First, cook a pound of bacon

[David M. Bueker]

That's the first step in my gumbo recipe.

Most gumbo recipes start with "First, make a roux..."

I use bacon grease for the roux, so I have the delicious first step.

What do you use for a roux when making gumbo? Or do you even make gumbo?

I use fresh vegetable oil to start my roux. I let the andouille or other smoked sausage impart the smokiness in the end product. Bacon comes with too many flavor additives these days, IMO.

With you all the way, BACON grease for the starter.

I use butter for most of my roux.

I use butter for most of my roux.

Yup, butter for the roux and, in the case of gumbo, locally made smoked andouille for the smoke.

Mark Lipton

[David M. Bueker]

Now that we get bacon from the local farm I am much more confident in using it. Yummy stuff.

Nobody local does Andouille, so I quit using it. What I have been able to get is too greasy, even when I pre-cook/de-grease it.

A have a friend who makes outrageously good fried chicken in bacon fat.

The first step in the recipe is "make 5 lbs. of bacon".

I might not make it past the first step. I'd eat all the bacon and forget about what I was making in the first place!

Now that we get bacon from the local farm I am much more confident in using it. Yummy stuff.

Nobody local does Andouille, so I quit using it. What I have been able to get is too greasy, even when I pre-cook/de-grease it.

A couple of the big markets around here have started carrying D'Artagnan's andouille sausage. Dunno if that meets your needs, but I certainly like it.

I've made gumbo more times this year than previously in my entire life I think -- largely because I have found a Korean produce market that has great okra (I don't think Koreans even eat okra but they seem to really understand good produce). Because of the calories, I have shied away from making the recommended quantity of roux. I tried one version where you mix the flour and oil in the pot and put it in a 250 degree oven for a period of time -- all that stirring is not necessary if the heating is perfectly even. When I have used a roux I make it in skimpy quantities so it doesn't actually thicken the stew. Okra helps with the thickening as does filé gumbo.

[David M. Bueker]

Now that we get bacon from the local farm I am much more confident in using it. Yummy stuff.

Nobody local does Andouille, so I quit using it. What I have been able to get is too greasy, even when I pre-cook/de-grease it.

A couple of the big markets around here have started carrying D'Artagnan's andouille sausage. Dunno if that meets your needs, but I certainly like it.

That is what we used this past weekend. It was the greasiest yet.