re: Roux making question

That's how I do mine. I'm a little light on the flour at first and add more til I get the thickness I'm looking for.

I would add this...you can add more stock to your gumbo if you feel it's too thick (after your roux/veggies/stock is incorporated. Or, if it's too runny let it simmer with lid off.

If you're doing chicken gumbo, you have more time after the chicken is added to fine tune the consistency. If you're doing seafood, you need to get the consistency right before you add seafood, as it cooks fast and you can't just let it simmer without overcooking it.

Say what? The person wants to do the right thing, and you tell him to cheat. That is so WRONG to assume they will be unable to do the job.


ETA One of the big assed old school houses about a block or two from the court house.

I'd have thought Gris Gris would have been up in here by now to get this cleared up. She must have gotten chest deep in the gin last night.

And Count, you need to be forced to change your last name to Smith, or Jones...to suggest using that jarred shite is heresy.

More of how much roux you use than the thickness of the roux..

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Also understand that a the darker the roux the less it will thicken the gumbo.
You can always add more roux and I always make more than I need.

But the darker roux has a better flavor

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I'm with KG and he's correct on the darker the thinner the roux. That doesn't mean your gumbo will be thin. Just might want more roux if you're a thick gumbo lover. I am not. I like it to have body, but I don't want mud.

As Otis said, you can use the Paul Prudhomme recipe to judge liquid versus roux for your first gumbo making experience. I would, however, recommend making extra roux in the event that you decide you want it to be a bit thicker than his version. I also recommend that you remove all of the grease from the top of the gumbo before determining whether you want to add more roux.

Be advised, though, that Paul Prudhomme fries the chicken in flour before adding to the pot in his recipe, so there is an added thickness when that chicken simmers in the gumbo for a bit. It's darn tasty method, but you don't have to fry the chicken to rely on his measurements. I believe he uses 1/2 cup flour to 1/2 cup oil for 7-10 cups of water/broth/liquid.

The thing about making gumbo for the first time is that you will have to learn from it since people's taste varies on thickness and the color of the roux. For chicken gumbo, your roux really shouldn't be lighter than copper to have to good flavor, though I like mine very dark.

After you make it the first time, write down what you did and what you would change or what you did and didn't like. If you need help with adjustments, come back and tell us and we can help you.

Martini and Otis and I disagree on the file business. I do not like to add it to the whole pot. Not everyone likes it, for one thing and I rely on the roux for a thickener. I use file in seafood and turkey gumbo only. I don't care for it in chicken gumbo, for example. I put it out for my guests to do with as they wish. Same with hot sauce etc... when I'm cooking for folks with different likes as to hot and spicy. Some folks like to break out in a sweat with every bite which dilutes the flavor in my opinion and some folks just want a little kick. All of these things can be done by the individual at the table.

Good luck!

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I can tell the jarred roux in heartbeat

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Preach on, sister!

I was amazed at the fact that anyone ate the stuff, the odor was not subtle at all. I had to drive back to BR, so there was no getting sloppy, but DAMN. When your nose no longer works, you have had too much of whatever.

Theres a few folks on here that have OD'ed on crack and meth a few too many times.

If not, they need to.

Some people brown the meats and use that grease with oil to make the roux. Definitely flavorful, but not a requirement. It's all about your taste.

If I'm going the Paul Prudhomme method, I fry the chicken and use the oil to make the rous, BUT you have to make sure nothing burned when you fried the chicken, so if you're making a lot of gumbo, you probably need to fry in two pots or stop and save the initial oil and start frying again with new oil.

I don't brown the sausage first simply because it ends up cooked to death when simmered again for a bit and speaking of that, gumbo does not need to be simmered for hours once you've added all of the ingredients. 30 minutes, tops or you're going to have stringy chicken and dry andouille.

I've thought about browning some sausage and using that grease and using the sausage for something else or browning half of the sausage and simmerine half. Whatever works for you and your tastes is what you should do. There's no wrong or right way as far as that's concerned.

I've made gumbo plenty of times without cooking any meat at all in the oil. It's just fine. The andouille gives it a lot of flavor anyway as does the dark roux.

yea i use regular oil, chicken fat, and the sausage oil..