Turkey Stock
Author: Alex Recker
This recipe yields about 1 gallon of stock. It is made in two stages:
- White Stock - gently simmering meat and vegetables together to form a clearish yellow colored stock
- Brown Stock - simmering roasted and seared meat in the white stock to form a rich brown colored stock
General rules for making good stock:
- Do not over-boil the stock at any point. This will encourage impurities to break down and infiltrate your flavor profile.
- Do not let stock sit in the fridge for longer than 3-4 days. Instead, re-freeze and thaw as needed.
- Always bring stock to a simmer before using in food and consuming.
- If possible, concentrate your stock down to the exact quantity you need in your recipe and add salt just before serving (for example, when making a special meal, sometimes I like to concentrate 2 quarts of stock into 1 for extra flavor)
- All these quantities are just suggestions. You can use as little (or as much) meat as you want.
Materials
- water, cold (excess)
- kosher salt (excess)
- turkey neck pieces, defrosted (7-8)
- turkey wings, full sized, defrosted (4)
- carrots, full sized (2)
- celery (4 sticks)
- onion (1)
- peppercorns, whole (2 tbsp)
- canola oil, or any high smoke point neutral oil (1 tbsp)
Optional/Alternatives
- drumsticks work well too. For white stock, just boil them whole. For brown stock, use a knife to remove portions of meat to sear and roast the bones in the oven
- if you can't find enough turkey parts at the store, you can substitute chicken as well
Procedure
Make the White Stock
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Rinse and pat try 4 turkey necks and 2 turkey wings. Use a knife to separate the turkey wings into drums, flats, and tips.
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Add the necks and wing pieces into a big stock pot. Add a tiny pinch of salt. Cover with cold water and gently bring to a simmer.
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Use a spider, ladle, or a wide spoon to skim off the foamy, off colored scum from the top.
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Top off with cold water, then let come to a boil again. Skim the scum again as before. Repeat the process of adding cold water, letting come to a boil, and skimming the scum as needed until a layer of scum does not form.
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Roughly chop 2 celery sticks, 1 full sized carrot, and 0.5 onions and add to the stock. Add 1 tbsp of whole peppercorns.
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Gently simmer the stock for 3-4 hours (or until the meat is falling off the bone).
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Turn off the heat and allow to cool. Use tongs to remove large pieces from the stock and discard. Strain the stock into a clean container and refrigerate over night.
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The next day, use a wide spoon to skim and remove the waxy layer of fat that settled on the top. Move the remaining stock into clean containers and freeze until next use.
Make the Brown Stock
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Rinse and pat try 4 turkey necks and 2 turkey wings. Use a knife to separate the turkey wings into drums, flats, and tips.
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Place the turkey wing drums and flats to a roasting dish or stainless steel pan. Place the pan in a cold oven. Pre-heat the oven to 400F. Roast the turkey wings for ~2hrs or until the meat is dark colored.
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Roughly chop 2 celery sticks, 1 full sized carrot, and 0.5 onions. Set aside. Add 1 tbsp of peppercorns.
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Place a separate stockpot over medium-high heat. Add canola oil to the pan and swirl. Test the temperature of the oil by touching a turkey neck to the surface - if it begins to sizzle, add all the turkey necks and turkey wing tips in the oil. Sear both sides of the meat in the bottom of the stockpot. Move the pan around the heat and manage the stove temperature to avoid burning.
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Remove seared meat and set aside. Add chopped onions, carrots, and celery. Swirl in the pan for 1-2 minutes, but do not fry the vegetables.
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Turn the heat on HIGH and add seared meat and accumulated juices. Add a splash of cold water and deglaze, scraping the bottom of the stockpot to detach brown bits. Add all the white stock from the previous step and slowly bring to a simmer.
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When the wings have finished roasting, remove the pan and carefully place the roasted wings into the stockpot.
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Pour off the turkey fat in a separate bowl and set aside. Place the empty pan on a stove at high heat. When it starts to smoke, add a splash of water. Deglaze, scraping the pan with a wooden spoon. Dump the accumulated colored water and brown bits into the stockpot. Repeat as needed with small portions of water until the pan is clean.
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Gently simmer the stock for 3-4 hours (or until the meat is falling off the bone).
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Turn off the heat and allow to cool. Use tongs to remove large pieces of bone and discard. Pour the rest through a strainer and discard pieces.
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Let stock cool in fridge overnight.
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In the morning, scrape the waxy layer of fat off the top and discard. Transfer all the stock to a stockpot and warm it up on the stove.
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Perform one final filtration of the stock. Line a fine metal strainer with a paper towel and pour the stock through it. If it gets clogged, just dump it back into the unfiltered stock and change the paper towel.
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Pour the stock evenly into 4 quart sized containers. If you are short, just top each of them off with water. If you have too much, you can either simmer off some of the water or just fill up an extra container.
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The stock is now ready. Move to the freezer until needed.
Optional: Turkey Fat
At any stage of the stock making, you can set aside the waxy layer that forms on top of the liquid and use it for cooking. Before adding it to food, I'd recommend you purify it first.
- Add the fat to a small stainless steel sauce pan over medium heat.
- Bring the mixture up to a slight simmer. This will (1) evaporate off the excess water and (2) fry the impurities at the bottom.
- Once the mixture starts to sputter, pour the fat through a fine mesh metal strainer into a bowl.
Inspect the fat. Good turkey fat should have a pure golden color (like clarified butter) and it should smell heavenly. If it passes the eye/sniff test, transfer it to tupperware and freeze it until needed.