How To Make Homemade Turkey Gravy - How To Make Turkey Gravy From Turkey Drippings - Gravy Troubleshooting Tips

What are giblets? The giblet bag in the turkey you buy usually includes the heart, liver, gizzard (a part of the turkey's stomach), and neck.

• While the turkey is in the oven cooking (or the day before), cover the giblets, wing tips, and neck bones with water in a large pot.

• If desired, add a stalk of chopped celery, a chopped carrot, some parsley, and a chopped onion (with its peel as the onion skin gives the broth a golden color).

• Add about 4 cups of water; let simmer approximately 1 hour.

• Remove from heat and strain broth; discard cooked vegetables and reserve this giblet broth for gravy. Either discard giblets or, if desired, pick meat from neck and wing tips; finely chop all giblets and meat; add to turkey stock when making the gravy.

After the turkey is done roasting, remove the cooked turkey and rack from the roasting pan. Transfer turkey to a platter or board with a lip to collect juices.

• Place roasting pan over two (2) burners on your stove top over medium heat (always make the gravy in the same pan you used to roast the turkey).

• Skim and discard any excess fat from the juices in the roasting pan. See ingredients below for amount of fat to use in your gravy.

• Using a heavy spoon, scrape all the dark drippings and any crunchy bits from the sides and bottom of roasting pan. Leave them in your roasting pan as these are what add great flavor and a nice rich color to the gravy.

• Add the turkey giblet stock, that you previously made, to the roasting pan.

Turkey Gravy Ingredients:

• For each 2 cups gravy desired - use 3 tablespoons fat, 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, and 2 cups of liquid (poultry juices or broth, vegetable juice, bouillon, and/or water).
  Any type of liquid can be added to make gravy, but always use the drippings from the roasting pan and turkey broth to make your turkey gravy. Add other liquids as needed for flavor and quantity of gravy.

• In a separate container with a lid, shake together all-purpose flour needed and about 2 cups cool water. This is called a slurry. Adding the thickener (flour) in this way helps to prevent lumps from forming when making your gravy.

• Once the liquid and drippings in the pan are lightly bubbling, slowly add the slurry mixture to the gravy pan, stirring constantly. If it starts to thicken immediately, stop adding the remaining slurry, you may not need to use the whole amount depending on how much or little drippings were in the pan. If lumps do develop, you should be able to use a wire whisk to remove them.

• Simmer gently about 10 minutes to cook the flour all the way through (undercooked flour gives off a raw taste). Correct the salt and pepper to taste.

Pour the gravy into a warmed sauceboat or wide-mouthed pitcher for serving. Remember that gravy will continue to thicken after it has been removed from the heat.