Roux: What’s All The Fuss About?
Without roux there is no gumbo.
For gumbo, a traditional roux is equal parts oil and flour. Essentially, you are frying the flour in the oil until it becomes the color of dark chocolate (but without burning it!). Why do we do this? Because roux adds a depth of color and flavor to the gumbo that it would not have otherwise. It also thickens up the gumbo, setting it apart from any other kind of soup.
Why a Dry Roux?
Making a roux is a delicate process. It is easy to lose your patience, turn the heat up, and accidentally burn the roux. Burnt roux does not smell very good. And a burnt roux means you have to start over from scratch… if you want gumbo, that is.
Making a traditional roux can take up to 30 minutes, if you do it right. When asked how long it takes to make a roux, many Cajuns will respond indicating the number of beers or Martinis it takes, not minutes. “It’s a two Martini roux.”
I’ve seen rouxs made with olive oil, canola oil, vegetable oil, and Crisco vegetable shortening, but I tend to stay away from those. I’ve seen rouxs made with butter, reduced chicken fat, goose fat, coconut oil, and even the grease from andouille. I like those. When making a roux with oil, you need to choose something with a high smoke point. You don’t want the oil to burn.
Any kind of flour will do. All-Purpose. Bread flour. That really doesn’t matter much. The main thing is that you use equal parts oil and flour, and that you don’t burn it. Recently, I’ve started adding a little more flour that oil. I find that it speeds the process up a bit.
An alternative to the traditional oil and flour roux, is a dry roux made in the oven. It takes longer to make the roux, but it demands less attention. In my experience, the results are the same. Just less mess and more time to chop onions, bell peppers, and celery.
INGREDIENTS
- 3 cups All-Purpose Flour (I prefer King Arthur flour)
DIRECTIONS
For Preparing the Roux
- Distribute 3 cups of flour evenly over the dry bottom of a large iron skillet or heavy Dutch oven.
- Place skillet in a 400 degree oven for an hour to an hour-and-a-half. Stir well every 15 minutes so that the flour will brown evenly. Note: toward the end of the cook time (maybe the last 20 minutes or so), you will need to stir more frequently. Let your nose dictate the time. The kitchen will be filled with the wonderful nutty fragrance of roux… but you don’t want it to burn.
- Once it has reached the color of peanut butter, remove the skillet from the oven and let it cool. Note: The roux will actually darken in color when added to water, oil, or when added directly to a gumbo.
For Use
Use the amount called for in the gumbo recipe. For example, 1 cup or 3/4 cup. Whatever it may be.
When ready to use, you can mix equal parts dry roux and water until smooth. Or you can add an equal portion of dry roux to heated oil in a skillet and mix thoroughly. No need to brown it any further.
I like to add the dry roux by itself to the pot of onions, bell peppers, and celery as they finish sautéing. Then I add the andouille (after degreasing and slicing) and let that sauté for a bit before adding the stock.
This dry roux can be stored in a glass jar for future use.
What About You?
Do you have any roux-making tips? Or maybe a roux-making catastrophe story or two? I’d love to hear about it! Leave a comment below!
New Orleans Red Beans and Rice For Those in Need #SundaySupper
How long with this last in jar? I store dehydrated foods, etc., in vacuum sealed jars.
That’s a great question, Margo. I really don’t know. I’ve never had to store any for too long. I would imagine it would last a good while if it was vacuum sealed. If you ever find a satisfactory answer to your question, please do let me know. I would then be able to point people in the right direction in the future. Thanks!
Will do. Thanks.
Hi, Jeff. I’m a newbie to gumbo. I’ve only made it twice. The first time was pretty tasty if I must say. 🙂 The second time…not so much. I can’t remember (it was last year). I found this dry roux post and LOVE the idea. I would make gumbo so much more often! With that said, you say in the post to use whatever the recipe calls for: 1 cup roux in recipe = 1 cup dry roux. I’m confused. In a recipe, they sometimes provide the ingredients for the roux: 1 cup butter, 1 cup flour. So…does that translate into 2 cups of roux or 1 cup? Could you help me understand how best to apply measurements for that dry roux? Thanks!
What about filé powder in the gumbo? I’m told it’s not real gumbo without it, but I didn’t notice it in your gumbo recipe.
This roux made a FANTASTIC gumbo!! Used 1 cup of it, and am looking forward to using it more in the future!! It was SO easy to do. I had never made Gumbo without Cajun King mix before, and just… needed some good Gumbo, and wanted to learn to make it from scratch. I was terrified of burning the roux (and also didn’t want to stand at the stove stirring in the middle of Florida summer), so I found this while doing my Gumbo research, and I’m INCREDIBLY happy I found this site. The Gumbo gravy was thick, rich, and absolutely delicious!
It’s been my experience that one should not use self-rising flour for a roux. It reacts differently than all-purpose.
The MATRIARCH of my Family always used SELF RISING Flour= she said the ONLY difference was that it turned BROWN FASTER…
Trust me, TRIED & TRUE!
Do you have to use a cast iron skillet? Does that make a difference? I don’t have a Dutch oven, and my cast iron skillet is very small. Could I use, say, a 9×13 glass baking dish or other casserole type dish?
I’ve recently discovered that I am Gluten-sensitive, so I’m trying to re-invent all my favorite recipes with Gluten-free ingredients. I’ve been successful at making roux the old-fashioned way, using gluten free flour, but it seems to take longer to get a nice dark color. When I came across this article for a dry roux, which seems to take so much less effort, well, I have to try it!
I like to make my dry roux in my cast iron dutch oven on the stove. I use 3 cups flour, about 3 tsp sea salt, and the same with black pepper. I can wander around my kitchen getting things ready while checking and stirring the roux often as it starts turning color pretty quickly. My temp is a low heat, my stove is set in numbers and so I set between 2 and 3. When it starts looking like toast, I turn heat down to the lowest temperature available and continue to pay attention at this point stirring every few moments until my roux is the desired color for what I am making. This roux works on everything from Mac n cheese and cream soups, to biscuits n gravy and gumbo. It freezes wonderfully as well. I have kept mine in the freezer up to 6 months tried and true! Thanks for the info provided!
So, with a regular roux, you add the trinity once the roux reaches the desired color. I’m guessing that the oil in a regular roux is what cooks the trinity to the point of the onions being transparent. With a dry roux, what is the process of adding the trinity?
I watched Kevin Belton (a cooking show chef) make this a few nights ago. He cooked the seasoned trinity in butter until tender then stirred in some of the the dry roux. No need to cook it further since it’s already cooked. He just whisked it into the butter and veggies and immediately stirred in the broth. It reached a lovely brown gravy-like consistency almost at once. He then lowered raw, unbrowned but seasoned pork chops into the gravy and simmered it for a few minutes, until the chops were done. Served with rice and a salad, the result is an impressively quick, delicious dinner.