Gravy Thickener

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GilliAnne

Senior Cook
Joined
Jul 19, 2015
Messages
158
Location
Antrim
Hi All,

My daughter has coeliac disease. I have been trying to find a way to thicken chicken gravy and make it a nice dark colour. I would normally use cornflour, but that makes the gravy rather pale. In our part of the world - Northern Ireland you can get small sachets of gluten free gravy powder, but they only thicken about half a pint of gravy at a time, so you have to buy them every time you're going to make some gravy. I did read somewhere about browning cornflour in a saucepan, then using that in the normal way. I tried out the idea and it worked well at first, but after that it was difficult to blend the browned cornflour with water and the results were not as good.

Anyone got an alternative suggestion?

Thanks.

Gillian
 
I would try starting with a dark chicken or turkey stock. It can be made ahead and stored in the freezer. When you need gravy thaw a package of the dark broth and thicken it with a slurry of corn starch. This is one example, you will find many others on the internet.

Brown Chicken Stock Recipe - Bon Appétit

Good luck!
 
Check your grocery store for Kitchen Bouquet. It is a browning sauce, usually found here in the area where packaged/ bottled gravy sauces are located. Also check Asia food aisle, I think there are some brown sauces ( not soy sauce) that are used in Chinese type dishes too.

I haven't used any of these products, so I don't know how good they are.
 
Check your grocery store for Kitchen Bouquet. It is a browning sauce, usually found here in the area where packaged/ bottled gravy sauces are located. Also check Asia food aisle, I think there are some brown sauces ( not soy sauce) that are used in Chinese type dishes too.

I haven't used any of these products, so I don't know how good they are.

Like Whisk says....not sure if you have Kitchen Bouquet in Northern Ireland, but for darkening up your gravy (it won't thicken it), it's worth a try. A little goes a long way though, so just use a couple of drops at a time. It looks like this.
 

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I use Gravy Master to darken my gravy.
 

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Make sure your heat is on low. After you brown the corn flour, add the water just a very small bit at a time. stir it well and don't add anymore until it is well blended. At first the corn flour and water will be thick. But as you continue to add water, little by little, it will loosen up until it is at your desired thickness. Now providing you have a gravy coloring such as the two posts above, then add that.

Browning flour is a very common manner to make gravy. I have a girlfriend who browns about two or three cups of flour at one time. Then she keeps it in the fridge for later use. She too has the same health problem in her family. So she makes two gravies. She also uses Better Than Bullion for additional flavor. I don't know if you have that available to you there. It is a flavor enhancer. Since it came on our market, anyone who knows about it will never go back to bullion cubes. :angel:
 
Better than Bouillon is actually a stock concentrate rather than a flavor enhancer.

I've read that Kitchen Bouquet has gluten in it, so that might not be a good option. If you can get sweet rice flour, that would work better for browning and making a roux.
 
From what I have read Kitchen Bouquet went gluten free in 2006. It's always good to keep checking and reading those labels to be sure it has not changed.

Another possibility would be to caramelize onions until they are nice and dark to make a gluten free version of sticky onion gravy.

Rich Onion Gravy Sauce Recipe
 
I've heard of people using Arrow root in place of flour. Also what about rice flour?


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Add powdered gelatin to the gravy. Try to get gelatine made from grass fed beef. Knox gelatin is made mostly from pork bones. which is fine but bones from beef that was 100% pasture raised is my preference.
Gelatin is very good for us humans. Google the health benefits.
Corn starch and 'real' arrowroot powder react very differently when used in cooking.
Google has lots of info as to which one is the better choice given the food they are being used with.
If the gravy I'm making wasn't as dark as I like I'd sometimes use a little oyster sauce.
I use a little anchovy paste in every beef dish I make. Think anchovy>oysters. The suggestion of shellfish compliments beef dishes very well. Just the slightest suggestion.
I learned this tip many years ago from a classically trained French chef.
 
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Add powdered gelatin to the gravy. Try to get gelatine made from grass fed beef. Knox gelatin is made mostly from pork bones. which is fine but bones from beef that was 100% pasture raised is my preference.
Gelatin is very good for us humans. Google the health benefits.
Corn starch and 'real' arrowroot powder react very differently when used in cooking.
Google has lots of info as to which one is the better choice given the food they are being used with.
If the gravy I'm making wasn't as dark as I like I'd sometimes use a little oyster sauce.
I use a little anchovy paste in every beef dish I make. Think anchovy>oysters. The suggestion of shellfish compliments beef dishes very well. Just the slightest suggestion.
I learned this tip many years ago from a classically trained French chef.

Any tips for chicken gravy? That is what she was most concerned with. She wants it to be darker. It was very pale and unappetizing. :angel:
 
Any tips for chicken gravy? That is what she was most concerned with. She wants it to be darker. It was very pale and unappetizing. :angel:
She could add a little 'Tamari' to darken the gravy. It's gluten free and organic. A few drops is enough. It won't give a soy sauce flavor if used sparingly. It will add a little salty note so it's a good idea to season carefully after the gravy is made.
We know the key to a good gravy is to start with a good flavorful stock. Use the fond.
 
Thanks for all the tips, folks. I'll have a look for some of those products, in particular the dark stocks and the Tamari. I have also been getting to know a lady recently who has coeliac disease - diagnosed at 57, having been ill since she was weaned as a baby - who told me of a product she uses which is available in our supermarkets here.

Gillian
 
Some so-called 'arrowroot powder/flour' sold is tapioca flour. It's worth checking the label.
Arrowroot/tapioca flour will turn slimey if overheated. It's great for getting that shiny appearance on chinese food though.
 
Hi All,

Thanks again for the tips. I haven't needed to make gluten free gravy recently as we have been having ready to cook roasts with stuffing included and my daughter has been having difficulty with swallowing, so traditional potatoes and veg that go along with a roast dinner are a no no for her.

I should also say that I have high blood pressure, so need to watch those salt levels and a lot of stock cubes and sauces are a no no for me.

I did see the idea of using an onion to brown the gravy, so might give that a go.
 
As a thickening agent, cornstarch is a lot less expensive than arrowroot. I've used both and I didn't see that much better thickening effect with arrowroot over cornstarch. They both do equally well it seems to me. Arrowroot is so pricey over cornstarch. Is there an advantage?
 
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GilliAnne - you say, in your OP, that you liked the browning of cornflour (by heating it) but that it didn't readily mix with the water. It occurred to me that you may have tried to mix it in with cold water (the conventional way with cornflour), however, if the cornflour has been heated it might respond better with hot water/stock. Just a guess - have you tried it this way too?

If you favour the onion route for browning, I find potato flour an excellent thickener and prefer it to cornflour.
 
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I've study that Kitchen Aroma has gluten in it, so that might not be a great choice. If you can get lovely grain flour, that would perform better for lightly creating.
 
GilliAnne - you say, in your OP, that you liked the browning of cornflour (by heating it) but that it didn't readily mix with the water. It occurred to me that you may have tried to mix it in with cold water (the conventional way with cornflour), however, if the cornflour has been heated it might respond better with hot water/stock. Just a guess - have you tried it this way too?

If you favour the onion route for browning, I find potato flour an excellent thickener and prefer it to cornflour.

Thank you for pointing that out, Creative. Yes, I was using cold water and no, I haven't tried hot water, but will do so.

Thanks also for the tip about the potato flour - I don't often see that in our stores over here, but will look out for it. I haven't tried the onion trick yet.

Gilli
 
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