Before you throw away that Turkey carcass - realize that there's culinary gold in dem bones.
As a young man I worked in a hospital kitchen before the health care cost crisis took affect. The management at the time was committed to making everything in house from bread to soups, sauces - the whole enchilada. I bought my own 16 quart stock pot and decided to follow there example and try making my own turkey stock with leftover Thanksgiving and Christmas birds.
Once the bird is stripped of all of it's meat (turkey freezes very well), I go to town.
8 quarts of water
1 Turkey carcass
2 yellow onions, halved
2 stalks celery, cleaned and cut in half
2 carrots, root end cut off
2 teaspoons dried tyme
Salt to taste
Additional water to replace evaporated water.
There's no need to peel the vegetables, just cut them to fit in the pot. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to simmer and then simmer for 3 - 4 hours. Remove the carcass and veggies with a large slotted spoon and then poor the stock through a mesh strainer. Cool on the back porch and then place in containers to store in fridge.
The next day you'll find a thick layer of fat on top of the container of stock, skim that off and package your stock as you see fit. This is a very concentrated stock, so when I use if for a quick soup, I dilute it with water 50/50 and use if for a quick turkey/chicken soup (I usually use this stock through the year to make chicken soup).
It's delicious, very easy, people love it. When I give a quart of my turkey/chicken soup as gifts, people rave about it. I now have a network of people who give me their turkey carcasses, which I freeze in exchange for some a quart mason jar of soup.
As a young man I worked in a hospital kitchen before the health care cost crisis took affect. The management at the time was committed to making everything in house from bread to soups, sauces - the whole enchilada. I bought my own 16 quart stock pot and decided to follow there example and try making my own turkey stock with leftover Thanksgiving and Christmas birds.
Once the bird is stripped of all of it's meat (turkey freezes very well), I go to town.
8 quarts of water
1 Turkey carcass
2 yellow onions, halved
2 stalks celery, cleaned and cut in half
2 carrots, root end cut off
2 teaspoons dried tyme
Salt to taste
Additional water to replace evaporated water.
There's no need to peel the vegetables, just cut them to fit in the pot. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to simmer and then simmer for 3 - 4 hours. Remove the carcass and veggies with a large slotted spoon and then poor the stock through a mesh strainer. Cool on the back porch and then place in containers to store in fridge.
The next day you'll find a thick layer of fat on top of the container of stock, skim that off and package your stock as you see fit. This is a very concentrated stock, so when I use if for a quick soup, I dilute it with water 50/50 and use if for a quick turkey/chicken soup (I usually use this stock through the year to make chicken soup).
It's delicious, very easy, people love it. When I give a quart of my turkey/chicken soup as gifts, people rave about it. I now have a network of people who give me their turkey carcasses, which I freeze in exchange for some a quart mason jar of soup.
