Turkey Broth

Thursday  in mid-afternoon  Mystie

In November and December, I try to get two turkeys on sale. WinCo generally offers them pretty cheap “with a $50 purchase.” So I stash away two large ones. The checkout clerk usually makes some comment about having a large holiday gathering, but no, these are only for our own little family.

I’ve [posted before](http://www.pelennorfields.com/mystie/2005/thanksgiving-turkey/ “Thanksgiving Turkey”) about my turkey exploits, but this year I have perfected the turkey broth. I had recently seen a few references here and there to broth making, and incorporated it into two separate attempts. Here, I will explain what goes into a good broth:

1. Roast turkey. I generously salt it with garlic salt and slow roast it all day at 250. I don’t have a meat thermometer, so I judge it as done when the meat flakes off the bones.
2. Cut off the meat. I try to get as much meat as possible off the bones, but for ease, I just toss the wings right into the crockpot. I set bones into the crockpot as they come out.
3. Once all the bones, not cleaned off or totally devoid of meat, are in the crockpot, I fill it with water and set it on low. This is still the evening that I roasted the turkey.
4. I quarter an onion and cut off the dark green tops of some leeks and the leafy tops of a bunch of celery. I toss it into the crockpot.
5. I let the crockpot simmer on low all evening until about 10 or so the next morning. Actually, neither Matt or I thought it smelled too good cooking, so I don’t think I’ll do that again until our bedrooms and kitchen are separated by a flight of stairs.
6. I put a sieve into a large bowl and pour the broth through it. I put the broth back into the crockpot. I let the solids cool until I can handle them, then toss the now-clean bones back into the crock. I keep it going on low until the late afternoon with only the bones still in it. I pick through the remaining solids and toss the veggies and try to salvage at least some of the meat. I’m not as fastidious as I once was about collecting all the meat. I would rather throw some of the meat away than bite into cartilage or a bone.
7. I have more turkey, not this turkey broth, for dinner the next day. I sieve the broth again, tossing the bones, and cool it down. I put it in the fridge overnight. In the morning, I remove the hardened fat from the top. The cooled soup is like gelatin.
8. I put some of the broth into a freezer bag, separating out a future dinner and the night’s dinner portion. A about half and hour before dinner, I toss it on the stove with a few cups of random veggies (carrots, celery, peas) and let it simmer until the veggies are cooked. I used to add noodles, but noodles get overcooked too easily and make it disgusting the next day. Now I just serve a starch as a side and leave it as turkey vegetable soup.

The strength of the broth is incredible; since I salt the skins well, and some pieces end up in the crockpot, the broth generally doesn’t need more salt. It is very tasty broth. I left some plain to sip over this past weekend, and it was delicious.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 11th, 2007 at 3:20 pm and is filed under Cook. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.