THE RELUCTANT GOURMET COOKING COMMUNITY

[jkvkdailey]

Since we ended up going out of town for Easter, I had an 8 lb ham that I put in the slow cooker all day yesterday. The ham came out tender and delicious, and I actually made gravy last night that came out THICKENED!! I was so proud of myself (one step closer to great gravy), but unfortunately the gravy was so salty tasting that we could barely eat it. I know that ham is salty by nature (and the drippings are too), so how can I "unsalt" the gravy now that I finally figured out how to thicken it??

Thanks for any tips!

Kim

[jfield]

Congrats on making near-perfect gravy! I've had the too-salty problem before, too. Sometimes I season "to taste" before I reduce, and then I end up with too much salt. Your best bet is to add a bunch of potatoes cut up in large chunks. They'll soak up some of the salt. If that doesn't get you all the way there, try adding just a bit of water or unsalted stock or vegetable cooking water to further dilute the salt. Then, you can thicken up again by pouring in some cornstarch mixed with water (slurry).

[jkvkdailey]

Thanks - I should have tasted first but didn't think of it. I used Wondra flour rather than cornstarch, but I think the trick (I finally figured out) was to pour the cold "slurry" into the boiling drippings. I'm almost there :-)

Kim

[jfield]

Yup, there you go! Slurry should always be cold. If hot, the starches gelatinize too quickly and clump together, something all of us has learned the hard way! :lol: