I am in a gumbo cook off this weekend and just want some advise or tips from some of you guys. I have perfected my gumbo at home but this is a different monster. Gumbo must be at least 4 gallon. Roux, stock and cooked meat can be brought. I am going to make the roux in batches throughout the week and re-heat it out there. At home I usually do 1 1/2 quarts of stock to 1/2 cup flour and oil roux so 1 cup roux. I'm guessing that I'm just going to keep the same proportions to make 4 gallons. Anyway just wanted to see if any of you lovely people can help out with any do's and dont's.

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Posted by Croacka

Denham Springs

Member since Dec 2008

61441 posts

Posted on 4/13/15 at 8:45 am to yomamak

Odd time of year for gumbo cook off

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Posted by Motorboat

At the camp

Member since Oct 2007

22679 posts

Posted on 4/13/15 at 8:45 am to yomamak

It's all about the stock, IMO. Make the best, richest, most robust stock you can.

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Posted by Stadium Rat

Metairie

Member since Jul 2004

9554 posts

Posted on 4/13/15 at 8:51 am to yomamak

quote:
At home I usually do 1 1/2 quarts of stock to 1/2 cup flour and oil roux so 1 cup roux.

This isn't quite right. The oil is absorbed into the flour so you don't get that much roux. Next time you make it measure the roux after you're done. I've found that 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of oil yields just 1 1/3 cups of roux.

Stock-to-roux ratios vary from 20:1 down to 6:1. Yours is about 12:1 so your gumbo is right at medium thickness.

This is just an experimental version, but it may help you think about your amounts:
Gumbo Calculator Beta

This post was edited on 4/13/15 at 8:56 am

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Posted by yomamak

Member since Feb 2008

586 posts

Posted on 4/13/15 at 9:02 am to Stadium Rat

Sure I get that it's not 1 cup roux but for arguments sake I used those numbers. Point is I should be able to do the math and still use the same ratio or being that it is that big should I change it up.

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Posted by Stadium Rat

Metairie

Member since Jul 2004

9554 posts

Posted on 4/13/15 at 9:13 am to yomamak

I've never cooked a gumbo that big, but I'm certain you can just scale the amounts up. You'll just have to modify your procedure a bit for the larger pot.

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Posted by brmach

Member since Aug 2012

771 posts

Posted on 4/13/15 at 9:40 am to yomamak

Sounds like you're on the right track. Start by applying the same ratio of ingredients to the big pot as you would at home. Have extra of everything because you'll inevitably have to tweak it one way or another. Your time will be limited and you won't have all day for everything to meld together, so be a little bolder than usual in presenting the flavors you want. If you can chop your vegetables in advance, that saves quite a bit of time too.

Good luck!

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