Is it possible to use smoked turkey drippings to make gravy?

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Test smoked a fresh Amish turkey on the new WSM a couple months ago. Did it hot on the top rack without the water pan on a roast rack and it came out great. Was not concerned with making gravy at the time.

Turkey gravy is my nemesis. Have screwed it up on most oven birds I've ever made. So bad that I always buy some sort of backup gravy, either bottled or a dry mix.

Picked up another fresh 15.5# Amish turkey today to put in the brine tomorrow. Bought a big foil pan that will hold my roast rack and the turkey in the smoker, thinking maybe I can use the drippings to try making gravy again.

Any advice appreciated
 
I've done it with brisket drippings! It makes for a tasty gravy with a lot of smoke flavor.

How do you mess the gravy up? If it's lumpy you can put it in a blender. This is how my Sister makes her gravy.

Can you tell us how you make the gravy?
 
Why yes... yes it is... but be forewarned you will get a different flavor from it. There is most definitely a difference in gravy made from oven drippings and smoker drippings.

I think it tastes great, but as always, opinions will vary.
 
I do it, I even throw that smoked turkey carcus into a crock pot and make broth from it
 
I'd much rather trim off the fat chunks from around the cavity and fry them separately to make the gravy.
 
Bottom line is to boil the drippings on the stovetop no matter what kind of cooker you get it from.

Be Safe and it can't hurt. ;D
 
jasonjax said:
Why yes... yes it is... but be forewarned you will get a different flavor from it. There is most definitely a difference in gravy made from oven drippings and smoker drippings.

I think it tastes great, but as always, opinions will vary.
Click to expand...
My intention is to keep the smoke light. Thinking about a few chunks of pecan.

My question is more about making gravy from the drippings. I'm looking for techniques because mine have generally failed. Bought one of those fat separating pitchers a couple years ago and just beginning to think that I've probably misunderstood the concept
 
grantw said:
I do it, I even throw that smoked turkey carcus into a crock pot and make broth from it
Click to expand...
Sounds great. I will give this a try.

Thinking smoked turkey split pea soup
 
I haven't made gravy, but +1 on the carcass idea. I've even broken down the bird before smoking and smoked the carcass then thrown it in a pot for stock. Makes for some great soup.
 
I've done gravy from drippings every time I've done a whole turkey, or even just the breast. I usually let the turkey smoke for a while (until it hits 130-140 IT), then put it in a pan with canned chicken broth or homemade turkey stock and cover it all with foil. Once the turkey is done, I pour the juices in a fat separator. Then, put equal parts buffer and flour in a pan to make a roux. Mix in the liquid from the separator (until just the fat is left) and whisk until blended. Cook on low heat until thickened. You can add more roux if it is too thin.

The last turkey I did cooked faster than expected, so I didn't get it in a pan while it was still on the cooker. I let it rest in the pan with 4 cups of turkey stock. Once it was time to make the gravy, the broth had absorbed quite a bit of smoke flavor from the bird. It was almost black. The gravy from that was outstanding. It had a fantastic rich flavor. Gravy does take a little practice, but using the roux makes it pretty simple.
 
diggles said:
I've done gravy from drippings every time I've done a whole turkey, or even just the breast. I usually let the turkey smoke for a while (until it hits 130-140 IT), then put it in a pan with canned chicken broth or homemade turkey stock and cover it all with foil. Once the turkey is done, I pour the juices in a fat separator. Then, put equal parts buffer and flour in a pan to make a roux. Mix in the liquid from the separator (until just the fat is left) and whisk until blended. Cook on low heat until thickened. You can add more roux if it is too thin.

The last turkey I did cooked faster than expected, so I didn't get it in a pan while it was still on the cooker. I let it rest in the pan with 4 cups of turkey stock. Once it was time to make the gravy, the broth had absorbed quite a bit of smoke flavor from the bird. It was almost black. The gravy from that was outstanding. It had a fantastic rich flavor. Gravy does take a little practice, but using the roux makes it pretty simple.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure that diggles meant butter, not buffer :-D

This is what I do as well. Taste the drippings because they can pick up a lot of smoke. I typically end up using a mix of drippings and home made turkey stock. The gray will have bit and chunks and stuff in it. If you don't like those you can strain it to get a smoother finished product.
 
I don't use the drippings from the smoked turkey. It comes out too smokey usually and adding smoke flavor on top of smoke turkey doesn't really do much for me. It kinda kills the flavor profile. (Also, I am cooking quite a few turkeys for others and a crap ton of ribs on my huge smoker, so don't really want to fark with it). However, I do make stock out of a smoked turkey carcass leftover the next day and freeze it for next year to make gravy, stuffing, etc. I you get quite a bit of stock, probably 2/3 of a gallon. So this year's gravy is from last year's bird, and next year's gravy will be from this year's bird. Now that is some quality turkey gravy and is not over-smoked.
 
The fat is what you mix the thickener in, like flour. Whisk it and if necessary blender it if lumpy. Like was said above, take whatever's in the pan, transfer to a tall sided skillet to your stove. I add flower and plenty of heat to brown up the concoction like a rue, then I use turkey broth/ chicken broth bring it to a boil make sure to get all the good stuff dissolved. Let this cook for a while, if not thick enough you can always take a couple of tablespoons of cornstarch dissolved in water and add it, it will thicken it up lickety split.

Basically the fat/butter/grease from whatever you are cooking be it fried chicken, sausage for biscuits and gravy, etc. is what you dissolve the flour in with the heat. I've read instructions where it says to discard all but two tablespoons of the grease, that's not correct in my book, you want over half a cup at least. If you get the flour to dissolve in whatever kind of grease you are using the finished product "gravy" will not have free floating grease, but will taste delicious.

Mike
 
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