1. Before we begin: This recipe will teach you the perfect gravy, but we know lives can be busy and you may be short of time. If you are in a hurry and have a pressure cooker, this is the fastest way to achieve a great stock base for your gravy and all your stock-based recipes, like soups and stews!
   If you don’t, don’t stress, roast off those bones quickly, either in the air fryer, or your oven with your roast dinner, and simmer them in water for as much time as you can spare. This quick stock, once paired with the pan juices from your roast, will still make for a very lovely gravy that tastes better than instant granules.
2. Roasting the bones and vegetables
   Oven method: Preheat the oven to 200°C. Roast bones and vegetables until golden brown, about 20-30 minutes.
   Air fryer method: Set the air fryer to 190°C and roast bones and vegetables for 20 – 30 minutes.
3. Making the stock
   Slow Cooker (8 hours): Place roasted bones and vegetables in the slow cooker, cover with water, and cook on high for about 8 hours topping up the water as needed to cover the bones.
   Instant Pot/Pressure cooker (50 minutes): Secure the lid, select pressure cook, and set the timer to 50 minutes. Release pressure and remove the lid.
   Stovetop (1 – 6 hours): Simmer bones and vegetables on low heat for at least 2 hours, or ideally 5-6 hours. If you are short on time, and don’t have a pressure cooker, simmering the roasted bones for an hour while your roast cooks will still yield a gravy more delicious than instant granules or a shop-bought alternative.
4. Straining and reducing the stock
   Strain the stock from the bones, reducing it to about 500ml if necessary. Properly cooked bone broth will have collagen, creating a wobbly, jelly-like consistency when chilled. This is is the gold standard for perfect gravy.
5. Making the gravy. In a clean pot, melt butter, add flour, and cook the mixture out for 3 minutes on a medium high heat stirring as you go. Use 30g of butter/flour for a regular gravy, easily pourable, with some thickness, and 40g of flour and butter if you prefer a heartier, thicker gravy.
6. Cook the butter and flour mixture (the roux) on a medium-low heat, stirring as you go, until it turns a light golden brown
7. Whisk in the warm stock slowly, mixing as you go to avoid lumps.
8. Simmer the gravy on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it thickens and the flour taste has cooked out, about 10 minutes. If preparing a roast dinner, this is a great time to add in any pan juices from your roast.
9. Season to taste, then add ½-1 tsp fresh lemon juice to taste, grated lemon zest to cut richness, and your favourite herb (I love fresh thyme or rosemary which I remove before serving).
10. Serve the gravy with your favourite roast.

Storage
Gravy can be made in advance and frozen for up to three months or kept in the fridge for three days.