For Those Of You Keeping Score At Home: You Cannot Microwave Gravy
photo credit: thebittenword.com
I made a batch chicken fried steak the other day and like most chicken fried steaks, it was a bit bland. Luckily chicken fried steak makes a great gravy that you can use to cover it’s own shortcomings. Kind of like an ugly chick who brings her own beer(think about it).
So I made this gravy and it was fine until I got this strange sensation. I called my doctor who explained to me that I was full. I’d never experienced such a thing but apparently 3 fried steaks is about the human limit. So I packed up the rest with the gravy and threw it in the fridge. Of course I got it out for breakfast the next morning and since I was feeling abysmally lazy I threw the whole kit in the microwave.
About 2 minutes later I had warm steaks and cold gravy :/ About 2 minutes after that I had chicken fried hockey pucks and cold gravy 
About 2 minutes after that I had cereal.
photo credit: ManHole.ca
It makes sense when I think about it, I just hadn’t at the time. I’m not a clear thinker before my first feeding. It comes down to what gravy is made up of:
- fat
- burned flesh
- some boiled off liquid
- some thickening agent
Now think about how a microwave works. It generates microwaves which bounce off water and generate friction which generates heat. That’s why you can put plastic in the microwave, no water == no heat.
Now you would think that the liquid in gravy would allow you to heat it in the microwave, but the problem is there’s very little water in there. I got about half a cup of gravy and I know I put 2 cups of chicken broth in there. So the fat, liquid and thickening agent(cornstarch) all added up to a half cup. Not much room for water in there, and the water that was there was tied up in the cornstarch.
Maybe if I had put the gravy in there by itself and let it go for a while it would have worked. Or maybe mixing a little water in with it could have heated it up (although it definitely would have been gross). But I think next time I’ll just wrap the kit in tinfoil and heat it in the toaster oven. It’ll take 10 more minutes but I won’t end up eating cereal.
Tags: chicken fried steak, gravy, microwave
June 18th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
I have a suggestion… I used to make gravy with cornstarch, but when I’d heat up the leftovers it ended up looking like gravy jelly. Not appetizing. Gravy is not supposed to hold its shape like that. Now I make it with a roux instead and it heats up better.