What exactly DO I do with a turkey carcass?
This was a question I asked for years, right before I surreptiously dumped the whole greasy mess into the trash and hoped that I wouldn’t be kicked out of the League of Responsible Dutch Women. Fortunately, my very NOT-Dutch father-in-law came to my rescue with this easy method of dealing with a turkey carcass and coming out waaaayyyyyy ahead.
I’m posting this now because this takes a very little bit of preparation and is so worth doing.
First of all, I start with a big, heavy, deep stock pot on the counter right next to the turkey as it’s being carved up for dinner. Into the stock pot goes:
giblets (which I can’t stand to deal with any other way)
bones
skin
meat scraps
neck
basically everything–even those things that you can’t eat (like the bones)
enough water to cover the carcass
Before I even sit down for a holiday dinner, that stock pot is on the back burner, starting to simmer. After dinner, if there are dribs and drabs of gravy that don’t get saved as leftovers or if there’s leftover drippings from the pan, all that goes into the stockpot.
I bring the pot up to a boil and then turn it down as low as I can. I keep the pot covered, the burner on, and enough water in it to keep the carcass covered. I let this pot simmer overnight on the stove for 18-24 hours total. I don’t want the pot of stuff to cool down but I also don’t want it to boil. I want a steady simmer. This, of course, extends that holiday turkey smell in your kitchen for another day too!
Then I take a colander, line it with cheesecloth (leaving the ends of the cheesecloth hanging over both sides), and place the colander over a large bowl. Then I pour the contents of the stock pot into and through the colander. The cheesecloth in the colander catches all the chunks and lets the liquid (stock) flow through into the bowl.
After all the juice has drained through, I gather up the edges of the cheesecloth and…..DUMP the whole thing in the trash! The large bowl is full of the richest, yummiest stock that I then freeze in small containers and use for soups and potpies.
If you use the cheap cheesecloth you can buy in the baking aisle of the grocery store, you probably need to have at least two layers in the colander. I have, on occasion, used unbleached muslin to strain. Then I washed the muslin afterwards.
This might sound like it’s a lot of work because it takes about 24 hours, but it really isn’t. It takes a long time, but requires very little effort. I can’t begin to tell you how much better this homemade stock is than anything you can buy in a can.
Barb
13 Comments
November 14, 2006 at 2:58 am
Barb,
Hey there friend! I’ve been gleaning valuable cooking and baking tips from you! Thank you for all your hard work here! I do have a question though…do you really leave this cooking all night long? You don’t worry leaving the stove on? Just wondering, this sounds like a wonderful idea that I would love to try this year…just a little nervous though.
Take care!
Christy B
November 14, 2006 at 3:20 am
[...] What exactly DO I do with a turkey carcass? [...]
November 14, 2006 at 3:29 am
Christy! We were just talking about you guys tonight! I’m so glad to see your comment!
Yes, to answer your question, I leave it cooking all night. I make sure that there is nothing else on the stove or near the stove or over the stove. I leave it very, very low. I’ve never had a problem. I’m guessing that you could accomplish the same thing by leaving it in a very low oven overnight….if leaving the oven on all night would feel more comfortable to you.
You will LOVE the stock you end up with. It’s just incredible and you’ll never want to cook with anything else!
Barb
November 16, 2006 at 12:58 am
I left a different comment, but must not have posted it properly…here it is again:
I guess leaving the stove on wouldn’t be much different than leaving the oven on or the crock pot? I would need to make sure the kitties were put in the basement for the night though…that might be a bit too tempting for them!
We were headed down that way Thanksgiving week for football playoffs, but then some really BIG, really MEAN team from NC came up here a whoooped up on us and now we are staying home!! (I’m not too upset about it-I was really ready for FB season to be over! lol)
Are you all headed our way anytime soon?
Take care!~
Christy B
November 16, 2006 at 2:20 am
I would LOVE to head your way…I’m trying to figure out when that could be. Schedules get so much more complicated with bigger kids! Any chance you’ll head thisaway? We’d love to have you come visit!
November 21, 2006 at 12:47 pm
[...] Any leftover gravy can be thrown into the stock pot that you’re cooking the turkey carcass in on the stove. It adds some really nice flavor to the stock. [...]
November 22, 2007 at 6:47 pm
[...] at the stripped turkey carcass. Somewhere in the back of the brain lurks the idea that one must DO something with that carcass before [...]
November 23, 2007 at 9:21 pm
[...] What to do with a Turkey Carcass It’s not too late to turn that carcass into delicious turkey stock if you’ve had the carcass in the fridge overnight. [...]
November 24, 2007 at 3:37 pm
I make it even easier. I put the carcass and all the additions you mentioned into a 12 quart Nesco oven. To make it even better, I add chunks of onions, carrots, and celery which is easy to do. I also add the skins of the onions which adds much more flavor and color. I cook this at a very low simmer overnight, covered. In the morning I use a Chinese skimmer to pick up some of the cooked carcass stuff. I pick the turkey off the bones (it’s easy to do if you do it a little at a time.) Then I get rid of what is remaining in the skimmer. And because you do it in small amounts, it goes fast. You lose lots of meat if you dump all of it in the garbage. One year I got about 2 lb. of turkey from the carcass. It can be used in all kinds of ways, casseroles, sandwiches, etc. The flavor is still good because of the way it was cooked.
July 11, 2009 at 11:03 am
Hi Pame,
I make my turkey stock exactly as you do. The veggies really do add flavor. There are so many uses for this stock, well worth the effort. Once you start making and using homemade stock, you can’t go back to canned stock, unless it is really a culinary emergency! It is the secret of good cooks everywhere.
June 27, 2008 at 5:45 am
I know I’m a little late, but hey, Thanksgiving is coming again.
After thanksgiving, grandma lets me take the bones and such from the turkey to make my broth. I break open the bones exposing the marrow as much as possible. Then I boil them in water for a while. sometimes simmering the rest of the day. Then that night I strain it all out, as you said, getting rid of the bones and cartilage. While it’s still hot I pour the broth into sterilized canning jars. There was so much natural gelatin from the marrow that it gelled up perfectly. This made for great soups after that! Sometimes when it was cold I’d simply warm some up and just drink it, like one would chicken broth. Just a little salt was all it needed. When people speak of gelatin being good for you, this is the kind they mean! Not that sugary junk in the store.
January 14, 2009 at 9:30 pm
[...] or blender. This will create the creamy base for the soup. Add approximately 4 c. chicken or turkey stock. If you add at least part of this liquid to the potatoes while they’re in the food [...]
October 22, 2009 at 8:33 am
[...] the puree into a large stock pot with about a quart of water and 16 ounces of vegetable, chicken or turkey stock. Add premade meatballs (or whatever leftover meat you have in the fridge) and a pound of frozen [...]