Roasted Turkey Stock

I buy fresh turkey a few days ahead of time and cut it up by separating the legs and wings and then cutting out the back and some ribs to leave a clean whole breast. Then you have the neck, back and wing tips for stock and can roast the white and dark meat separately to balance cooking times -- 150F for white meat and 175F for dark, roasting low and slow at 275F (credit to Serious Eats).

I get a smoked turkey every year for Thanksgiving and the stock from it is amazing in risotto. I had already dumped everything in the stockpot with the water when I ran across this recipe. I wonder whether the veg roasting and wine reduction is worth the trouble?

this stock has a nice profile, with the chili hitting the back of the palette at just the right moment. made me exclaim, “ooh, yes please!”. that said, i do wish the recipe was written to include adaptations for kitchens without gas stoves — which will eventually be most of the country. i wasn’t able to sauté or reduce the wine into a syrup, but best believe i still scraped up those turkey bits from the pan and was still left with a wonderful stock.

For those who practice a use-it-all approach, I would offer these tips: 1) Collect your vegetable scraps during T-Day prep: ends of onions, green beans, broccoli stalks, apple cores, lemon rind etc... 2) Add more spices: sage, rosemary, cumin, allspice... 3) I have never bothered with the roasting part of the process. Might not follow a strict recipe, but will tell you that my turkey stock/soup is looked forward to as much as round 1 with the bird.

Thought I'd try something new. I found that this is not my favorite approach to making stock. Much less collagen is available to break down, which means the stock is less rich and the mouth-feel is less silky. There's also a distinct burned undertone in the finished product.

How big are NYT onions? My onions are 12oz ea on average. So 4-5 onions come to 3 lbs. Seems like a lot?

I don’t have a good roasting pan (we always grill/smoke our turkey), so I used a sturdy sheet pan lined with foil. Put veggies in right before taking carcass bones out, and just added wine to sheet pan when veggies were almost done. Deglazed the foil with very little scraping, and the wine reduces while the veggies finish cooking! So simple. Next time, will try vermouth in place of the wine.

Since unable to find turkey parts, I used a family pack of chicken legs and proceeded as directed. Picked off the cooked leg meat while the veggies were roasting and used for a tasty soup. Stock was 100% delicious. I think the wine & red pepper (i used red pepper flakes) adds a great note. Can't wait to taste in my Thanksgiving recipes.

I use turkey wings to make my gravy ahead of time.

After thanksgiving dinner and cleanup, I breakdown carcass and bones, add to a crockpot with onions, carrots and celery, some thyme and sage (and/or rosemary) and top with water. Set it on low and let it do its thing overnight. This makes a very clear broth and the house smells great in the morning. I then make turkey noodle soup with the stock using leftover meat, fresh diced vegetables, some leftover gravy and stuffing and ditallani pasta. BEST SOUP EVER!

I too buy extra turkey parts for my gravy base, but better than roasted is smoked. Oh yes, that hint of smoky flavor in your gravy will have everyone at the table raving about it. If you don't have time/ equipment to smoke them yourself, buy already smoked turkey necks, legs, whatever.

Instead of using fresh veggies, I use the onion, garlic, carrot, and celery trimmings that I save in zipped bag in my freezer for veggie stock. And, I'll argue against peeling carrots every time.

My thought is to use neck, wing tips and some chicken bones to make a stock before roasting turkey itself. I don't want that much turkey stock before hand.

I use a similar recipe to use as a base for turkey gravy since we always grill our bird. If you don’t have a turkey carcass (which is usually the case!) buy turkey wings or legs and roast them with celery carrots and onion in a large Dutch oven. Pour off the fat to use as a base for your roux then fill the pot with water to boil for stock. You can do this a couple of days before Thanksgiving and just reheat the gravy when you’re ready.