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56 Comments
Melinda F.
February 5, 2016
If I added okra to this, would it be (more) authentic? Would I need to cut down on the file powder?
Ruthie
February 5, 2016
I'll just pass on how my Mom (Cajun born in 1939 from Kaplan, LA) made her gumbos: she made either chicken and sausage gumbo or in leaner times, egg and okra gumbo. She never put the file in the gumbo pot - she left it on the side for each of us to sprinkle on ourselves :)
Rose L.
February 4, 2016
i have a great subtitle for this: "you will never again roux the day." (please forgive me--i'm in a silly mood today)
bopalo
February 4, 2016
Guys... that gumbo is on a PLATE. WTF. Everyone who was involved with this photo shoot needs to put on their Yankee snow boots and GO HOME.
Kit
February 5, 2016
bopalo, a couple of things: if you look carefully, you can see the shadow that shows the curve of the bowl the gumbo is served in. The other thing..... you need to pull your confederate flag out of your south end. The war is over!
tastysweet
February 4, 2016
i just recently read that there is a huge difference between Morton Kosher Salt and the Diamond brand. One is much saltier than the other. What brand is for this recipe?
Marion B.
February 4, 2016
Thanks to the reviewers who mentioned making several batches at once and then freezing! Great tip. I recently made this for the first time and thought it was great. Didn't have any celery so I substituted some fennel I had on hand -- an acceptable substitute. I love the taste the file powder gives, and I also love okra. So I used both, and the gumbo was not too thick. Since my husband and I are empty nesters, this recipe made enough for several meals. I only added the amount of shrimp we would eat at one meal so that when we had it a second time the shrimp were freshly cooked.
Frank
June 3, 2015
I tried the rice flour and it made a gritty roux. Paul Prudhomme also had the dry roux method in one of his cookbooks. A local restaurant here used the microwave method. That was about 20 years ago. I have found that you have to take Alton's methods with a grain of salt. I always liked his show and bought one of his books, but I found things there that were just wrong. I emailed him about how much I liked his show and he answered right back. I emailed later about a mistake in one of his recipes and never got an answer.
cosmiccook
February 27, 2015
This is a technique that Paul Prudhomme did year's ago --
New Orleanians do not as a rule put tomatoes (the 200 French/Spanish argument) in their gumbo! Paul Prudhomme demonstrated this technique years ago --
I'm with @Dneiko--these may be "authentic" recipes from the UPPER South but not what you'd find in NOLA and Cajun/Acadian lands!
New Orleanians do not as a rule put tomatoes (the 200 French/Spanish argument) in their gumbo! Paul Prudhomme demonstrated this technique years ago --
I'm with @Dneiko--these may be "authentic" recipes from the UPPER South but not what you'd find in NOLA and Cajun/Acadian lands!
Margaret R.
February 26, 2015
I have a quantity of lobster stock in my freezer. Is this okay to sub for shrimp head stock?. Heads on shrimp are hard to find here in Dallas
Karen C.
February 24, 2015
I'm from so far south, you'd have to jump in the Gulf if you went any farther. This recipe simply does not seem authentic.
LLStone
February 18, 2015
My husband and I have been making gumbo for many years. We've always made our roux on the stove. I was telling my husband about this article and he scoffed! We tried it and it was delicious! The oven roux freed up so much time from stirring and babying the roux, and it honestly became darker than any roux I do on the stove. It also is great when you are the only one making gumbo - you can get your roux in the oven and then prep your trinity, broth, meat, etc. It will be the only way I make roux in the future. Thanks for the tip.
Dneiko1
February 18, 2015
I love Alton but this is not a new concept especially in the south. My mother does and has been doing it for years. I live about 45 minutes from Louisiana in Texas and a lot of people in the south use this method. I was watching an episode of 5 Ingredient Fix with Clair Robinson and she claimed she had an epiphany and thought up the oven roux method. Lol. Do your research and you will find that a lot of things that seem to be "New" especially in the food world are just trending at the moment. Sweet Potato Fries,New Potatoes(aka) Red Potatoes,Collard Greens,Pumpkin Squash,and of course Cup Cakes.Many of us grew up eating these foods especially cup cakes....Yum! These are foods that may be new to some areas of the country but are staples in others remember just do your research and you will find that most of these foods are not only a staple in these areas but you can also find authentic recipes for these foods. Question: Has anyone ever seen,eaten or even heard of a Watermelon that is yellow inside?I bet that it is new to 99% of you but I grew up eating these delicious watermelons inwhich were ALWAYS sweet as sugar! :)
Kathleen A.
February 16, 2015
I've been cooking for fifty years....but somewhere this went wrong. It was awful. Wasted beautiful shrimp and andouille and two plus hours of time. Not my first gumbo, but the last for this recipe. Thick, and nasty.
Dneiko1
February 18, 2015
Hi Kathleen,Ashley Wayman! My mom has been using this method for years and I use it sometimes. I don't mind making roux stove top because that just how I like to do it. Plus I've learned to do it quicker stove top so it doesn't take me as long. Our recipe is 1cup oil to 1-1/2 cup of flour. Start it on stove top then finish in the oven on 325 degrees until you achieve the color that you want. No stirring needed. Hope this helps! :)
Carol
February 16, 2015
Thanks for the post about using millet flour for the rouxr........that sounds even better than the brown rice flour.........if you can't find the millet flour, buy millet and grind it into flour using the vitamix or a spice grinder.
Richard Z.
February 16, 2015
I have no idea what file powder is??? Can someone explain please.
Dneiko1
February 18, 2015
File powder is a condiment that we use on top gumbo after it has been cooked. It is made from sasafrass leaves. Some people add it to their gumbo while cooking because it can be used as a thicker but traditionally this is not how its used. I hope this helped answer your question. :)
PennyReeder
February 16, 2015
Yesterday, I made the best seafood gumbo I've ever made, thanks to Alton's recipe (and if Alton Brown isn't a genius in the kitchen, who is???!) It was the best gumbo I've ever made. For many years, I've been making my roux in the microwave. Microwave roux is good, and it's quick, but the oven-baked dark roux that I made, using Alton's method, was *so delicious! Better than any roux I've ever made before! I added smoked oysters and crab to the shrimp and browned the Andouille before adding. Let those good times roll!
Dneiko1
February 18, 2015
It is a good method. It is better then standing over the roux watching it so it won't burn. My mom has been doing it that way before I was born. :)
Kristen S.
February 16, 2015
We've been baking our roux for years. The recipe is in the classic Junior League cookbook Southern Sideboards from Jackson, Mississippi. It's my go to cookbook.
Beverly C.
February 16, 2015
I have always made the oven toasted , dry roux as I try and moderate my oil intake. I have recently used wheat flour to make it more toasty tasting. Still takes about 45 minutes in a cast iron skillet and you have to make sure it doesn't scorch but it is just plain , toasted flour that you incorporate as you are sauteing your trinity. Make sure you lose the raw flour taste after you add it to the trinity.
cjames28
September 16, 2020
I’ve been toasting the flour for roux in the oven or on stovetop until it is a deep chocolate brown, then add my fat to the flour to produce “instant roux”.
Homer T.
February 15, 2015
To the non-believer's and skeptics, here's some help. A close friend gave me a book in 1994 and it contains many types of Gumbo recipes, most important of all, to me, is the different types and way to make a "ROUX". It was printed in Canada in 1986 and authored by Gwen McKee, "The Little Gumbo Book". It can be found for sale on Amazon. The method used by Mr. A. is in there too. My favorite is the OVEN-BAKED DRY ROUX, you can save it for later use.
Dneiko1
February 18, 2015
Yes! I came across this book,and its right. My mom has been using both dry and oil method in the oven for years.
Edward S.
February 15, 2015
"A proper gumbo -- thick, rich,"..I hope he's kidding, or at least this is just what sounded good, because the best gumbos are thin..the darker the roux the thinner, and better, the gumbo.
Dneiko1
February 18, 2015
Yes! This is true most people don't know the darker the roux is it won't thicken as much.
Cynthia K.
February 15, 2015
Would love to try this, but in my house there's a gluten issue. Wondering if anyone has tried perhaps potato flour, or corn starch instead of wheat flour. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
dcole
February 15, 2015
You can use any kind of thickener, corn starch, arrow root, potato starch slurry. But those are just to make things more viscous. A brown roux actually has flavor, even some when they are in the blonde stage have flavor. Brown roux is the foundation for gumbo or jambalaya. So getting that deep nutty flavor that you get from a brown roux would need to be substituted with something
Cynthia K.
February 15, 2015
Thanks for clarifying, dcole.
Happy to re-frame my question!
Here's my new question. Wondering if anyone has tried anything besides wheat flour to achieve a brown roux that has flavor that benefits a gumbo or jambalaya.
Happy to re-frame my question!
Here's my new question. Wondering if anyone has tried anything besides wheat flour to achieve a brown roux that has flavor that benefits a gumbo or jambalaya.
Hoody
February 15, 2015
As to making a gluten free roux, in my experience there's nothing better than millet flour. Other gluten free flours have thickening abilities, but millet is far and away the best of all that I've tried (and I've tried more than a dozen different flours thus far). Millet's one of the harder to find gluten free flours, but WELL worth finding!
Patricia N.
February 15, 2015
At what point would you add the crab m
dcole
February 15, 2015
Crab , whether cracked and clean meat or legs goes in last couple of minutes. It cooks in a flash
Dneiko1
February 18, 2015
dcol is right if you just want to cook the crab. What most of us do when we cook gumbo on the Gulf Coast is put the crabs and they need to be blue crabs in halfway through cooking it will give the gumbo a more flavorful taste. The crabs will give the gumbo flavor and the gumbo will give the crab flavor. Some of us also put dried baby shrimp and or dry shrimp powder in the gumbo to give it more seafood flavor. But be sure to watch the amount of dried shrimp you use. A little goes a long way and they are very salty. You can pre-soak the shrimp in warm water to remove some of the salt before adding them to your gumbo. You should be able to find the dried shrimp and shrimp powder at a seafood market,walmart or a mexican/Latin grocery store.
dcole
February 15, 2015
This ISN'T new, I've been baking roux for 30 plus years. It was taught to me by someone who had been doing it for 50 plus years. It Isn't genius either, just common sense. Make it in 5 lb + batches, bake till you have the color and dried consistency you desire store in air tight containers, and freeze in portions. Oh and the very word "GUMBO" means okra, didn't see that in the recipe either.
Dneiko1
February 18, 2015
Rigt on the money! Isn't it funny how everything is new nowadays. And most of us have been doing it most or all of our lives! Lol
Louise M.
February 15, 2015
This is an old trick that I've been using for 20 years. "The Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Cookbook" from 1994 has you bake the flour @ 350 for 45 minutes to 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. This is done while you're cooking chicken breast halves for their Shrimp 'n' Chicken Gumbo. Then you're ready to proceed.
Deanna W.
February 11, 2015
This has been my base recipe for gumbo for years. It's since evolved to include whatever looks good at the store. Crab, chicken, duck, and greens have all found their way in. My favorite trick is to triple the amount of roux needed, and freeze what I don't need so the next time I want gumbo , the time consuming step is done. Also, while this is awesome with rice, after reading an article in Saveur, I'm obsessed with having gumbo with potato salad.
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