A rich turkey stock that you can make several days in advance of Thanksgiving with roasted turkey parts. Adds great all-day flavor to your stuffing, soup, and gravy recipes!
5 to 6poundsturkey parts(wings, thighs, drumsticks)
1turkey neck(optional)
1galloncool water, divided
3cupsrougly-chopped yellow onion(1 pound, about 2 large onions)
1-½cupsrougly-chopped carrots(½ pound, about 2 large carrots)
1-½cupsroughly-chopped celery(½ pound, about 2 large celery ribs--remove any leaves and reserve)
2tablespoonsvegetable or canola oil
¼teaspoonwhole black peppercorn
1small handfulfresh parsley(about 8-10 sprigs)
6sprigsfresh thyme
1largeTurkish bay leaf
Instructions
Roast and Prep
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Arrange turkey parts in a single layer in a large roasting pan. Roast for about 90 minutes, until parts are deep golden brown on all sides, flipping them halfway through.
When the turkey parts are almost finished roasting, chop your vegetables and heat oil in a large stock pot. Add the vegetables and "sweat" them, cooking over medium-high heat until they're softened and just starting to brown, about 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat.
Remove turkey parts from the roasting pan and add them to the stock pot. (If you want to shred some of the meat off of the legs to eat, you can, but you'll want to leave a good proportion for a hearty stock.) Pour off the rendered fat in the roasting pan and either refrigerate it for other uses (like making gravy), or discard.
Deglaze the roasting pan by pouring in 2 cups of water and using a wooden spoon to scrape up the brown bits (the "fond"). If the roasting pan isn't hot enough to release the fond and is stove-safe, you can place it across two burners to heat and help the deglazing process along. Pour the deglazing liquid into the stock pot.
Simmer the Stock
Add the remainder of the water to the stock pot to cover the turkey parts by 1 to 2 inches. Bring to a simmer, skimming off and discarding the white foam that floats to the surface.
After skimming, add the herbs and peppercorn to the pot, submerging in the water. Continue gently simmering the stock for 3-4 hours.
Strain the Stock
Strain the bones, meat, and vegetables from the stock. Let the liquid drain well, but for the most beautiful stock, don't press down too hard on the solids. I like to double-strain my stock for the purest final product, using a very fine-mesh sieve the second time around.
You should have about 8 cups of stock. If you have significantly more, return it to a clean pot and continue simmering to reduce it further.
Skim, Cool, and Store
If you're using the stock right away, let it stand for about 10 minutes for the fat and stock to separate. Use a spoon to skim the layer of fat from the surface. (As with the fat in the roasting pan, I like to refrigerate this for making gravy.)
If you're going to store the stock, cool it down quickly by placing it in a high-sided pot or sturdy container in a larger bowl of ice water. The water should come up the sides of the container about halfway. Cool for 30 minutes, refreshing the ice as needed, and stirring the stock every 5-10 minutes.
Transfer to a lidded container and refrigerate for 3-4 days or freeze for 3 months. Stock will have a jelly-like consistency when chilled and will become fluid again with warming. If you didn't skim the fat off of the top while it was liquid, it will separate into a layer on top of the gelatinous chilled stock that you can easily scrape off and save or discard.
Use your turkey stock as directed in your favorite Thanksgiving recipes.
Notes
I highly recommend reading through the article above for more details about making turkey stock, as well as my tips and tricks. I have more to share on the subject than I can fit in a recipe card!