Leftover Turkey Carcass Stock

 If your family is anything like ours you probably cook about four times the amount of food than is actually necessary to feed your guests. Then again, maybe it’s just a Southern thing and therefore why we never fret when an extra guest shows up! This year we smoked two Tennessee Rebel Turkeys, which were delicious. (See “The Best Damn Turkey Brine Y’all Will Ever Try”) After all of the meat was picked off the bones, we were left with two carcasses that still had plenty of meat attached to them. Instead of throwing them away why not put them to good use?

Now this recipe will work for any preparation method of Turkey, although the more seasoned your turkey is when you cook it the first time the richer your stock will be in this recipe, however you can add some additional herbs and spices to make your stock nice and rich regardless of how you first cooked your turkey!

This recipe is extremely simple and wildly resourceful. The basic gist of this recipe is to place your turkey carcass(es) in a large stock pot and cover with about an inch of water and boil them into another oblivion!! (about 4 hours). Well, stick around and I’ll show y’all what to do!

2 turkey carcasses (12 pound turkey)

60 cups hot water

7 bay leaves

1       yellow onions peeled and quartered

2       tablespoons black peppercorns

1.     Over high heat add turkey carcasses to stock pot. Include all bones, skin, and meat you have it all adds flavor to the stock.

2.     Immediately start adding hot water to the stock pot. Add enough to cover the carcasses by about an inch. The measurement may vary based on the size and shape of your turkey.

3.     Bring stock pot to a rolling boil and let it boil on high for approximately 10 minutes. (you want to build up enough heat so that when you decrease heat to a simmer your water actually simmers instead of dying out.)

4.     Reduce heat to about medium low and maintain a mildly rolling simmer for somewhere around 4 hours. If you happen to cook it 5 hours it wont hurt, but you at least need to cook it about 4 hours.

5.     Once the stock is done ladle it through a mesh strainer into a fresh container.

6.     When all liquid is removed from the stockpot, let the carcass cool for a while so that it’s comfortable to touch. Pick all of the meat from the bones and set aside.

7.     In order to preserve the stock, ladle into quart or pint mason jars. These should be good in the fridge for about a week or they can be frozen to preserve longer. If you’re really feeling adventurous they may also be canned and sealed and stored for a much longer period of time. (recipe to follow soon!)

8.     Use any of the meat picked from the carcass to make a hearty soup, stew, or casserole. I grantee you will be surprised at how much meat you almost threw away!

See, there now, that wasn’t hard and you just made two items out of something that would normally get chunked into the trash. If I’m using this recipe after Thanksgiving I like to put up enough stock so that it can be used to make dressing for Christmas dinner. But, since this usually produces so much stock I like to combine the stock with the leftover meat and make a hearty and delicious Turkey Noodle soup!

Hope you enjoy!