I always thought the point of cooking the carcass 2-4 hours was to get the flavor out of the bones.

The flavor will have been cooked out.

For four hours. I then give the bones to the dogs -- they are now so soft they cannot splinter. But that will extract almost all the flavor from them.

after all it's already fully cooked. If you let the bones go for 6 hours the stock gets like jello when it's cooled with all the collagen dissolved from them. Gives the stock a really nice mouth feel.

I usually take all the meat I can off the carcass, then I put the carcass into the oven at 325 degrees for 45 minutes to get it golden brown, which helps the colour.

I then slow-cook it for 8 or more hours. The broth should be kept just under boiling temperature as it cooks.

After that, I toss the carcass, I strain the broth carefully, then I put the meat I'd taken away earlier into the broth, plus veggies. I sometimes poach some turkey breasts separately and add them to the mix at the end.

The works for me. The result is great turkey soup, which is a favorite around our house.

I'd fish the pieces out after 1/2 hour to remove the usable meat. There will always be some left behind. I'd also take the opportunity to whack the drumstick and thigh bones to expose the marrow, something that will also flavor the broth.

If you're looking for turkey stock, only, then you can sacrifice the meat. If you're looking for turkey soup, do rescue the bigger chunks of meat before it becomes wet cardboard. After you've strained the stock, you can throw the meat back in after you've added whatever else is going into the soup.

The problem is that Thanksgiving is now 4 days ago and everybody is getting sick of leftover turkey. A lot of people are going to question your sanity for bothering to save still more turkey for leftovers!

Day after T-day we have turkey sandwiches. Then last night we had turkey, leftover stuffing, sweet potatoes, and cranberry relish (like a chutney). Tomorrow is turkey soup. I expect to have enough turkey stock for soup again in a couple of months.

No need to boil a chicken longer than about 30 - 40 minutes. Ditto your turkey. You are correct that the longer you boil it, the less tasty the meat will be. So when I have done what you're doing, I've pulled the carcass out of the water after a half hour to 40 minutes of boiling and strip it of the last chunks of meat, which at that point have always come off easily.

If your main point is to make stock for soup, there is really no need to boil it longer than about 45 minutes, depending on the size of the bird.

I've used Gordon Ramsay's vid for making chicken stock as a guide;

I clean it all at once when I strain the broth off. if there is a ton of meat I may get two or three more meals*, otherwise it all goes back in the soup.



*usually Mexican food with other added flavors - green chile burros or chimichangas, tacos, or enchilada casserole

from the carcass. I put the carcass, skin and bones, into a large crockpot and covered with purified water. I added some of the roasted onions and celery from the roasting pan, but you could add fresh onion and celery at this point if you have no roasted veggies. I left the crockpot on high, and simmered that carcass for 4 hours. I then removed it from the broth, let it cool, and divided it into two parts: Skin/meat/soft parts (aka Cat Food) and Bones (trash).

I strained the broth into another pot and put it into the refrigerator overnight. Sunday morning, I skimmed off the excess fat, added baby carrots and chopped celery and onions. Again the broth was brought to a boil, and then simmered over low heat (covered) until veggies were nearly soft. Last step was to bring to a boil again, add 2/3 cup frozen peas and 1/2 pkg (8 oz) wide egg noodles. Cook until noodles are done. Guaranteed to be the best turkey noodle soup you ever ate.

any bones like wings and legs after most of the meat is removed - add the water and simmer for 30 min or so. I then dump it all into a strainer, let it cool a bit and take all the meat off of the bones, returning it to the stock in the pot and simmering for another hour.

Just the meat that came off the bones after that first 30 min simmer was all we needed for a turkey tortilla soup.

Put all the bones and scraps in a roasting pan. I always have some halved onions and celery stalks that were baked underneath the turkey and inside it, and I put those in the roasting pan with the bones. Roast that for an hour or so and there will be a lot of brown fond (goo) and flavor bits there. Then I deglaze the pan and bones with about an inch of water and let it continue to bake for an hour.

Cool that, strain out the debris and bones, scrape the bottom of the pan to get the fond. There you have some pure flavor for future use.

Assuming the bird has been roasted already, you should pull all the meat off, then stick the "naked" carcass, gizzard, and giblets (sans liver, if it's there) back in a screaming hot oven till it's deep brown. While that's working, toss your mirepoix into the stockpot and cook it high and fast until it's also brown. Deglaze the pot with some wine (I use white, if you want to use red go for it but stir a few spoonfuls of tomato paste into the veggies first), add the bones and offal, some peppercorns, a few sprigs of thyme, whatever else you like, and barely simmer for at least four hours. I usually do eight, myself.

Strain, degrease, add whatever veggies you want in the soup. Cook till they're just tender and only then add the picked, cleaned turkey meat, just long enough to get it hot. Cooking it any more will only dry it out. Correct the seasoning, add a squeeze of lemon juice, share and enjoy!

making mirepoix instead of tossing in large chopped carrots, onions, and celery?

"Mirepoix" in a commercial/professional environment is virtually never actually a regular, medium dice in specific proportions like they teach in school (unless you work for Thomas Keller) - it just means the three veg chopped into a manageable size for the stockpot you're using. For a 50-gallon steam kettle running overnight you can literally just halve all the veg; for my 2 gallon stockpot at home it's more or less a "proper" size but still just hacked up. The veggies will give up their flavor pretty much no matter how you cut them.

Then I cook it to death.

Some make a light broth using chicken with meat on, then use the meat.

Others make a much richer broth by boiling the non-meat bits for hours. This gets the marrow out of the bones and if you do it right, you will end up with a broth that will gel when cooled.

They both have their purposes.

Very good comfort food. I use Pappardelle Pasta and fresh mushrooms.

making something "delicate".

I love a rich broth. My favorite is just simple with egg noodles or rice.

But I also love risotto and there is none as good as that made with a rich chicken or turkey broth.

Enjoy yours!

from the stock? What other herbs and veges can be used to enhance the flavor of the stock?

I've tried making stock using just chicken bones collected from store-bought rotiserrie chickens -- never seems to come out right.

from store rotisserie chickens but I always include onions, carrots and celery.

I guess I should try it sometime. I hate celery, and don't like buying it at the store because it only comes in big bunches.

leave it out. I use celery seed a lot. You don't need to keep celery on hand.

I don't generally use herbs, just salt and pepper. You can add others later if you want.

Keep all the bones from the rotisserie chicken. Don't let anyone throw them away.

Put everything in a big pot and cook for a couple of hours.

Cook down until the broth has the density that you want.

Let it cool and strain off all the solid. Let it cool more (refrigerate) so you can easily remove the fat.

You can use right away or freeze.

Keep playing with it. You'll get it.

I came from a large family of nine and the turkey and all the leftovers would be pretty well -picked clean my Friday night, On Saturday, my mother would simmer the turkey carcass, add some celery carrots and a Little rice and let it simmer for several hours. We always loved it and ate it all No turkey went to waste at our house..

I'll let it go till the bones almost get pliable. Gets all the marrow out into the stock. Strain out the bones, cool and skim off the congealed fat on top.

Save the shredded meat for other dishes.

Oh, and I pull off all the "knuckles" when cleaning the bones. The cartilage makes great dog treats.