I made a turkey on Sunday. Saved the carcass. I’m now boiling the carcass. I’m really not sure what to do, what to save, etc.
What I’m thinking of making is turkey and noodles. A variation of what I make with chicken.
When I make my chicken and noodles, I use equal parts chicken broth and cream of chicken. I make noodles using 4 cups flour, 4 eggs, some salt and water. Roll out dough, cut into noodles and dump into chicken broth. Add a bag of them baby carrots.
So, how do I do this but with this turkey? Before I pulled out turkey carcass, I took the gelatin in the bottom of the pan and put that in the refrigerator (no idea what it’s good for or how much I’ll use). I scraped off the fat first and threw it away. In the freezer I have a bit of turkey meat saved. There’s probably a decent amount of meat on this carcass I’m boiling at the moment.
The carcass of a roasted turkey should make really nice stock; you should simmer it for as long as you can; six hours on a really low simmer isn’t too long at all.
If the resulting stock looks watery or insubstantial, you can always reduce it by further simmering after removing the bones.
Never mind, but you should have saved the fat; poultry fat is excellent for making roast potatoes and keeps for months in the fridge. The gelatin you found in the bottom of the pan is just more concentrated stock and you could just add it into your stockpot (after you take out the bones, or you’ll be wasting some of it).
If there’s too much stock, pour some into an empty ice cream carton and freeze it - it makes an excellent base for soups and stews of all kinds and if you strain it and use it instead of water for cooking ordinary vegetables, they will come out tasting really fantastic.
Thank you both very much for your help. I knew I didn’t want to waste this.
Can’t wait until I get to eat something using this tasty goodness. Definitely want to use it to cook vegetables. I really don’t enjoy my veggies, but will try again using this stock.
I’m pretty sure I’ll get some more fat off of boiling this pot. Silly me for throwing away the first bits I saw. Somewhere along the line I’ve been brainwashed fat = bad.
If after you take out the bits and cool the stock it turns into a gelatinous mess, do not do not do not do not throw it away. THAT means you’ve succeeded in making a very rich stock that you might have to dillute a bit to use further, or can use full strength if it’s not too salty.
I had a friend once throw out about 6 quarts of turkey stock because she thought she’d ruined it because it gelled. I almost cried when she told me.
When I have enough chicken fat, I fry potatoes in it. Potatoes roasted in chicken (or turkey) fat are also very yummy. Try using broth instead of water when making rice, too.
I also save the bacon drippings and fry potatoes in that. It’s incredibly unhealthy, but we don’t eat much bacon and so we don’t have much bacon grease. The potatoes are heavenly.
STOP WITH THE BOILING ALREADY!! Turn the heat down to very low and let it just cook enough to have an occasional bubble break the surface. Boiling will emulsify the fat and you will have greasy soup. Periodically skim the fat off and discard as the liquid reduces. Add more liquid as necessary and continue to concentrate the stock.
When you do make your soup, don’t add the pasta/rice/whatever to it. Cook separately and pour the soup broth over it. Pasta/rice/etc. get soggy and nasty when you reheat. They continue to absorb liquid until they are unpalatable worms.
OK OK Chef! I use the term boil loosely. I just put the pot on the lowest number on my stove, put lid on it, ever so slightly cracked the lid and went to bed for 7 hours.
I just woke up and picked out the big bones and now its on the same low temp. but with lid off to reduce.
And I don’t really like the texture of worms much, so I’ll follow your advice, thank you.
Didn’t mean to yell; most people don’t understand the chemistry of cooking foods. Another suggestion: if using fresh herbs, add them at the end or place in a bowl with the pasta/rice before pouring hot soup over them. The blast of intense flavor is wonderful. Fresh sage or rosemary is terrific.
I put the carcass into a large pot with diced onions and celery, low boil for about an hour, remove meat and add back to pot. Discard bones and skin. Skim fat if there is a lot. Add spices. Add carrots. When carrots are cooked, add egg noodles. When noodles are done, add ice cubes to stop the noodles from becoming overcooked. If you have deliberately kept the broth very concentrated, this will not produce a watered down soup.