For good pan gravy the very first thing you MUST do is fry up some good dead critter be it beef, chicken or whatever suits your fancy.
Then decide how much gravy you want to make. For Farmdad and I, I leave about 1/4 cup of the grease that I fried my meat in in the bottom of the pan. Make sure your grease is hot but not smokin hot.
Take a few tablespoons of flour and stir it into the grease. It needs to be just enough that it doesn't leave extra grease on top of your mess in the skillet. It should look somewhat like a thin paste:
Now the real secret to pan gravy is to let the flour cook into your grease. Do not under cook the pasty substance or you will be left with a very starchy tasting gravy. Actually most people think they are going to burn the gravy if they leave it too long and in a way that is exactly what you are doing but not enough to blacken it just get it to a nice golden brown. This usually takes 2-3 minutes.
Now the next step is the hardest. You really can't leave your gravy at this point. Take your jug of Whole milk,( whole milk makes a richer gravy) and start pouring it into the pan stirring constantly. ( Love my coated whisks for this. ) Put plenty milk in to start with or you will end up with a sticky glop. You must keep stirring the gravy and adding milk slowly as it thickens to get the right consistency. It will start out very runny but will thicken pretty fast. Add a little milk and let it thicken then add some more and so on. Keep adding milk and stirring till the gravy is bubbly and the consistency that suits you. If you happen to get it a little thinner than you want just let it bubble for a minute or two and it will thicken some more:
Stir, Stir, Stir! Too little stirring will leave you with lumpy gravy.
At the end, your gravy should cling to the spoon. It's going to be slightly more runny than you think it should be, but don't worry! It will thicken as it cools down:
Now you're ready for a delicious meal!
Once you get the hang of it good pan gravy is easy to make and will impress your friends to no end. (obviously LOL ) The best advice I can give is just practice till you get it the way you want it. Don't get discouraged if it doesn't work the first time. I had many failures before I got my first GOOD batch of gravy.
*post written by Farmmom, photos, editing, and compilation by Farmgirl.
