use double cream, whose high fat content is far more stable than single cream or milk; and add acid before the cream, not after.
If it splits: take it off the heat, whisk hard, and add a splash of cold stock or a teaspoon of cold cream. A stick blender will usually bring it back. Starch in the gravy helps — a flour-thickened gravy is much more forgiving than a jus.
Which dairy¶
| Dairy | Fat | Stability | Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Double cream | ~48% | Very stable | Enriching any gravy |
| Crème fraîche | ~30% | Stable, slightly tangy | Scandinavian and central European sauces |
| Single cream | ~18% | Splits easily | Stir in off the heat only |
| Whole milk | ~3.5% | Needs starch to stabilise | White gravy, sausage gravy |
| Butter | ~82% | Emulsifies when whisked in cold | Finishing — see emulsification in gravy |
Plant alternatives¶
Oat cream is the most reliable in savoury sauces, though it can be faintly sweet. Soya cream is stable and neutral. Coconut cream dominates. Cashew cream is excellent and thickens as well as enriches. See vegan gravy.