Thanksgiving turkey stock from bones and vegetables.

Every year Mum would labor for two days preparing Thanksgiving turkey they way she learned how as a girl, developments in turkey breeding along the way notwithstanding. She roasted slowly overnight, basted slavishly the next day, and presented a beautifully evenly browned roasted bird suitable for Norman Rockwell's inspiration.

Dry as hell.

Left on the counter, we picked at it all day long and nobody sickened, nobody died.

Pleased to be done with it, satisfied all is well with the world, she was glad to be rid of the macabre large dead bird carcass. Year after year she pass on the notion of making stock from the bones. She had no use for stock anyway. Didn't even know what that is. It was not part of her early training. Not part of the deal. What a regrettable waste. X50

Do you know what to do with the carcass?

Pick the bones clean but don't bother to fuss. There is a lot of tendon and bones in there not worth the trouble. Remove slices if enough remains to do that, otherwise pick off the pieces both dark and white. The pieces can be used for soup, sandwiches, add to new stuffing, salads, burritos, tacos, tostadas, crepes, omelets, you name it.

I like to break the large bones so the marrow can drain. I also like to roast the bones for additional layers of flavors. I roast everything, skin, neck, liver, giblets, even vegetables if there is room on the pan. This produces a slightly darkened stock.

Roast until you can smell it. These bones were too hard for my kitchen pliers to break before roasting. They were broken after roasting so the marrow will drain into the water.  

The crisp bits of skin are delicious. Go on and indulge your inner cave-person and have a go at this mess right there straight from the oven. It doesn't get better than this. You sinister thing.

Boil until you can smell it. Until the odor takes over the whole place. Until you've had enough. More than hour. Less than, say, four hours. Fowl goes faster than beef. Chicken goes fastest of all.

If foam develops at the beginning then spoon it off. The protein-foam will cook back into the stock and it  tends to make the stock somewhat bitter. This doesn't happen so much when you roast everything first. I didn't bother this time.

Straining is in two parts. Most easily done done with two pots, the original pot and another.

Double bag the debris and get rid of it immediately. You do not want this stuff fermenting in your kitchen bin. 

Liquid gold. This is much better than what you can buy. 

It contains no herbs nor salt. This way you control things as you use it. Except for what remains from brining and whatever coated the skin. This liquid is perfect for too many things to list. You can drink it like this, a few herbs and pasta and bits that you picked off the cooked carcass make a perfect and perfectly simple meal.

When chilled the marrow within will develop a layer of gelatin. 

Usually a layer of liquid on the bottom, then a layer of gelatin, and sealing layer of fat on top. The layer of fat can be lifted off as a disc allowing you to control the amount of fat that you want for each use. 

Your success is measured by the amount of gelatin aspic. If the whole thing is aspic then you win 100%. Take a bow. If it is mostly liquid with thin layer of aspic then try harder next time. Boil longer next time to have all the marrow the bones contain. Or buy better birds next time. You will find organic and free range birds really do make the best stock.

Stock VS broth.

Stock is from bones and bits done like this. Broth is from boiled meat. 

Larger photos here.