Gumbo---yum!!! I wouldn't mind if you shared your recipe! I make a killer etouffee, but a good gumbo has eluded me. I don't think it helps that I prefer a seafood gumbo without the sausage. I just can't seem to get enough flavor into it :(

As to your pot dilemma. I wouldn't have thought that the enamel was what would make a 25qt pot heavy...pretty sure it's the cast iron underneath! I can't even imagine lifting that.

What about just a heavy duty stainless stock pot with the disk on the bottom? Large pots require special technique and attention no matter what, and I don't think you'd gain enough in heat transference in a pot that big to make it worth the trouble of lifting and cleaning. You've just got vast quantities of food!

Russ, that is a LOT of gumbo & I'm a sucker for some good gumbo! Unfortunately, we don't carry cast iron pots that hold 25-quarts - the largest capacity we carry is 13.25 quarts but I did find this 20-quart enamel coated pot which is pretty affordable. It comes in a few

different colors too. Happy cooking & if you're ever in the area, I'd love to try a bowl!

https://www.everythingkitchens.com/cuisinart-stock-pots-chefs-classic-20qt-multiple-colors-available-eos206-33-1a.html

lol.. Sophie, so true. I am just not a fan of cooking small.. lol. A heat disc? I will google that, thank you very much.

R

Okay, a heat diffuser.. I got it now, makes total sense.. sorta "makes the pot thicker" heh.. and diffuses the direct heat...;)

Thanks again Sophie. Just going to shop around to find the right one.

@Town - I only really make the chicken and sausage gumbo :( I have parents from Eunice, LA.. not near the coast. Their gumbo is not seafood, soo.. heh

The roux.. I just use it from a jar. I know.. *gasp!* but my mom makes gumbo every week it seems and she said she does not "make" her roux anymore, so... lol

Tastes just s good. I CAN make my roux.... but

R

There is a 15.5qt Le Creuset Pot. It is ridiculously heavy!!! I would follow Sophie's instruction. For the gas range, you can use a flame diffuser or get an portable induction cooktop for this purpose and a regular stock pot will fit the need. Look at the Sitram line for reliable and will liked stock pots.

Plain old speckled enamel is induction compatible, if you're going that route.

Russ, I will now delete my helpful comment. Roux from a jar? What kind of person are you:-(

So, the brunt of the answer, that "I" am getting out of this, is in line with what I felt was the best choice(s):

1 - I need a heat diffuser.

2 - I need to learn to cook smaller (lol!)

3 - I need that beautiful pot up there so I can learn to cook smaller but not too too smaller!.. lol!

Thanks folks ;)

Always glad to cook for anyone close to Cedar Creek, TX :P

Seriously? You realize that roux, if used for a sausage gumbo, is only oil and flour.... right?

If you buy a bag of flour.. and a 'jar'? of oil.. and you cook it, you can take that and store it in a jar for use later.

Now, there is no need to reinvent the wheel. I used to make my own, but my mom, who lives in a very very small town, whose mother-in-law did not speak a lick of English, and makes Gumbo more times and better than probably most folks on this forum.... asked me why in the world I make my own Roux anymore....and showed me a jar of Kary's Roux.

Now, if you have not tried it, you should.

For my Etoufee... I make that from scratch as it uses butter and not oil... heh

BUT.. like I said.. you can spend an hour or more making roux.. or making small talk and drinking wine.

Does not mean I cannot make it.. just means I have better things to do and not afraid to say it :P

Not the Kary's Roux. Étouffée with butter sound delicious. I make the roux because it is fast for me. I have some frozen crawfish in the freezer, you have me looking at it for some delicious gumbo. My okra is going gang busters in the garden.

I don't mind making a peanut butter roux for etouffee (and I make

mine with butter too) but if I was making a big pot of gumbo, I wouldn't have any problem with buying a jar of the dark stuff.

I didn't know that roux could be purchased... lol.

Stirring roux is the job of the youngest kid over 7, isn't it? ;)

I make my roux from the leftover oil from frying the chicken, so it is a bit more than just oil and flour. I follow K Paul's method of making the roux over high heat. It goes very fast- TOO fast if you're not stirring like crazy.

I build flavor a number of ways. I just made 6 lbs. of andouille, which I then smoked and put in the freezer. We smoke a lot of poultry, and save the carcasses to make stock. The smokiness adds another layer of flavor. We traditionally make gumbo for Thanksgiving Day, as the relatives travel that day, and arrive at all different times. Our traditional meal is on Friday. I make home made bread to go with the gumbo, which further enhances the experience.

Oh, there are times I make my roux from scratch and there are times I grab a jar. I do it enough, I usually have 4 jars on hand.. heh

There is no doubt that there is flavor in any way you make it and yes, to go "all out" is the "best", but 99.99999% of people would never know the difference, just like 99.9999% of the people could not tell the difference between Chinese crawfish and Louisiana crawfish....heh

The times I get up at 6am and feel like throwing a pot on, I grab a jar. If I am making dinner for some friends, I will generally make it fromn scratch but have zero issue grabbing a jar if it goes south. It sure does save the anger and frustration on those days the roux goes nuts.

I do, however, save eeeeeeeeeverything when I do chickens or turkeys or whatever. I have small areas in the freezer where I build up gizzards etc to throw in the gumbo... heh My wife hates the bones, but I tried to make gumbo without bones once.....horrible.. lol So she will deal with the bones;)

Russ

New to the party here, but wanted to say if roux in a jar was available during her lifetime, I'll bet my grandma used it (Why reinvent the wheel, indeed!) Heck, if I were to tell you the shortcuts she took in making crawfish étouffée, you'd probably think she was anything but the through-and-through Cajun that she was.

P.S. If anyone here is Cajun, from what I'm learning about that part of my ancestry, there's a very good chance you and I are somehow related. So...hey, cous'!

Lol! You should see our Thibodeaux and Fontenot family reunions, you'd think you were in the back woods of.. well, you WOULD be.. lol

Cooking is not just an art, it is also a work of love. They cook and eat gumbo like most people eat burgers. It's a staple of their life and they do it without thinking. If you asked my mom how to make gumbo, hell.. she'd say, "I don't have it written down, I just... make it.."

So, I got it by watching her make it. Now, I altered mine a bit, but to write down everything I do.. not sure I could because I tend to do it just a little different each time.

To that end, if you read up on how to make a good roux, many, if not most, people worth their weight in salt tell you how you can store some extra for later use. Same concept, just had it made by someone else.. heh.

Anyway, to each their own and when I make my gumbo, the only people turning their nose up to it are the people I would not invite over anyway ;)

Anyone down here around Bastrop, TX is welcome to join us! lol

Russ

You guys are amazing cooks. I'm adding that any thick, flat griddle will also work, as would a baking steel. I have the Ilsa 8.25" heat diffuser and it works well. It's under $20. While looking it up, I saw Bayou Classic 7488 17" Cast Iron Campfire Griddle on Amazon. Instant lust and I wondered if it would fit on top of their camp burners.

Gee, Russ. If you're Thibodeaux and Fontenot, you really *are* related to just about everybody in the Louisiana swamp.

I'm in the Houston area, and the 6 hour drive to NO is nothing. I made it many times in my younger days. I had a very good friend in LaRose-Cutoff and spent some good times and ate some good food there. Sadly, I wasn't much of a cook then so didn't pick anything useful up. I also waited tables at a Cajun place in downtown Denver. The owner was from Morgan City, and that was the best fried catfish I've ever had in my entire life.

I love andouille, but I love seafood more (ask my husband how many times I've actually ordered steak at a steakhouse.) The only time I put sausage and seafood together is in jambalaya.

Mushcreek, good idea about using chicken frying oil. I wonder how that would turn out using fish fry oil for a seafood gumbo.

Now I'm hungry. And I want to cook! But we've still got probably almost a month before we're ready to open the kitchen. I just finished laying the floor yesterday.

Gumbo is a treat for us- maybe three times a year, and only in cool/cold weather. I'm no more Cajun than the Swedish Bikini Team is, but I love to learn different cuisines from all over the world. Cajun is one of our favorites. I'm not sure what true Cajuns think of his food, but K Paul was a big inspiration for us. We even have one of his cookbooks autographed! We ate in his restaurant just as he was making a name, and sat in the next booth over and listened in as he gave an interview to a food writer. That's my idea of starstruck!

As for bones- that's why we make stock. All of the flavor, and no bones.

I grew up listening to Justin Wilson. My aunt was RL friends with the guy.. heh.. (don't get me started.. that woman was one of the most racist people I ever met... took her somewhere once and she started on a rant... I almost threw her in the back seat, drove her home, and she was lucky we actually stopped to let her get out. lol.. but never saw her again....) anyway rambling again..

Here is what gumbo is all about to a cajun and so so so easy..

There is a BIG difference.. and if you make this gumbo, I am telling yu what.. do not frown on it.. try it.. and I swear you will fall in love.. lol...

Boil about a dozen eggs, shell them, and then add them to the gumbo whole...

Well all of us Cajuns have the sets of Magnalite gumbo pots in various sizes and the big roasters too. They are handed down from mothers to daughters etc. I love Magnalite, it's not exactly the same as the old ones but still very good. I lost all of my pots and pans and dishes well everything in this flood so I have to start over. Lost all the ones handed down. Ebay is a good source.

And to SONS!.. lol ;)

Yea, nothing like those pots. My aunt was caught in the flood in Sealy, so I feel your pain.

OK if you are Thibodeaux and Fontenot and have family from Eunice my bet is that we are related lol. I have lots of both in my family. I absolutely have no problem with the jar dark roux. I have been burnt so many times by splattering hot roux it is a pleasure to not deal with that. I love eggs in gumbo, true Cajun that! We have a relative in the family that has a smoke meat shop out there near Eunice that has awesome meats.