In search of the perfect sausage gravy

[earlmck]

Fellow levergunner JNG recently posted on his search for "the perfect biscuit". Many years ago I became satisfied with a sourdough biscuit recipe and haven't changed since.

BiscuitsInPan.jpg

My search continues to be for the sausage to make the gravy that goes on those biscuits.

Lots of years ago (so long ago I was still a college student) I lived around the corner from a little ma/pa market whose business "edge" was their meat counter. They made their own sausage, and a big part of the recipe was the use of unsold picnic hams. That was the best sausage I ever ate and I've been searching for a match ever since.

My staple at this time is Jimmy Dean (a pound of the Regular plus about a third pound of the hot). Then I will usually dice up a bit of bacon and/or ham to go along with it, and everything crumble-fried fairly crispy. This is reasonably satisfactory, but still not "perfect" in my opinion.

BandGserved.jpg

What should I try next?

[Tycer]

Make yer own with local meats.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/039305829 ... ot_redir=1

[Hungarian]

Super easy for those interested in making gravy:

1 lb roll of jimmy dean hot sausage or similar brand hot sausage
1/4 cup flour
2 cups of milk

Brown sausage, do not drain and add flour and coat sausage. Pour in 2 cups of milk and bring to boil for 3 minutes and then simmer until you get the thickness you want...usually takes me 9-10 minutes. It will also thicken as it cools. Pour over biscuits and enjoy. The hot sausage is the best.

[piller]

Super easy for those interested in making gravy:

1 lb roll of jimmy dean hot sausage or similar brand hot sausage
1/4 cup flour
2 cups of milk

Brown sausage, do not drain and add flour and coat sausage. Pour in 2 cups of milk and bring to boil for 3 minutes and then simmer until you get the thickness you want...usually takes me 9-10 minutes. It will also thicken as it cools. Pour over biscuits and enjoy. The hot sausage is the best.

I have done this, and my family does not leave anything for later. My son has been known to lick the pan clean.

[Blaine]

The above is all great....NOW, add a few spoons of mushroom soup from the can, and brown sesame oil.

[Rusty]

Jimmy Dean used to have a sage flavor as well. We used to mix 1/2 sage and 1/2 hot to make gravy. I noticed the sausage got leaner as well over the years to the point that you had to put bacon grease in it to have enough fat to make gravy.

[bdhold]

my mom has both - her biscuits are beyond light, her "milk gravy" will stand a fork.

I make very good gravy myself - I don't think you can actually measure it - it's a feedback thing - you know it's cooking right when you push a spatula through it.

[M. M. Wright]

Local outfit called Greers makes Ranch House sausage. They put the whole hog in it and it's great. But! One of the spices is MSG which my wife is allergic to. Gives her migrains that are terrible. We used Greers until she figured out the MSG thing so now she reads the labels. The latest is Red Bud Farms that has ham and bacon in it. Tastes sorta like Spam.
One of the Colonel's 11 herbs and spices is MSG too so we avoid him as well. Strangely, the two local chinese places don't use MSG. Same family from Hong Kong in both of them.
Farmland brand that says sage on it is pretty good too with no MSG. They have several flavors.
Of course I have a recipe somewhere from when I raised hogs and made my own. I'll see if I can find it.

[Thunder50]

I use Owens hot sausage. Brown it, take it from the pan, leaving the oil/crumbles. Put in the flour and brown a bit, add milk and stir. I then crumble up some of the sausage and put it back in the thickening gravy. Add salt/pepper and a dash of ground hot pepper. Let thicken.

[earlmck]

Jimmy Dean used to have a sage flavor as well. We used to mix 1/2 sage and 1/2 hot to make gravy. I noticed the sausage got leaner as well over the years to the point that you had to put bacon grease in it to have enough fat to make gravy.

They still have the sage flavor and I like it quite well but "the boss" doesn't like it as well so I use regular. And you don't need near as much of that there grease as some of us used to think, Rusty. The little bit in today's lean Jimmy Dean is more than plenty to make fine gravy.

My recipe must be about the same as Hungarian's recipe, but I don't measure anything so I'm not quite sure. I just sprinkle in a little flour until the meat is coated and dry (no liquid grease remaining) and then sploosh in milk until it makes about the right volume. I think I may be using a bit less flour and a bit more milk than Hungarian's recipe, but don't know for sure. Maybe next time I make gravy I'll measure stuff and see.

Sounds like there are some good sausage's out there I would really love to be able to try but around this town I only can get Jimmy Dean or the store brand. One of our stores has nice sausage but it just doesn't have quite enough spices and I add extra if I use it. Jimmy comes in about right for my crew here.

[Malamute]

"The Professor" has some recipes on youtube. I wanted to try his bacon gravy some time for a change of pace. He was a regular on the bushcraft forum for a while.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mysiBE3qX1k

[Rusty]

In my wife's mind all you need for biscuits n gravy is bacon grease. She doesn't care if there's sausage or not.

[JB]

In my wife's mind all you need for biscuits n gravy is bacon grease. She doesn't care if there's sausage or not.

I'm with your wife. Bacon grease makes everything better!

[C. Cash]

In my wife's mind all you need for biscuits n gravy is bacon grease. She doesn't care if there's sausage or not.

+1 !!! There is nothing like Okie milk gravy made with bacon grease/ drippings, browned in flour and over homemade biscuits. Even with 1% milk it will still curl you toes....possibly grow an arm back if you got it caught in the combine.