Homemade Turkey Stock
Homemade Turkey Stock
Wait a minute. Hold it right there. Are you really going to throw away that turkey carcass? That carcass still has much more to give. What you really should be doing is turning that carcass into a batch of turkey stock. I couldn’t be easier to make and is a great substitute for chicken stock. I honestly think that it has a lot more flavor than chicken. If you don’t have a carcass, you can make stock out of wings, drumsticks, necks, and backs.There are a couple of different approaches to making your turkey stock. The most basic way to make stock is to throw the carcass, your mirepoix(carrots, celery, and onion), garlic, peppercorns, and bay leaves into a pot of water and simmer it for hours; which is this particular recipe. If you want really extract the flavor from the carcass, place your carcass on a baking pan and roast it at 400 degrees for 1 hour. While that is roasting, sauté the mirepoix and garlic in the stock pot. Doing both of these steps will result in a richer, darker turkey stock. Personally, I don’t like to add any salt to my stock. I adjust the saltiness when I’m cooking with it; just in case another ingredient happens to be salty.When you’ve finished reducing the stock to your likeness, strain through a colander. I like to nibble on any leftover meat that was attached to the carcass. If not using within a few days, freeze the stock down into ice cube trays and store in freezer bags.
Ingredients
- turkey carcass
- 3 carrots cut into sticks
- 3 ribs celery cut into sticks
- 1/2 medium onion
- 1 head garlic
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 gallon water
Instructions
- Place the turkey carcass in a large stock.
- Add in the vegetables, peppercorns, and bay leaves.
- Pour in a gallon of water. Turn on high heat. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 6 hours.
- You will want to reduce the stock by at least half. I reduced a gallon down to 6 cups.
- Strain the stock of the carcass and other ingredients.
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