I learned to make roux for gumbo from dad’s pal from boot camp, who was from louisiana, and he taught us the patient “stir, stir, stir, heat, stir, but whatever you do, don’t burn!” method.
it stinks to stand over and mind and is apparently a recent trend. like, originally, people just didn’t make roux so dark that it was so much work
but i do like my roux dark, so i start a few hours earlier and bake it at 350F, slight stir every half hour or so, easy mode
Figure 1. a quarter sheet with a cup of oil in it, a cup of all purpose flour and roux spoon standing by, about to be addedmethod and recipe from serious eats, as per, which i use now instead of the old note card i used to dig out.Figure 2. the raw roux, mixed, pale, in a quarter sheet, about to go into the oven, which i had just stirred with my roux spoon.Figure 3. the roux in the quarter sheet in the oven.
stunt dark, labor free (free as in time)
Figure 4. roux, baked 30 minutes, color: peanut butter.Figure 5. roux, baked 60 minutes, color: chocolate.Figure 6. roux, baked 90 minutes, color: darker chocolate.Figure 7. roux, baked 240 minutes, poured and scraped onto on the aromatics, color: dark chocolate.
