Hey everyone, it’s your boy back again, and today we’re diving into something near and dear to my heart—good ol’ fashioned gravy. Specifically, we’re tackling that creamy, dreamy sawmill gravy you get at Cracker Barrel. I tried to recreate it, and I think I got pretty close. Let me tell you, it wasn’t as easy as I thought it’d be, but hey, that’s half the fun, right?
So, first things first, I gathered up my ingredients. Now, the internet’s full of recipes, each one claiming to be the “authentic” one. I picked one that seemed legit and made some tweaks along the way, ’cause that’s how I roll. Here’s what I started with:
- Fried meat grease – I used about 1/4 cup. I figured, what’s gravy without that rich, meaty flavor, you know?
- Flour – Another 1/4 cup. This is your thickener, the backbone of any self-respecting gravy.
- Sausage patty – One, crumbled up. This is where the magic happens, folks.
- Some other stuff I found online – Maltodextrin, food starch, salt, some kind of enriched bleached flour, sugar, and yeast extract.
Now, the process. I started by frying up that sausage patty until it was nice and brown. Then, I set it aside, ’cause we need that grease. I poured off about 1/4 cup of it into a separate pan—liquid gold, I’m telling ya.
Next, I sprinkled in the flour, whisking it like crazy. You gotta make sure there are no lumps. We’re aiming for smooth, not chunky, right? I let that cook for a bit, just until it started to brown a little. This is where you build that deep, nutty flavor.
Mixing It All Together
Once the flour-grease mixture was looking good, I crumbled that cooked sausage back in. Then, slowly, I started adding the “other stuff” I found online – a little bit at a time. I kept whisking, making sure everything was incorporated. It started to thicken up real nice, just like you’d expect from a good sawmill gravy.
I let it simmer for a few minutes, just to make sure all the flavors had a chance to get to know each other. And there you have it—my attempt at Cracker Barrel’s sawmill gravy. It wasn’t a perfect copy, but man, it was close. It was thick, creamy, and packed with that savory, comforting flavor that just makes you wanna lick the plate clean.
So, there you have it, my gravy adventure. It was a bit of a messy process, with flour flying everywhere and a few close calls with burning the roux, but in the end, it was totally worth it. Give it a try, and let me know how it turns out for you. Until next time, keep it real, and keep it gravy, folks!
