I have tried making a red wine pan sauce twice now and am not getting the results that I want.

The first time I know what I did wrong (too much wine and stock) and so I had to use some starch to thicken with killed the color and muted the taste. And by the time I was done the meat was cold.

The second time I followed the instruction to the "T" and found that it was still not thickening up like I would really expect. I also found that reducing the 1/2 cup wine and 1 cup stock was taking too long and the meat was again cooling, even when placed in the proper tin foil tent. I believe that I did use too much butter in order to increase the consistency, but that also took away from the flavor and color that the wine and stock give.

How long should it take to make the pan sauce? Any other tip or hints? I would really like to master this skill.

Prost,
Robbo

There actually another forum thread here, under the cooking school lesson on Pan Sauces.

Basically it takes practice and practice. Making something twice is generally not enough time to "master" something. Pan sauces do not take long, but it depends on a few things...the heat, the stock used, how much liquid, etc. Basically a pan sauce can take anywhere from 2 minutes to several minutes to make.

I say keep practicing and also read the other discussions on pan sauces. Cheers!

When I make a pan sauce, I find that allowing the wine to reduce a bit before I add any stock helps temendously. I also like to add a bit of cream after the stock has reduced which adds an extra bit of creamyness and thickness. Also, to keep the meat warm, I transfer it to a low heat oven after it has rested for a while. This keeps it fresh but does not cook it further therefore keeping the wonderful fresh taste without loosing the moisture.