Watching with great interest because I have a pound of wings, along with 8 oz of turkey stock...

Here's why I bought what I did

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchen/make-ahead-turkey-gravy-3364146

add skimmed fat from wing to boiler pan, stir flour, then juices from turkey, adding broth, sometimes add a cube of chicken bullion if needed then broth, usually add chicken broth for more liquid, and shred up bits of meat for texture.. Chill till ready to serve. Might need more liquid then

Glenda, stew the wings and skim off fat? Dont roast them first, right?

cook first, then skim off the fat

Let all cool and fat rises to the top of liquid and skim off

FASTER, put in refrigerator and when cooled skim fat off the top

Okay got it thanks. A lot of recipes say to roast the wings first and then stew.

I found this several years ago on another food forum. It’s good! You can adjust the amounts as needed.

Make-Ahead Turkey Gravy

3 lbs turkey wings (4)
2 medium onions, peeled and quartered
1 cup water
8 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup chopped carrots
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
3/4 cup flour
2 T. butter
Salt and pepper, to taste

Heat oven to 400.
Arrange wings in a single layer in a large roasting pan and place onions on top. Roast 1 1/4 hours or until wings are browned.

Put wings and onions in a 5-6 quart pot.

Add water to roasting pan and stir to scrape up any brown bits on the bottom. Add the brown bits to the pot.
Add 6 cups broth (chill the remaining 2 cups), add carrot, thyme and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer uncovered 1 1/2 hours.
Remove wings to cutting board. Save meat for another use or discard.

Strain broth into a 3 quart saucepan, pressing vegetables to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard vegetables and skim off fat. (If time permits, refrigerate broth overnight to make fat skimming easier.)

Whisk flour into remaining 2 cups broth until well blended.
Bring broth in pot to a gentle boil. Whisk in broth flavored mixture and boil 3-4 minutes to thicken gravy and cook flour. Stir in butter, salt and pepper.
Serve or freeze up to 6 months.

ETA - My notes say the source of this was Woman’s Day magazine.

I roast them first. That's how you make gravy from a whole turkey. You can then simmer them with chicken stock, onion, celery, and herbs to make the gravy from the drippings. But legs are even better than wings as they'll release more fat.

I love giblets in my turkey gravy

You can do the cook first but the flavor will not be the same as if you roasted the wings and used that fat even if after stewing you would then roast. You could intensify the flavor if the wings come with their tips by removing the tips then cook them longer than the rest of the wing but not burnt. Place in a small amount of water similar to what you would use for the gravy and simmer for a while. Use that water to make the gravy.

I think you want them browned before stewing - otherwise the gravy would be kind of bland, wouldn't it?

I use a seasoning blend with a lot of sweet paprika in it for roasting, which gives the gravy a really good color & flavor.

I did that one year. Roasted, then simmered in water.

I am definitely going to make the gravy ahead with one of these recipes. Silly me never thought of make ahead gravy, but I have wished it when I am standing at the stove stirring when everyone anxiously awaits to eat.

Im using a recipe very similar to Chloebud’s. Wont be finished until tomorrow, but i will report back and let you know.

Annie!

My sister! Yeah, kitty and I enjoy those sorts of things. Mom put those in the gravy, but I liked that thing, and she liked that thing, but nobody else did. Giblet gravy has long since lost favor.

Hi Annie. You reminded me that my mother did that, too, with the giblets. No flavor left unused. I don't like giblet gravy. Guess the dog got them and later the fox!

I put the giblets in the stuffing/dressing depending on if it was cooked in the bird or in a pan. A suggestion for the gravy is to use flour as the thickener rather than cornstarch even though it will make it less clear. I have found cornstarch will not rewarm and will become watery if reheated. Sometimes even adding additional cornstarch when rewarming will not thicken it. The flour type can either be thickened or thinned when rewarmed. I have found making it slightly thick then adding chicken broth when bringing back to serving temperature also works if you plan on making it ahead of time.

One of my granddaughters has Celiac, so I was planning to use corn starch in the gravy. After reading what Malfleur wrote, I am reconsidering using corn starch. Has anyone used gluten free flour with good results?

My daughter is also celiac, but she doesn't really like gravy anyway. I thicken soups with dried potato flakes sometimes, and I might try that with gravy. I did try using the King Arthur flour blend but as most things, it was a bit gritty. I have thought of mixing it with the stock and letting it sit for 10 minutes or so, then making gravy, instead of starting with a roux, but I haven't done that yet. Letting the batter/dough made with gluten free flours sit for about 10 minutes does seem to reduce the grit.

Rob, we are sisters for sure, LOL.

dedtired, Hi right back at you.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Annie

Any gluten-free flours will work fine i think. I made my vegetarian/gluten-free gravy over the weekend. I used rice flour. SeriousEats gluten-free gravy

I also roast my parts along with a quartered onion, a carrot, and some celery chopped.

Veg/GF stock for gravy i also roast the vegetables and add leek tops to the simmering stock. Reconstituted wid mushrooms and a bit of miso. In the past i've added a quartered potato to the roasting veg as all goes in the blender. The rice flour worked really well. I also make a veg/g-free wild rice stuffing/dressing so i have a pint of vegetable stock for that as well.

Don't forget the 'keep warm' tricks. A crock pot or a pot inside a pot as a BainMarie. Add water in the big pot 2/3rd's up the sides of the smaller pot.

I can keep both gravies warm in the crockpot and the mashed potatoes warm on the back right burner. Nice way to keep things warm for refilling serving dishes during the initial sit-down. Stuffiing and roasted veg goes in the warm oven when the turkeys comes out to rest.

sleevendog...that's pretty nice!

Thanks for the tips on gluten free gravy.

Ta-dah! I did it and it is delicious! Here’s the turkey and vegetables going in the oven.

And here is the finished gravy

And here is the link to the recipe. I made these changes. Obviously used more turkey wings (2 lbs), and no thyme, garlic or cayenne pepper just because we dont like those things. I did add just a smidge of Kitchen Bouquet (1/4 teaspoon at most) to make it browner.;Yay, me! And you! Thanks.

Make ahead turkey gravy

Oh darn, link didnt work. On Allrecipes, it is called Chef John’s Make-Ahead Turkey Gravy.

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, chopped

• 2 carrots, chopped

• 2 ribs celery, chopped

• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil

• 2 large turkey wings

• 2 tablespoons cold water

• 10 cups cold water

• 4 sprigs fresh thyme

• 2 cloves garlic

• 3 tablespoons butter

• ½ cup all-purpose flour

• 1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste

• salt and ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

2. Combine onion, carrots, celery, and vegetable oil in a large roasting pan and toss to coat. Place turkey wings on top of vegetables.

3. Roast in the preheated oven until turkey wings are browned and vegetables are caramelized and softened, 45 to 60 minutes.

4. Transfer turkey wings and vegetables to a large stockpot. Place the roasting pan over a stovetop burner set to medium heat. Pour 2 tablespoons cold water into the pan and bring to a boil, scraping up any browned bits. Transfer mixture to the stockpot and add 10 cups cold water, thyme, and garlic.

5. Bring turkey wing mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, until meat falls off the bone, about 3 hours. Skim off turkey fat throughout the process and set aside 2 tablespoons.

6. Strain turkey stock and reserve 6 cups of stock; discard all the solids.

7. Heat butter and 2 tablespoons reserved turkey fat in a large saucepan over medium heat. Sprinkle in flour and cook, whisking constantly, until it begins to smell like cooked pie crust, 2 to 3 minutes. Slowly pour in reserved turkey stock, whisking constantly.

8. Increase heat to high and simmer gravy until thick and warmed through, about 5 minutes. Season with cayenne, salt, and pepper.

You go, girl! And happy Thanksgiving.

Annie

Looking good, ded. I use the method almost exactly like the one Chloebud posted. I dint use water, just chicken stock, salt and pepper, a little thyme, onion, celery and carrots. I made my turkey wings and the base this afternoon and put it in the refrigerator. I’ll thicken Thursday morning and then reheat it before the big meal.

The market did not have any turkey wings today. Instead I got a package of legs and thighs. Should be okay.

Annie, happy thanksgiving to you and your whole fam damily!

Thank you! I'm going to try this make-ahead gravy! SWMBO has vetoed the cauliflower puree, insisting on (truffle) mashed potatoes. So I'll contribute the gravy.

dedtired, excellent looking gravy and recipe. I saved it and printed. We are always asked how DH makes our gravy. I do add a few whole peppercorns and a couple bay leaves to the stockpot. And alway eyeball the amount of water. Vegetables and wings are all different sizes. Especially onions.

I put the roasted wings/legs in the stock pot first, then cover with the roasted veg. Then just to barely cover with water. Then my leek tops barely in the water. Veg, especially onion and celery, are full of water. Within a half hour or so, all is under liquid. Makes a much richer stock.

I'll second the kitchen bouquet idea. After I finished it, it looked so beige and I wanted it darker. Tasted great, but we do feast with our eyes.

I use the same recipe as Cloebud i made it today, It’s all ready to warm ip in the crockpot on Thursday. DH came home and remarked how good it smells. Easy and delish. i use turkey broth.

In my long hours in the hospital, I watched endless Food Network shows, mainly to avoid the political ads. Here's Alex's recipe from an episode of The Kitchen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSouAAw1KfI

I don't make my turkey gravy ahead, but I do use home made chicken stock to add to the stuff in the pan to amke more. Usually I take the giblets miins the liver which I don't like the flavor of in my gravy, and while the turkey is roasting, I boil them and the neck with a chunked up onion, andt he leaves from the celery I put into the dressing a bay leaf, some pepper corns and salt and sillmer that, adding water as needed, for about as long as the turkey is cooking>.

As for thickening, I always use flour because I like the taste....but for when a Gluten free friend comes for dinner. I find corn starch can get "ropey" when over cooked....then it goes thin and watery. Tapioca flour is a good alternative.

Lots of gravy is a good thing.....good for the leftovers too!

I simmer the neck and vegetables with chicken stock too. I never start with water for gravy, soups, and stew. You won't get as deep a flavor with water.

Ded, I would've put the wings flat side down in the pan and the vegetables on top and around them. You want the turkey to make brown bits, not just the vegetables. You don't really get a rich turkey gravy with wings or drumsticks though. I stopped buying turkey breast and separate pieces for gravy for that reason. I cook a Lil' Butterball turkey now, which is about eight pounds. It's more turkey than we need but I want rich gravy.