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Valuable Gumbo Cooking Lesson Learned Today
Posted on 7/15/17 at 10:49 pm
Posted on 7/15/17 at 10:49 pm
So i've been making gumbos for about 10 years now. I usually make it 2 - 3 times a year. I say all that to say that I am not pro, but I consider myself pretty good at it. Anyhow, i was making a chicken and sausage gumbo (no tomatoes!) and had just finished the roux (a really dark, as in dark chocolate dark, roux that I was pround of).
Every time that I have made gumbo in the past, ive transferred the roux and vegetables to the pot filled with hot stock. Today, for some reason I dont know why, I forgot to heat the stock up first. I dumped the roux and vegetables thinking it was no big deal. Well, after the pot started to simmer i noticed that the roux did not appear to be mixing in with the stock but was in instead floating at the top. When I would put the spoon in to stir, the roux would stick like slime to it as well. I knew something was wrong. I tried bring it to a rolling boil for 15 min thinking that might get the roux to mix in, but nothing.
At this point I am over an hour into cooking it and still all the roux is at the top. This has never happened to me before. I google to see if I can find a solution, and after reading several message boards I found someone who has had that problem before. He noted that if you put hot roux in cold or cool stock in changes somehing with the fat coating the flour which causes it not to mix with the stock. Basically,the roux will never mix in and the only way to save the gumbo is to spoon the roux out and make a new roux and add it to the pot.
Long story short, thats what I ended up having to do. Scouped the first roux out, made a new one and added it. Gumbo turned out pretty good considering.
Lesson of the day... never add hot roux to cold stock. Who knew?..
Every time that I have made gumbo in the past, ive transferred the roux and vegetables to the pot filled with hot stock. Today, for some reason I dont know why, I forgot to heat the stock up first. I dumped the roux and vegetables thinking it was no big deal. Well, after the pot started to simmer i noticed that the roux did not appear to be mixing in with the stock but was in instead floating at the top. When I would put the spoon in to stir, the roux would stick like slime to it as well. I knew something was wrong. I tried bring it to a rolling boil for 15 min thinking that might get the roux to mix in, but nothing.
At this point I am over an hour into cooking it and still all the roux is at the top. This has never happened to me before. I google to see if I can find a solution, and after reading several message boards I found someone who has had that problem before. He noted that if you put hot roux in cold or cool stock in changes somehing with the fat coating the flour which causes it not to mix with the stock. Basically,the roux will never mix in and the only way to save the gumbo is to spoon the roux out and make a new roux and add it to the pot.
Long story short, thats what I ended up having to do. Scouped the first roux out, made a new one and added it. Gumbo turned out pretty good considering.
Lesson of the day... never add hot roux to cold stock. Who knew?..
7
Posted on 7/15/17 at 11:15 pm to Seaux_cal_tiger
quote:
Lesson of the day... never add hot roux to cold stock. Who knew
Definitely a no no
Posted on 7/15/17 at 11:33 pm to Seaux_cal_tiger
i prefer to add stock to the roux/vegetables, adding and stirring until i get the consistency i want
Posted on 7/15/17 at 11:53 pm to Seaux_cal_tiger
Yeah, that never works. Glad you salvaged it
Posted on 7/16/17 at 7:33 am to RatLTrap
I always add stock to roux after my vegetables and meat are browned. Just use one pot.
Posted on 7/16/17 at 7:35 am to Seaux_cal_tiger
Yeah, they are some things seem like small things that don't matter but there are those things that do matter and make a big difference. I made a gumbo Friday that went perfect easy.
Here's the roux that was as perfect as it can get. Mixed in easily. I find that when it starts to brown switching to using a wire whisk from a wooden spoon helps to sort of whip into a creamier consistency.
Posted on 7/16/17 at 8:15 am to Cajunate
Yep, I always add hot stock to the hot roux, stirring it in as I go.
Posted on 7/16/17 at 9:27 am to Seaux_cal_tiger
Not just a gumbo thing. No matter what your base or sauce, always try to incorporate liquids into solids, and of like temperature.
Posted on 7/16/17 at 9:58 am to Joshjrn
Go info to know! Thanks.
Posted on 7/16/17 at 10:50 am to Cajunate
That's a thing of beauty 
Attempting gumbo tonight. :fingerscrossed:
Attempting gumbo tonight. :fingerscrossed:
Posted on 7/16/17 at 11:03 am to Nicky Parrish
You cook the meat in the roux? I have not done that before. I've always cooked the veggies with the roux. cook the meat in the gumbo pot and then add the roux / veg to the gumbo pot.
I am going to have to try the one pot method.
I am going to have to try the one pot method.
Posted on 7/16/17 at 11:17 am to Seaux_cal_tiger
That is right. It mixes much better and faster if the roux and stock are both hot. But I have always found that when you do it the other way, the problem solves itself when the whole thing comes to a boil.
Posted on 7/16/17 at 12:40 pm to Seaux_cal_tiger
I would do one pot if I had cast iron big enough. As is, I brown the sausage and chicken, remove. Make roux, add trinity and cook down, add sausage back in and simmer, then transfer all of it into a big stainless pot. Slowly add bouillon and cook for a while. Add chicken back in and cook for a while.
This post was edited on 7/16/17 at 1:04 pm
Posted on 7/16/17 at 10:26 pm to Seaux_cal_tiger
Been there, done that. It has even happened when I added to warmed stock. I think my mistake is I like to put in a lot of vegetables and I throw the cold vegetables into the roux and it seizes it up and the warm stock is too little too late. From now on I am going to add in vegetables that I have already sauteed some and then add in my warmed stock. If it separates again then I am never making gumbo again. It is too disappointing.
Posted on 7/17/17 at 12:00 pm to BigB0882
Have you tried slowly adding warm stock to your roux? Everyone I hear of having breaking issues tries to add the roux to the stock.
Posted on 7/17/17 at 12:12 pm to Joshjrn
quote:
tries to add the roux to the stock.
I don't even know how you would do this. You scrape all the roux and veggies and browned meat bits and fat out of one pot and try to just dump it into another one?
Posted on 7/17/17 at 12:24 pm to RatLTrap
quote:This is what I do, and even using room temperature stock, nothing bad ever happens. I just add, then stir, add then stir...until all incorporated.
i prefer to add stock to the roux/vegetables
Posted on 7/17/17 at 12:31 pm to Breesus
quote:
I don't even know how you would do this. You scrape all the roux and veggies and browned meat bits and fat out of one pot and try to just dump it into another one?
I do it every time I make gumbo. I have a large deep cast iron pot. I make the roux in that. I add the vegetables and saute those. Any fond stuck to the bottom comes right up and mixes into the roux veggie mixture. The pot is pretty full. I add the warm roux by large spoonfuls or ladles full to the simmering stock which is in a 20 quart pot. I stir it in one large spoonful at a time until it's incorporated. Comes out great every time. I've never done it any other way.
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