I just roasted a turkey last night, and today I stripped the carcass and stored the meat. Right now, I’m making stock with the bones, using this recipe.
Funny thing is, one of the featured reviews on the recipe, has a lady making the following comment:
Now, I don’t take issue with her calling the gelatinous chilled stock “jello.” But I do wonder if she’s not wasting that fat. My plan, when I’ve strained the solids out, is to let the fat separate out and congeal , then store it separately for use in a roux when I want to make turkey gravy ('cos I love me some turkey gravy).
I’ve never done turkey gravy this way, though, and I hope I’m not setting myself up for a huge disappointment. Is the fat on the top of the finished stock suitable for a gravy roux? Is the reviewer being shortsighted and wasteful, or am I being too ambitious?
I would say: it depends. I don’t think you are being “too ambitious”, but I wonder what the fat will taste like. I would say, taste the fat. If it’s strongly “turkeyish” and nice, then keep it and try the roux thing with it. Use some of your stock in the gravy, too. That should be where all the flavour is, anyway.
Myself, I chuck the fat away after it’s solidified on the top. Once upon a time I used to save the chicken fat when I made chicken stock, because the only recipe I could find for Matzoh balls called for schmaltz (chicken fat). I found out that butter is nicer, although I suppose a Jewish person would faint dead away.
Thanks, vison. I read somewhere that if all of the fat is removed from a piece of meat, the taste of the meat will be indistinguishable from any other type of meat. From this I extrapolated that the characteristic flavor of any meat tends to be in the fat.
What should I do about the fact that after six hours of simmering, I’ve gone from sixteen cups of liquid to about twelve or thirteen? I’ve already strained out the veggies and bones. Is it still okay to reduce it? And should I do so by simmering it with the lid off the pot?
We have used turkey fat and turkey stock mixed together for the basis of turkey gravy and turkey dressing. Usually we still have more fat than we can use up with the stock, but you could use commercial chicken broth with a bit of the turkey stock to make a better gravy than broth alone.
If it tastes good to you now, personally I’d stop. If it tastes weak to you, continue to reduce. Homemade stock is so much better than the purchased stuff that further reduction may just be gilding the lily.
Yes, simmering with the lid off is the typical way to reduce stock, not sure I can think of any others. Simmering with the lid on would be very slow, and ineffective to the extent the lid was sealed.
You could simmer it and simmer until you have a gelatinous syrup that coats the back of your spoon. This is called glace. It takes quite a while to get it this thick, but it is extremely versatile and takes up a lot less storage space than twelve cups of liquid. Glace is used as a base for gravies and sauces, reconstituted with water to make stock, used to strengthen weak soup bases. Basically, you can use it like you would bouillon cubes, except this is much better and you can control the salt levels much more easily.
:eek: It never occurred to me that I could make my own Better than Bullion! What’s the shelf life of homemade glace? Should it be refrigerated or frozen? Could I freeze ice cube trays of the stuff for later use? This is so freakin’ cool - not only because of the space I’ll save, but because a couple of tablespoons of frozen stuff mixed in hot water will be thawed and ready to use long before my 2 cup block of frozen stock.
I freeze very reduced stock all the time, although since I’m generally planning on reconstituting it, I’ve never bothered to check if it’s formally reached glace stage. One ice cube is 1 tablespoon, so I usually reduce my stock (chicken or vegetable) to 1/4 of its original volume, freeze it in ice cube trays, and treat each ice cube as 1/4 cup of stock. They don’t float above the water level, so I just drop a ice cube (or four, or whatever) in a measuring cup, then fill with water to the quarter cup (or cup, or whatever) line.
Yep, it’s basically like Better than Bouillon (I literally just discovered when typing up my last post that “bouillon” and “bullion” are two different words, the first referring to stock, the second referring to precious metals.)
I store it in the freezer for up to six months. Keeping it in ice trays is usual. If you want to look up recipes on google, “glace de viande” is what you’re looking for. You need to be making a stock (high proportion of bones) not a broth (high proportion of meat) to reach the right consistency (basically, you need plenty of gelatin.) So, if you know how to make a stock that gels upon cooling, you can reduce that to a glace. It takes hours and hours to reduce it down, and it will look a bit scary when you start with 8 cups of stock and finish with just under a cup of glace. (about a ten to one, or ninety percent, reduction is usual, but it depends on the strength of the stock you’re starting with.) Once it gets to the consistency of maple syrup, or so, be careful not to scorch it.
I should add, it’s a lot of work (well, more time than actual work), for what appears to be little in the end, but glace is indispensable for making fantastic sauces and gravies.
I have never, not once, spelled that word correctly. Usually my attempts are so laughable that the spellchecker doesn’t even know what to suggest for me. I was so proud not to see that little red squiggle pop up this time that I didn’t even consider there might be a homophone!
Like I said, before two posts ago, I think I always spelled it boullion or perhaps bullion. Only this time I noticed the red squiggle and the list of suggestions and had to look it up. Then I had to check to make sure I haven’t been mispronouncing it this whole time.
Cooking has many pitfalls and spelling is not the least important . . . think of “bully beef”.
I see someone mentioned it, but I will repeat it: NEVER salt your stock/bouillon/broth, ever, until you are ready to eat it. Just before serving is when you taste for seasoning.
I also never put garlic in a stock/broth/bouillon. While onion seems to fare well, I find that garlic eventually gives an “off” taste. If you want a garlicky soup, add it near the end of the soupmaking not the broth/stock making.
Also, while bones are needed for the jelling process to work, cooking the stock/broth/bouillon for too long with the bones in will result in a weird taste that I can only describe as “boney” and it’s icky. Especially with chicken or turkey bones, an hour and a half, 2 hours max, is enough. Then strain.
I freeze the reduced stock, then pop the cubes out of the tray and into a freezer bag. Likewise with bits of wine, that one might have hanging about after a dinner party. It doesn’t freeze solid, but it’s frozen enough to stash in the freezer and it works fine to deglaze a pan.
I don’t think you are being “too ambitious”, but I wonder what the fat will taste like. I would say, taste the fat. If it’s strongly “turkeyish” and nice, then keep it and try the roux thing with it. Use some of your stock in the gravy, too. That should be where all the flavour is, anyway.