The encyclopaedia of gravy
A roux is fat and flour cooked together before liquid is added. How long you cook it determines the colour, thickness and flavour of the finished gravy.
A roux is flour cooked in fat. It does two jobs at once: it coats every flour particle in fat so they disperse instead of clumping, and it cooks the raw, pasty taste out of the flour.
Almost every gravy on this site begins with one.
The ratio¶
Equal weights of fat and flour. For a standard pouring gravy, 30 g of each per 500 ml of liquid.
| Gravy | Fat | Flour | Liquid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thin | 25 g | 25 g | 600 ml |
| Standard | 30 g | 30 g | 500 ml |
| Thick | 40 g | 40 g | 500 ml |
Volume-wise, a level tablespoon of flour is roughly 15 g, so "two tablespoons of flour per pint" is the traditional rule of thumb and it is about right.
The stages¶
| Stage | Time | Colour | Smell | Use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White | 1–2 min | Pale, no colour | Faintly biscuity | White gravy, béchamel |
| Blond | 3–4 min | Straw | Nutty | Chicken gravy, velouté |
| Brown | 5–8 min | Milky coffee | Toasted, warm | Beef gravy, gravy without drippings |
| Dark brown | 10+ min | Dark chocolate | Strongly roasted | Cajun gumbo, rarely gravy |
🔬 The science
The darker the roux, the less it thickens. Prolonged heat breaks the long starch chains into shorter ones, so a dark roux has perhaps half the thickening power of a white one. If you take your roux deep brown for flavour, use more of it. See why flour thickens liquid.
Method¶
- Melt the fat over a medium-low heat. Butter, dripping, oil or the fat in a roasting tin all work; butter browns fastest and tastes best.
- Add all the flour at once and stir immediately with a wooden spoon or whisk.
- Keep it moving. It will look like wet sand, then loosen and start to bubble gently.
- Cook to your chosen stage, judging by colour and smell rather than the clock.
- Add liquid gradually — see below.
Adding the liquid¶
This is where gravies fail. Two rules:
- Hot liquid into hot roux, gradually, whisking each addition smooth before the next.
- Or cold liquid into a cooled roux, which also works and is more forgiving.
What causes lumps is hot roux plus a large volume of cold liquid, all at once. See avoiding lumps in gravy.
Common problems¶
It smells burnt. Start again. Burnt flour is bitter and there is no rescue.
It is greasy and won't come together. Too much fat for the flour. Add another spoon of flour and cook it out.
It went lumpy. Whisk hard, then sieve. Next time add liquid more gradually.
It tastes floury in the finished gravy. Not cooked long enough, or not simmered long enough after. Give the finished gravy a full 5–10 minutes at a simmer.