With less than two weeks to go until we’re sitting down for our Christmas dinners (eeek), many of us will be thinking about the recipes for all the components to make the meal perfect.
According to research from Ocado, 31% of Brits say gravy is Christmas dinner component they mess up most.
Amongst a nation of gravy-lovers, nearly a quarter of us (22%) admitted to making it too lumpy, whilst one fifth (20%) said it always ended up too watery.
However, you don’t need to worry about accidentally serving up imperfect gravy this Christmas, as Ocado has teamed up with University College London’s Professor Mark Miodownik to analyse the science behind the perfect gravy.
According to the UCL professor, the components to creating the perfect gravy are volume of liquid, depth of flavour, stir time and serve temperature.
Based on survey findings of 2,000 Christmas cooks, the perfect jug of gravy should be:
- 115ml in volume – enough to coat the centrepiece and all the trimmings
- Stirred for 2.5 minutes resulting in a velvety smooth, lump-free consistency
- Depth of flavour on a scale of 1-5 should be the highest at 5, which means including all the juices from your roast plus additional seasoning
- Served at a temperature of 69°C
Professor Midownik commented: “Playing a guessing game in the kitchen can be risky business, so being able to pin the perfect gravy on concrete factors is a handy tool. In combining all the essential factors above, we’ve been able to crack this Christmas code once and for all.”