Serious Turkey Stock Recipe (2024)

Don't listen to the part about discarding the layer of fat after refrigeration--you can save that fat and use it in roux for gravy! No need for butter. I freeze my fat layer every time. Much more flavor.

Turkey necks work well also.

Pour the stock into clean old- fashioned ice cube trays and freeze. When fully frozen, pop the stock cubes from the trays
into a plastic freezer bag and access small quantities of your beautiful stock as needed.

I’ve been doing this for a long time. I use six pounds or so of thighs/legs/wings and roast them for an hour or an hour and a half. I lift them out of the roasting pan and put them into the stock pot with onion, celery, etc. The real trick is to then deglaze the roasting pan with water, scraping up all, I mean all, brown bits. But don’t put that into the stock pot. Save it, frozen or not, depending on the time frame, to stir into the gravy!

Can I do this in the crock pot?

Roasting turkey parts delivers rich flavor & great color broth. Used 4# turkey wings, parsley in place of thyme & 'some' whole black peppercorns instead of ground. Roasted turkey in roughly 12"w x 8"h stockpot (took 1 hr to get golden), just moving it from oven to stove top at step 2. Added onions, bay leaves & peppercorns in step 2, simmered 1 hr then added rest of the veg at step 3 & simmered 1 1/2 hr more. Yield after straining = @ 2qt +3C.

This came out fantastic! Substituted yellow onions for Spanish and peppercorns instead of ground pepper as I like the flexibility of adding the pepper in the gravy etc directly, otherwise used the ingredients outlined in the recipe. Pressure cooked it in the Instantpot for 45 minutes and let cool naturally to give it extra time to simmer. Moved it to the stovetop and boiled it for10 minutes after straining to intensify the turkey flavor. Delicious!

Has anyone ever "cheated" and added some vegetable broth or stock to the water covering the turkey? With what result? I'd expect it to be more concentrated and flavorful....

How large is a large stockpot? I don't want to go too big and have too much liquid evaporate. "enough water to cover the turkey" will vary a lot depending on the pot.

Helpful yes, but once a guest helped himself to ice for his drink and looked with dismay into his glass as the fat globules floated off. I was laughing too hard to tell him what was actually happening!

Love the suggestions to pour into ice cube and reuse fat. Good flavor. Waiting for guest to help him/herself to ice for a drink.

I never peel the onions - the skins add color to stock and do not affect flavor

This broth recipe for made delicious gravy!

One tablespoon of ground pepper, beware! Way too much. Add one teaspoon at a time and allow to penetrate the stock, then taste. If you need more, add more. Sadly, my six hour broth can’t be enjoyed. It’s too peppery. (And I love pepper by the way).

make it in a crock pot rather than on the stove so it can run all night.

My mom made stock for Thanksgiving this way & I've been doing it for yrs w/turkey wings, necks & backs. I add a quartered onion, celery leaves along with the stems, & rosemary and/or dill to the pot. I make a few weeks before Thanksgiving & freeze it. There's plenty to use for gravy (w/added giblets & pan drippings) & a couple of soups later on. I used it to make a NYT Italian wedding soup recipe this year and it was amazing. Makes a super rich, flavorful stock.

It's not a good idea to put hot stock in the refrigerator covered--- keeps it in the danger zone longer.

How large is a large stockpot? I don't want to go too big and have too much liquid evaporate. "enough water to cover the turkey" will vary a lot depending on the pot.

Does it really matter to add the vegetables, bay leaves, thyme and pepper for the last half hour only? Can't I just put it all in together?

I never peel the onions - the skins add color to stock and do not affect flavor

This made a very tasty stock. Per other reviewers' suggestions, I saved and pureed the vegetables, some of which was used to flavor Bittman's Make-Ahead Gravy, along with the fat use for the roux.

Has anyone ever "cheated" and added some vegetable broth or stock to the water covering the turkey? With what result? I'd expect it to be more concentrated and flavorful....

Could I roast the parts in a big oval dutch oven, then put it right onto the stove, without transferring pans? Or do I absolutely need to simmer it in a more vertical stockpot?

Wow--this really IS "serious turkey stock," and it's easy to make and well worth it. I let it simmer all night, and I'm glad I did. This recipe's a keeper and is going to make some glorious soup this winter. Shredded the meat to make Martha Rose Shulman's Turkey and Brussels Sprouts Stir-Fry. Filled my home with a warming aroma on a cold, overcast November day. Wonderful weekend project--threw it in the pot Friday evening. Meat just falls off the bone after simmering all night.

Love the suggestions to pour into ice cube and reuse fat. Good flavor. Waiting for guest to help him/herself to ice for a drink.

Roasting turkey parts delivers rich flavor & great color broth. Used 4# turkey wings, parsley in place of thyme & 'some' whole black peppercorns instead of ground. Roasted turkey in roughly 12"w x 8"h stockpot (took 1 hr to get golden), just moving it from oven to stove top at step 2. Added onions, bay leaves & peppercorns in step 2, simmered 1 hr then added rest of the veg at step 3 & simmered 1 1/2 hr more. Yield after straining = @ 2qt +3C.

Had a marvelous Thanksgiving Dinner yesterday, but I didn't do the cooking. Our son-in-law, as always, did it all - a gourmet's Thanksgiving - including the most flavorful gravy! He uses 10 lbs. of turkey necks for the stock. That's right -10 lbs!