No drippings!

[George K]

As I said in the other thread, I was disappointed that my spatchcocked turkey produced very little in the way of drippings for gravy. What little drippings I got gave a bit of flavor to the gravy, but it was not even close to enough.

So, I have some frozen turkey wings.

How should I prepare them to get the maximum drippings? Should I butter/oil them?

Help!

[jon-nyc]

I didn’t have much in the way of drippings and what I did have (1c) came late in the roasting process.

I wonder if spatchcocked birds produce less since they spend less time in the oven?

[Aqua's Sister]

No drippings!

Oh, hai!

[xenon]

I had way fewer dripping as well. Less than half a cup of fat and about a cup of broth.

I put in half a cup or so of white wine at the bottom of the pan in the beginning.

The backbone and neck made a really great broth though, which I made ahead of time.

[George K]

I think I'm going to try this the next time I make a turkey breast:

Gravy Without Turkey Drippings

1. Create a vegetable fond. Fond, the flavorful browned bits at the bottom of your roasting pan, are usually the base and one of the most important parts of a gravy. To re-create that flavor without a roast turkey, we used a mirepoix (a combination of onion, carrot, and celery) and then sautéed them in butter for maximum flavor. These well-browned vegetables helped create the first bit of meatiness we needed.

2. Get your roux nice and dark. All gravies need a roux to add that necessary thickness. We sprinkled the flour right in with our cooked vegetables, and we cooked it until it was thoroughly browned, a technique typically used with gumbos. Taking the roux beyond its usual pale shade added richness and toasty flavor.

3. Use both chicken and beef broth. Since we didn’t have drippings to work with, we decided to whisk equal parts chicken and beef broth into the vegetables and roux to help create that meaty base every gravy needs.

4. After adding a few more seasonings and straining the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer, we were left with a rich and meaty gravy that rivaled the best turkey gravy we’d ever had.

5. And even better, this finished gravy can be frozen. To thaw it, place the gravy and 1 tablespoon of water in a saucepan over low heat and slowly bring it to a simmer. The gravy may appear broken or curdled as it thaws, but a vigorous whisking will recombine it.

[George K]

Made it this morning. Surprisingly good! I may have over-salted it, but I got at least 3 cups of freezable gravy.

1 small carrot, peeled and chopped into rough 1/2-inch pieces (about 1/2 cup)
1 small rib celery, chopped into rough 1/2-inch pieces (about 1/2 cup)
1 small onion, chopped into rough 1/2-inch pieces (about 3/4 cup)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups low-sodium beef broth
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
5 whole black peppercorns
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Heat butter in large saucepan over medium-high heat.

Add vegetables and cook, stirring frequently, until softened and well-browned (about 7 minutes).

Reduce heat to medium.

Add flour, stirring constantly, until well-browned (about 5 minutes).

Gradually add broths while whisking constantly.

Bring mixture to boil and skimming off any foam on surface.

Reduce heat to medium-low and add bay leaf, thyme, and peppercorns.

Simmer, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes until thickened and reduced to 3 cups.

Strain gravy through fine-mesh strainer.

Press on solids to extract as much liquid as possible.

Add salt & pepper to taste.

To thaw frozen gravy:.

Add gravy to pan with 1 tablespoon of water and warm on low heat until thawed.

Gravy may appear to have separated.

Whisk vigorously to recombine.

[jon-nyc]

I always omit added salt in any recipe with broth. Even the lower sodium ones are pretty salty.

Cheese too - my lasagna recipe wants me to put a tsp of salt in which is absurd given it contains over 2lbs of commercial cheese.

[Mik]

@jon-nyc said in No drippings!:

I always omit added salt in any recipe with broth. Even the lower sodium ones are pretty salty.

Cheese too - my lasagna recipe wants me to put a tsp of salt in which is absurd given it contains over 2lbs of commercial cheese.

Agreed. They say salt enhances flavor in cooking like salting pasta water. I think it just makes things too salty. If you try to avoid sodium in your cooking, the amount you put on at the table is miniscule.

[George K]

I made a turkey breast last night. As always, drippings were scant, but there was just enough fond to add to this gravy which I thawed.

Came out really good.

[Jolly]

A side note...

I was reading some stuff about the current avian flu problem and a person who lives in a turkey producing area commented on the recent push to thin the flocks before they possibly became infected. Breast meat is worth quite a bit more than dark meat, so the local processing plant often processes the breast for supermarket sale and the dark meat for other things.

The plant does not sell to the public, but employees can buy the products at the wholesale price. Employees routinely buy a case of legs for dog food...It's that cheap.