Making Turkey Broth

We are enjoying a peaceful Saturday.  It has been a wonderful rest after our long haul with remodeling and getting ready for Thanksgiving.  Steve is out cutting and splitting wood today, and I am making Turkey Broth out of our Turkey Carcasses.  We had two turkeys this year.  We were a group of 14 friends and family and had a wonderful time together.   I made 2 turkeys, because I always like to have enough for dinner and left overs; thus 2 turkey carcasses.  Steve cut all the meat off the bones for me yesterday, and we put the bones into my biggest stock pot for broth.  It cooked all day long and cooled out in the carport last night, where the freezing temperatures went to work for us.  Today I  deboned and put up 6 quarts of meat and broth.  The broth was loaded with gelatin, after so many bones cooking for so many hours.  It was almost a solid.  I bagged up 4 quarts of meat and gelatin and put 2 quarts of broth and meat into jars.  Now I have a nice store for the next month or two, and can make up some wonderful soups and casseroles.

 This pot has been cooking all day.

When I put the bones and meat into the colander to strain, it didn't move; it was molded with gelatin.

This makes a wonderful nutritious addition to your healthy meals.  It is actually a success when 

your broth turns to gelatin after it is cooled.  It means you have extracted the collagen, from the bones, as well as glucosamine, chondroitin, msm and many minerals  all of which are far better utilized in your body through a broth like this than by taking supplements.

I usually have quite a bit more broth than this; but because of the gelatin factor as I said above,  I made chicken and gelatin concentrate, and diluted the last of the gelatin into broth.  I included  the meat in my broth, although you could also strain all the meat and just keep the broth for when you need stock.  It is always good to have stock and broth in the freezer ready when you need it.

Turkey Broth/Stock

Ingredients

1 turkey carcass

Optional veggies:

2 or 3 stalks of celery

1 medium onion,

2 or 3 small carrots

1 small handful of parsley

3-4 cloves of garlic

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1.     Place carcass in a large stock pot.

2.     Fill with water until the carcass is covered.

3.     Add remaining ingredients

4.     Bring pot to a boil, and then turn down to simmer.

5.     Simmer all day; (4 hour minimum); The longer the better.

6.     Cool and skim excess fat.

7.     Strain bones and meat.  

8.     Place broth/stock into jars and freeze.

9.     If desired, de-bone the meat, and add to the broth, or freeze separately.

Use for:

Turkey Noodle Soup
Turkey and Rice Soup
White Turkey Chili
Turkey Pot Pie
Turkey and Dumplings
Gravies and sauces
Turkey Casseroles