jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

"My mom taught me." I use the exact same recipe.

Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

I had to teach myself how to make gravy!!!
Then try to teach my first wife, after the first three years I gave up, I let her roast the bird and I made the gravy she could not handle anything that took more or less temp. control, She tried to make cheese some would be good some the dogs wouldn't eat. Time, temp and consistency to achieve the same results.
Gravy from a can or mix from a pouch for me I won't eat it!!
I did manage to teach my second wife how to make from scratch, it really is simple!!
Cracker Barrel uses mix from a plastic bag, the first time I ate there I could tell it was premix. Then I met a guy that had been a cook and he confirmed.
I haven't been in Cracker Barrel in over 10 years, and don't really miss it.

StanMac Loc: Tennessee

There’s no such thing as pre-packaged gravy, or sauce - it’s all tasteless, or bad tasting, paste. Ifyou don’t make your sauce or gravy in the same pan you cooked your meat, it ain’t gonna be fit to eat!

Cracker Barrel has fallen off a cliff in terms of appeal and quality. When the first one was opened in nearby Lebanon, TN it was truly like Mom’s, or Grandma’s, home cooking. Then they went all corporate on us and started opening restaurants all over the nation. And, as corporate restaurants have a fetish about consistency, a lot of the food items were mass produced and pre-packaged for distribution to the restaurants. And we all know what mass production of food does to its flavor, appearance, appeal, and quality.

Stan

Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

I don't understand the first part of your post, probably just me.
Cracker Barrel get their roast beef precooked in package in a bag of the juice its cooked in, in the kitchen they open the bag dump the juice and reheat the roast.
Bob use to bring some of the Juice home and use it to make gravy and it was great tasting.

StanMac Loc: Tennessee

I wasn't disagreeing with you on the packaged Cracker Barrel Gravy. I meant to convey that, IMO, anything pre-packaged calling itself "gravy" really is something else masquerading as gravy - it's something else entirely.

Stan

tgreenhaw

Gravy is fine art. It has taken me a dozen thanksgiving dinners to perfect the technique.

Love the robot humor.

drucker Loc: Oregon

I got kind of a funny call from my nearly 50-year old daughter about a month ago that started off with, "Hey dad, how do you make sausage gravy." Her husband was off on a business trip and she was hungry for biscuits and gravy. Mark doesn't care for cream gravies so she has never made it just for herself, just has it when they are out for breakfast.

Overall she is a great cook and makes killer biscuits and other yeast and quick breads but somehow she missed out when Gravy 101 was taught. I quickly explained the basic proportions of fat and flour for the rue and if the sausage was lean she would probably have to add some bacon fat or butter. Later that day I got another call announcing a happy success.

I grew up on a Kansas farm/dairy/ranch and there was gravy on the table more often than not. My favorite is still the gravy made after frying chicken. Or the "Thin Gravy" that was from my paternal Grandmother's side of the house. Sausage was fried in dozens of thin half-dollar sized patties and then a little cream was added to the skillet and just a bit of flour, then more cream and milk plus salt and pepper, then left to simmer and the milk and cream to absorb the spices from the sausage. It was usually served for supper on cold evenings when bread was to be baked the next day. It was ladled over the leftover "stale" bread -- the heels were my favorite because they didn't get quite so soggy. Or just put some in a bowl and dip your bread in it like soup. Some of the simplest foods are the best.