I guess Pole really wants my amateur opinion from years of doing this. Perfect, "reddish" dark brown = chestnut. Not black. and it gets darker as it sits. Don't try what Paul Prudhomme says; it's just a ruse to get you to ruin your roux so he remains king of New Orleans. suckers! "voodoo magic" on how to cook flour and oil....silliness, and so freaking disrespectful to the history of sauce making. and let's not forget, Paul Prudhomme's chefs cook their roux for gumbo in the oven...go choke on that. And not just because of scale, but because the roux will burn on the side of the skillet no matter how great you are if you attempt to take it to black....and that burn will mix into your roux, because you must stir extremely vigorously. His chefs can make roux in 40 minutes in a skillet, because they do it at the oil's flashpoint....but they stop at chestnut brown...and let it sit. They do not do this for the gumbo though (they do that in the oven}...they use the skillet only for interviews and all the other roux sauces they make for all the other dishes. Pole, I read his book like 20 years ago and many, many times made it black...then realized, it burns on the side of the skillet (and my stirring mixes that in)...and he is just a stats guy like DD says whenever everyone disagrees with him. Sometimes you have to do the "eye test" and believe in DD. We aren't talking about "practice." go ahead boys...try to take it to black just so you can brag about your color. unnecessary achieves NOTHING you will burn it on the side of the skillet...and likely get second degree burns from splashing because of how fast you have to stir it (make sure you wear a glove on your left hand) and you end up with a thin Gumbo that needs a bunch of sassafras to thicken (or, god no, okra)
My guess is he's referring to this place: http://www.allmenus.com/tx/huntsville/93995-bob-lubys-seafood-grill/menu/
Pole, I know Alton Brown's recipes are dumbed down for us mere mortals...but he is a scientist here is here he explains roux color for gumbo... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SzAz6RfkYo&t=7m18s
