gumbo woe

[Anonymous No.12457940]

Help /ck/

I thought I leap in the deep end and try making a roux for the first time by making some gumbo.

Nothing seemed to be burning but I'm about 30 minutes into the simmering after adding everything and well, there is some bitterness to it all. Should I just quit now or is it likely to improve?

[Anonymous No.12457950]

>>12457940
do you have gumbo file, if not stop.

[Anonymous No.12457957]

>>12457940
>after adding everything and well, there is some bitterness to it all.
what is "everything"?
If I had to guess, bitterness would come from a plant ingredient hat hasn't been properly prepped (like having a lot of stems instead of leaves), or using too much of an herb (like if you used a dry crushed herb rather than fresh but didn't reduce the volume).

[Anonymous No.12457973]

>>12457957
Pretty much all the ingredients.

The chicken, sausage, stock, trinity, thyme and bay leaves, jalapeno and garlic. If it's shit then I'll just have to scrape something together what I have left in the fridge.

[Anonymous No.12457978]

Gumbo is like chili, there's no such thing as "pure" gumbo. It is however you wish to define it. Throw whatever you want in and just spice the shit out of it. If you want to sub minced meat for sausages, go for it, if you want to add a bunch of beans, tomatoes, etc., and have spices orient around the chili pepper, do it. It's whatever you want.

[Anonymous No.12457985]

>>12457940
here are some fool proof ways to make a roux:
>use oil instead of butter, much more difficult to burn, but changes the flavor
>make the roux in the oven instead of the stove, indirect heat is a lot more forgiving
>make the roux in a sous vide cooker, impossible to burn

[Anonymous No.12457992]

>>12457985
I'm going to try the oven method if I try again. I've just read that it is more forgiving. I guess you don't get better at cooking without wasting a bunch of ingredients.

[Anonymous No.12458024]

>>12457992
no shit sherlock. you don't get better at anything without doing it multiple times and learning from your mistakes. for cooking this entails wasting food, obviously. roux should taste nutty. if that was your concern then the problem is simple. work on making roux. that way you only waste flour, butter. if you don't want to waste it completely then make the success a cheese sauce or something and store it in the fridge for future mac and cheese.

[Anonymous No.12459514]

>>12457985
or use butter and add a little bit of oil to keep the butter from burning, he probably burned the garlic.

[Anonymous No.12459546]

>>12457973
>>12457992
To salvage your current gumbo, add some acid.

Just squeeze some lemon juice to taste.

[Anonymous No.12459565]

burned garlic will ruin your dish.

[Anonymous No.12459576]

>>12457978
WRONG WRONG WRONG GET OUT.

[Anonymous No.12459724]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oHAk_Fwku4

[Anonymous No.12459761]

>>12457978
WRONG ON BOTH!

[Anonymous No.12460083]

>>12457940
>didn't even take out the bay leaves
i'm triggered

[Anonymous No.12460444]

>>12459724
IM GOING DOWN TO THE HOUSE OF SAUSAGE

[Anonymous No.12460451]

>>12459761
haha....gg brought me back to the past with this one

[Anonymous No.12460457]

>>12460451
to play the shitty games that suck ass?

>>12460444
based

[Anonymous No.12460600]

>>12457950
Suck my sassafras

[Anonymous No.12460637]

>>12460600
kiss my grits

[Anonymous No.12460875]

fuck please don't let the gumbo thread die, best thread in days. If you can't make gumbo you are missing out.

[Anonymous No.12460888]

>>12457978
t. dumb fuck yankee

[Anonymous No.12460900]

>>12457940
"bitter" to me says burned garlic

[Anonymous No.12460911]

>>12460900
yep, non of those ingredient that he listed would ruin a dish other than burning the garlic.
make the roux and toss in your trinity and cook it down before you put in the garlic.

[Anonymous No.12460920]

>>12457992
Dude, it take some practice to make a good dark roux, but don't give up on it. Simply toasting some flour in the oven isn't the same. All of the online guides claiming that it needs to be the color of dark chocolate etc should be taken with a grain of salt. Sure, it's ideal to get your roux that color without burning it but that's going to be very difficult to do if you're a gumbo newbie. As long as your roux looks a few shades darker than blonde, it can work in a gumbo. It won't be the best gumbo, but it's far better than burning the roux. Make a chocolate roux your end goal, but that can be something to eventually work up to.

[Anonymous No.12460938]

>>12460911
lots of cajuns might disagree, must I don't really bother with browning garlic especially with gumbo, it cooks so long that the flavor is hardly worth risking ruining a gumbo. Especially if you have never made a roux. You won't be missing on out of a lot of flavor.

[Anonymous No.12460950]

I don't understand how you can fuck up a roux. literally just stand there and keep stirring. unless you had to leave to go to the bathroom or something there should be no way to ruin it.

[Anonymous No.12460952]

>>12460920
plus if you don't have practice at it a dark roux and a burnt roux are too close for a novice to know.

[Anonymous No.12460980]

>>12460952
I don't know, man. I can definitely taste when the roux is burnt. It's a strong, bitter burnt after-taste that's impossible to mistake for anything else. A slightly under-cooked "brown" roux is infinitely better than a burnt roux.

[Anonymous No.12460988]

>>12460950
Cramped wrists, had one too many beers, etc. Things can go wrong when you're new and unaccustomed to making dark roux.

[Anonymous No.12460997]

>>12457940
make your roux to your desired color, add a little water or chicken stock and taste it, if it tastes like shit throw it out and start over. that way you don't waste your ingredients. doubt it if your roux, bet you burnt the garlic. Nobody making a roux their first time has the patience to stir it that long.

[Anonymous No.12461010]

>>12460920
>As long as your roux looks a few shades darker than blonde

this, he probably can't even be trusted with that his first few times.

[Anonymous No.12461040]

If you have time the to watch a retarded drunk cajun for 20 minutes, this might help
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awikwx50Ndc

[Anonymous No.12461101]

>>12461040
food didn't look good, but that was entertaining. he should be a meme.

[Anonymous No.12461130]

>>12461101
That was probably the laziest gumbo recipe I've ever seen, but at least he didn't fuck the roux up. Then again, I'd have at least used a fucking wooden spoon or something to stir it instead of his silicone icing spreader lel.

[Anonymous No.12461135]

>>12461130
bet it tasted good though, roux was good.

[Anonymous No.12461149]

>>12457973
Dried thyme? How old? How much?

[Anonymous No.12461164]

>>12461149
to taste you fucking cooklet, experiment.

[Anonymous No.12461175]

>>12461164
Hey retard, I'm asking OP what he used because too much old dried thyme would certainly make the gumbo taste bitter.

[Anonymous No.12461181]

>>12461175
sorry, I thought you were OP

[Anonymous No.12461290]

>>12461181
easy mistake

[Anonymous No.12461412]

>>12461175
OP here

I used fresh thyme, diced up and about a teaspoon and a half? I'm terrified of over spicing/seasoning things.

I think my problem was both the garlic (put it in too soon and burnt it) but also I didn't stir all the way to the bottom of the pan and shit got burnt to it when I was cooking the trinity before adding the liquid. I will go back and try roux making a few times just to be safe.

[Anonymous No.12461539]

>>12461412
thyme does not belong in fucking gumbo! I hate this fucking website.

[Anonymous No.12461545]

>>12461412
> I didn't stir all the way to the bottom of the pan and shit got burnt to it

If that's the case it should be fairly obvious then. Good luck next time.

[Anonymous No.12461586]

>>12461412
>garlic (put it in too soon and burnt it
mystery solved

[Anonymous No.12461595]

>>12461545
Well the sticking might have happened after adding the liquid and bringing up to a simmer.

Can you form a roux too quickly or with too much heat? The recipe said that it should take about 15 minutes but I was stirring like a mad cunt, nothing was sticking at that part, and I was done within 3 minutes or so. I might need a thicker-bottomed pot.

[Anonymous No.12461600]

>>12461586
That was just a guess as to why. All I know is when I chucked it all out there was stuff stuck to the bottom so either that was the main culprit or it was helped by maybe adding garlic too soon. If I try again I think I'll add pureed garlic at the liquid stage to be safe.

[Anonymous No.12461635]

>>12461595
3 minutes sounds way too fast. how dark did it get?

[Anonymous No.12461750]

>>12461600
even if you burnt the roux it wouldn't be bitter. you burnt the garlic, common newbie mistake.

[Anonymous No.12461774]

>>12461595
use medium heating, try again. make your roux, then add the trinity, give 5-min, stirring the entire time, then add the garlic, stirring the the entire time. Keep going until it sticks to your spoon like a thick dough. Then add water or broth. Most people won't make gumbo because it takes an hour of constant care excluding prep.

[Anonymous No.12461795]

>>12461774
never stop stirring, it will get sticky and clumpy, you will add water or stock later and it will thin out. You are cooking the flour and the veggies. when you add the stock or water, you willl add your spices. you willl simmer then for awhile. then you add your fatty meats, and you simmer, then you add you seasfoods the last few minutes as they do not take more than that to cook through. Or you could brown them on a hot pan, but it would be a waste.

[Anonymous No.12461806]

>>12461795
as much as I would love to see you toss shrimp in a pan of hot butter

[Anonymous No.12461817]

how to make gumbo, for a brainlet?

[Anonymous No.12461861]

>>12461040
You can't be any dumber than
>>12461817

[Anonymous No.12461867]

>>12461635
I might be exaggerating with the 3 minutes, but a chocolate brown color

[Anonymous No.12461869]

>>12461867
you burnt the roux and the garlic.

[Anonymous No.12461896]

>>12461867
Gumbo is a slow and steady process, especially with the roux. If you aren't prepared to babysit for 25-35 minutes then don't waste your time, That's just the base.

[Anonymous No.12462021]

>>12461896
it aint gumbo without andoille sausage.

[Anonymous No.12462037]

>>12461861
didn't see that, thanks

[Anonymous No.12462046]

>>12462037
He'll get you there but he lives in redneck cajun country, you won't have access to most of his ingredients

[Anonymous No.12462310]

>>12462046
He uses all frozen and canned garbage besides the crab and sausage. He didn't even bother to cut up a fresh trinity.

[Anonymous No.12462369]

>>12457978
Youre right anon, dont mind these coon asses, they got one recipe thats from family and thats the only recipe and nothing but nothing can make it more better. Wouldnt eat a strangers potato salad either

[Anonymous No.12462372]

>>12460875
>nigger slop
>missing out

[Anonymous No.12462378]

>>12457940
This is the pinnacle of "American cuisine."

[Anonymous No.12462651]

>>12461539
>website
Time to log off gramps

[Anonymous No.12463010]

>>12460875
I'm glad my gumbo fuckuppery has at least stimulated some decent cooking-related discussion and wasn't immediately killed by another fast food thread. Got some good tips from you guys!