What are the best pan sauces or gravies you can freeze in small batches?

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SEEING-TO-BELIEVE

SEEING-TO-BELIEVE

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i know about that
and i like it because it does not has mustard and i can also reduce the amount of fat in it.. can i freeze it?
what happens if i omit the wine?
i prepared it with the wine and it was wonderful but i wonder if i can omit the wine next time..

can i reduce cooking time if i cook only the sauce without the chicken meat? or do i must cook it for the specified time?

thanks and happy saucing
 
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Omitting the wine is possible. You could use apple juice in exchange. Omitting the wine and not replacing it with anything will change the flavour profile, of course.

It looks delicious and I'm going to be trying it soon! Thank you for posting that - Chef John is amongst my most favourite chefs!
 
whoopsies! completely forgot your freezing question. You could freeze this sauce no problem - but without the cream added!

Reason being that cream has a tendency to split when frozen. It is still edible, of course, but it doesn't really blend back in. I find it changes the mouth feel and you lose that creamy look. That alone seems to change the taste, for me.
 
SEEING-TO-BELIEVE said:
i know about that
and i like it because it does not has mustard and i can also reduce the amount of fat in it.. can i freeze it?
what happens if i omit the wine?
i prepared it with the wine and it was wonderful but i wonder if i can omit the wine next time..

can i reduce cooking time if i cook only the sauce without the chicken meat? or do i must cook it for the specified time?

thanks and happy saucing
Click to expand...
You need the amount of liquid with the wine. I would substitute chicken stock or even just a veggie stock. Why do you want to eliminate the wine? Expense? Unless you really like your chicken sweet, I wouldn't substitute fruit juice of any kind, not even grape juice, even though wine is made from grape juice. I think a sweet juice will cause the dish to lose its "tang".

I don't think you can make that sauce without making the chicken. Where would the fond come from? That sauce is delicious mostly because of the fond. If you are trying to freeze the sauce, I agree with dragn that you shouldn't add the cream until it is defrosted. And as to other sauces, the same would hold true. Also, I don't think that starch based thickeners, for example flour or corn starch, are good to add to sauces that will be frozen, at least not until they have been thawed.
 
Any pan sauce (as stated above) can be frozen. But if you are looking to make some gravies ahead of time to freeze... well, I should think that the defrosting/reheating of said frozen gravy would take up just as much time as making from scratch.

Is there a particular reason you have not to make from scratch?
 
taxlady said:
You need the amount of liquid with the wine. I would substitute chicken stock or even just a veggie stock. Why do you want to eliminate the wine? Expense? Unless you really like your chicken sweet, I wouldn't substitute fruit juice of any kind, not even grape juice, even though wine is made from grape juice. I think a sweet juice will cause the dish to lose its "tang".

I don't think you can make that sauce without making the chicken. Where would the fond come from? That sauce is delicious mostly because of the fond. If you are trying to freeze the sauce, I agree with dragn that you shouldn't add the cream until it is defrosted. And as to other sauces, the same would hold true. Also, I don't think that starch based thickeners, for example flour or corn starch, are good to add to sauces that will be frozen, at least not until they have been thawed.
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I agree with everything taxie says!

Also cream freezes fine. The higher the fat content, the less it separates. And if it does, just get your whisk out
 
Yes, whisking will bring it back a lot but not exactly the same. I still stand by what i say though. Although I do note I'm using cream in soups, not gravies or sauces, that's very rare and can't say i've ever frozen those. I also use 35% cream.
 
taxlady said:
You need the amount of liquid with the wine. I would substitute chicken stock or even just a veggie stock. Why do you want to eliminate the wine? Expense? Unless you really like your chicken sweet, I wouldn't substitute fruit juice of any kind, not even grape juice, even though wine is made from grape juice. I think a sweet juice will cause the dish to lose its "tang".

I don't think you can make that sauce without making the chicken. Where would the fond come from? That sauce is delicious mostly because of the fond. If you are trying to freeze the sauce, I agree with dragn that you shouldn't add the cream until it is defrosted. And as to other sauces, the same would hold true. Also, I don't think that starch based thickeners, for example flour or corn starch, are good to add to sauces that will be frozen, at least not until they have been thawed.
Click to expand...
because almost always wine come in big bottles and i don't need as much. if sometimes you find small bottles they cost almost the same.. at least where i saw them..
 
SEEING-TO-BELIEVE said:
because almost always wine come in big bottles and i don't need as much. if sometimes you find small bottles they cost almost the same.. at least where i saw them..
Click to expand...
Does Israel not have boxed wines? Whats a big bottle, are you saying Israel doesn't sell wine in 750 ml bottles? Also, you don't necessarily need wine to make a pan sauce.
 
Or look at vermouth.
Just use less of it than wine.
Stays good forever due to hight alcohol percentage.
Sherry would be an option as well
 
Badjak said:
Or look at vermouth.
Just use less of it than wine.
Stays good forever due to hight alcohol percentage.
Sherry would be an option as well
Click to expand...
I was going to mention dry, white vermouth. I wouldn't use any vermouth that wasn't dry. Also, the sherry should be very dry. Many of them are sweet and sweet probably isn't what the author of the recipe intended.

Depending on how the wine is being used (does it get a chance to boil off most of the alcohol?), I might not bother diluting it, but it can easily be diluted with water.
jennyema said:
you can freeze unused wine
Click to expand...
I keep forgetting that, but an open bottle of wine is not usually a problem at my house. :sneaky:
 
I once tried to quick cool a bottle of wine in the freezer. It got forgotten, froze and the bottle split open...

Remember that wines are usually only around the 11 to 13% alcohol. Only the water freezes. Not the alcohol.
Water expands when frozen.
 
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pictonguy said:
Does Israel not have boxed wines? Whats a big bottle, are you saying Israel doesn't sell wine in 750 ml bottles? Also, you don't necessarily need wine to make a pan sauce.
Click to expand...
For someone who doesn't usually or often drink wine at home, a 750 ml bottle of wine is a lot of wine. Make that full recipe and there's is still over half a litre of wine left.
 
If corked fairly quickly, good wines will last a day or even more in the fridge.
That recipe is using 1 whole cup of wine. 3 x 250 = 750ml. There is only 2 cups of wine left. Drink 1 cup with your meal. Drink the other cup next day with the left overs. 1 cup = 2 glasses of wine... for normal people ((thankfully I'm not normal)).
 
taxlady said:
For someone who doesn't usually or often drink wine at home, a 750 ml bottle of wine is a lot of wine. Make that full recipe and there's is still over half a litre of wine left.
Click to expand...
You don't have to use wine, you can use water if you wanted to, there are no rules making a pan sauce and after all, it's only you that needs to decide the ingredients then determine if there's a value attached.
 
dragnlaw said:
If corked fairly quickly, good wines will last a day or even more in the fridge.
That recipe is using 1 whole cup of wine. 3 x 250 = 750ml. There is only 2 cups of wine left. Drink 1 cup with your meal. Drink the other cup next day with the left overs. 1 cup = 2 glasses of wine... for normal people ((thankfully I'm not normal)).
Click to expand...
The folks who regularly consume wine are not the people who feel that they have to buy too much wine, to make the recipe as written. Maybe they like beer and don't like drinking wine. Those of us who regularly drink wine at home aren't worried about whether or not we can figure out what to do with the rest of that bottle of wine.
 
OK, i dont have that wine left over problem, but can't you freeze it in an ice cube tray?
Move to a ziplock bag once frozen

(Just to my post about vermouth and sherry... Yes dry. I forgot to mention as those are the only types I ever use)
 
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