Do any of you add other things to a jug of bisto?

[Indecisivejo]

I love gravy but my other half doesn't like bisto, he likes proper home made gravy with stock and peppercorns etc but I haven't got time to faff for evening meals I just want to add hot water to bisto lol. Is there anything I could add to give it a twist? Maybe Tom purée or Worcestershire sauce etc??

Cranberry sauce stirred in or red current jelly.
Or mint sauce.....yum and lovely with sausages.

The best gravy I have managed to make is using onions roasted under the joint and then adding cider. I think it's part of a Delia roast pork recipe. It's labour intensive though. For shortcuts, a splash of sherry in the bisto is quite nice.

I know you are supposed to use juice from the meat but most of the time there is either no juice or it is full of fat, so I've never really understood that bit. Are you meant to just boil bones down to nothing? Wouldn't it just be watery bone juice? Ew.

I would use the veg water then add either a dollop of horseradish or maybe some caramelised onion chutney. If you're cooking sausages you could cook an onion with them and add that in.

I don't hate Bisto gravy (DM always makes it that way), but proper gravy is definitely nicer.

Use the meat juices, boil them down a bit, stir in a bit of flour, add liquid of some kind (stock, wine, cider et ), season and maybe add a dash of something tasty (redcurrant jelly, balsamic vinegar, mustard, Worcestershire sauce).

JackCuse - there should be some juices (not sure how there would be none at all unless the meat was very dry). And of course there will be fat in it - you can scoop some fat off if there's too much, but you need some! It's a bit like making a white sauce - the fatty juices are the equivalent to the butter, which mixes with the flour.

Oh and 'watery bone juice' = stock . That's not the same as the meat juices from the bottom of the roasting tin - no water in there!

Bisto Best granules here, on their own perhaps with a glug of wine and herbs of choice on sausages or chicken breasts. For roast I use them to thicken gravy made from sieved veg from under the joint, meat juices and veg water. I know perfectly well how to make gravy with slow cooked onions, meat juices flour, wine mustard etc but it takes ages and still needs an Oxo cube to colour and enrich imo,so surely the Best granules are just a sensible short cut? Nothing to be snobby about.

Making gravy is a bit of a hassle, but to me Bisto is just nasty. A meal with bisto gravy over it is a spoiled meal. Adding extra stuff to bisto is surely just wasting the extra stuff? But I only make gravy with roasts really, and in the OP's shoes I'd tell her dh to sort out his own gravy if he is so keen.

I don't use bisto powder (isn't it essentially the same stuff just slightly less convenient?) or OXO cubes either. Both are I imagine mostly salt, MSG and other flavourings.

If I'm doing chicken, I put a little bit of oil in the bottom of the roasting pan, then make a little bed of onion, carrot, celery and leek, then plop the chicken (with a lemon up its bum) on top of that. Every so often during cooking, I tilt the chicken and stab the breast and thighs to let the juices run out. When it's cooked, transfer the chicken from the pan to a tray, and stick the pan with the onions, chicken juices etc, on the hob. Add my jug of cheat gravy bisto to that and reduce it down until it's quite thick Requires less fannying about than making gravy "properly"

I still can't believe the response this simple question has got, I'm grateful to those of you giving suggestions.
Those of you saying to tell my other half to sort his own gravy out that's just ridiculous tbh, if he doesn't like something he doesn't like it, it's simple. He hasn't complained he just doesn't usually have gravy he would prefer it dry and is perfectly happy with it like that but I was just asking so I could change it up a bit! He works very hard out all day the last thing I would dream of doing is telling him to sort out ur own!

Add Worcestershire sauce for sure and use the water that you've boiled your greens or veg in and any juices from the meat. Sometimes a bit of red current jam for a bit of sweetness.

Downstairsmixup but what do you do when you're not have a roast? Say for sausages or chops when you can't use meat juices?

OP add some marmite or mustard to it :) Even if you don't like marmite on toast etc it does improve the Bisto taste. I've secretly added marmite & served it to 'marmite haters' before, they didn't even realise! They enjoyed it

Knot gravy pot is far superior to bisto, if you just add juice from the chicken instead of gravy it makes a very very good gravy.

www.knorr.co.uk/product/detail/392272/chicken-gravy-pot

I quite like Bisto Best gravy granules - always make it with the veg water.

It's lovely with a big dollop of mint sauce stirred in.

Mustard

I agree, veg water added to a Knorr stock pot (thickened with Bisto) is nice too!

Hurrah, a food snob thread!
I love Bisto. Love it. I make a sneaky mug of it when I am feeling poorly, and drink it as it.

My kids are gravy monsters, we go through almost 2 litres of the stuff every roast dinner! This means that bisto best is my regular go to as the meat juices wouldnt go very far at all. I only use bisto best, not the cheaper stuff ad I will often add meat juices to it and thicken it with a little some sage and onion stuffing to make it go further. I also make up the water component with water from the veg and bone broth. I am a fan of stock pots and bovril too to add more flavour.

Sausages - You could slowly caramelise some onions with butter, balsamic and a bit of sugar to add. Or use caramelised red onion chutney if you want to be quicker.

Chicken - Add some white wine, cook it out and then add some fresh herbs like sage or tarragon

Pork - When we were kids we'd put a handle of sage and onion stuffing mix in. Could also add apple sauce or cider (again simmer to cook out the booze).

Beef - Add a spoon of horseradish and some red wine, or mustard and a splash of beer. Remembering to cook out the alcohol again.

Proper gravy is nicest, but I often add a small spoon of Bisto granules to my real gravy instead of just salt, it rounds out the flavour nicely.

Tell DH to make his own fecking gravy then!

I add balsamic vinegar, onion granules , mustard powder & an oxo cube if I'm making bisto gravy.

If you're making sausages and there's no meat juice, remove the sausages from the pan, add in a splash of oil and a dollop of butter and a handful of cornflour, mix into a roux. The gradually add stock while stirring, until you get a gravy consistency you like.

Add whatever you like to that, if you want to - red wine, splash of balsamic, squirt of golden syrup, some sweet chilli, some onion marmalade, etc (not all of those, obviously).

OK, it's slightly longer than bisto, but not that much, and tastes a lot better.

If you do have the meat juices, then obviously use those.