Michelle,

I have never been caught on those mostly infrequent occasions when I add a packet of unflavored Knox in the orange box to a stock. Very useful deception... but a deception nonetheless!

Geo

auxen1 wrote:I think I saw up post a mention of roasting or baking turkey parts before making a stock for use in gravy.

With fowl, I've roasted vegetables before making stock but never parts of the bird itself. Always submerge the carcas into water.

I know that roasting bones is how beef stock is made but wanted to get some perspective on roasting fowl and if this results in a richer broth (stock).

This past Saturday I used Michael Ruhlman's recipe for stock, as described here. Used two whole turkey wings and a turkey neck, all chopped into small pieces to promote rendering.

I ended up with 2+ quarts of the most intense turkey stock I've ever made; can't wait to use it later this week. Once defatted and cooled in the fridge, I basically had "turkey stock jello".

On Sunday I used the same technique with some chicken backs and a quart-bag of wing tips I had in the freezer. Got good stock from that batch but not as good as the turkey stock; I'm guessing due to the lack of meat on the chicken as compared to the turkey.

FYI,
Dave

All this talk about stock is making me want to make some this year with the carcass. Hopefully I can keep my large stockpot free so I can stuff it in there away from the cat.

I set aside the crock-pot on Thanksgiving day especially for this use; carcass and water go in, it goes on Low, I don't think about it until I am ready...often the next morning.

Pie Lady wrote:All this talk about stock is making me want to make some this year with the carcass. Hopefully I can keep my large stockpot free so I can stuff it in there away from the cat.

Post-Thanksgiving turkey carcass soup is necessary at our house, and I generally more or less follow Jane Brody's recipe.

Mhays wrote:I set aside the crock-pot on Thanksgiving day especially for this use; carcass and water go in, it goes on Low, I don't think about it until I am ready...often the next morning.

Your crockpot idea is great. Every year I save the caracass with the intent of making stock; every year I throw it away because I don't want to mess with it. As I'm carving the bird I'll put the bones straight into the crockpot and park it in the garage to work its magic. Thanks!

I just saw a clever way to separate fat from stock quickly if you don't have a defatter... let it cool a bit and pop it into a Ziplock baggie, let it settle with the fat on top, carefully lift it and snip off a small corner, letting it drain into another pot or bowl... and just pinch off the hole when the fat gets close to it.

Lots of great ideas in this thread, thanks everybody!

001

Neck-to-Tail make-ahead gravy. I don't have photos of the roasting/simmering process, but to make the above, I started a large pot of water with a shot of wine in it heating on the stove, and then set my oven to 350 and put the turkey necks and tails in the oven in an old broiler pan. I then added all the poultry bones I'd been saving in my freezer to the water.

After about 30 minutes, when the tails had started to render and the necks showed a bit of color, I put all the necks in the stockpot, and cut the turkey tails up to increase the surface area. I skimmed the simmering stock pot with a ladle and poured it over the turkey tails, which I put back in the oven. I repeated this every 20 minutes or so (making sure most of the fat from the stock wound up poured over the tails) until the tails were completely rendered crispy and dry. I then put the tails into the stock pot, skimmed it again, and dumped this in my roasting plan to deglaze the drippings; then I poured it all into the freezer-safe container and froze it. I then poured the stock into a crock-pot and allowed it to cook on low overnight; then I canned the stock per the NCHFP.


012 by michelehays, on Flickr

I cut my drippings into 6 pieces (looks kinda like an Abuelita chocolate brick, huh?) and plopped one in my trusty cast-iron frying pan.


014 by michelehays, on Flickr

I let it heat until the stock evaporated completely and I was left with brown fond and oil. I then added Wondra flour (you can use regular) and cooked the resulting roux until it smelled nutty.



Then I added stock (sorry, I don't measure; I add what seems like the right amount, bring to a boil - if it's too thick, I add more, if it's too thin, I allow to reduce) and brought to a boil.


026 by michelehays, on Flickr

And it solidified into a very nice gravy - not as nice as from a whole turkey; I added a bit of milk to help the flavor a bit, and some salt, but a good gravy nonetheless. We had it over an I-bought-way-too-many-vegetables-for-Thanksgiving beef hash.

027 by michelehays, on Flickr


029 by michelehays, on Flickr

Key to good gravy is homemade stock, no real way around it, stock. Mhays has the right idea, make in advance, freeze, always have on hand. I've been doing a Low & Slow backbone out method, so I knew I'd have that to work with, supplement with a package of wings and necks and I was set. Roasted backbone/wings/necks chucked in a pot with carrot/onion/celery and, Bob's yer Uncle.

Gravy tasted terrific, but the texture/mouthfeel was off. I often have cooking shows on in the background when I am in the kitchen, one of the tv cooks suggested potato starch as a thickener, no possibility of lumps and glossier finish. True, no lumps, glossy, but a viscous mouth coating gelatinous aspect that, while not unpleasant, seemed more suited to egg fu young than turkey gravy.

Enjoy,
Gary

Thanksgiving was a bit tricky this year—I'm in Montréal for the holiday, which makes it interesting getting all the ingredients together. But, after all this discussion, the gravy was the focal point.

Did the NYT method: roasted two wings (and a bunch of chicken necks—no turkey necks in Montréal). Which left two Tbs of fond in the bottom of the little roasting pan, enough to totally color the gravy. Added lots of carrots, celery and onions. Simmered for five hours. Made a nice brown roux from the turkey fat. Reduced about 3 liters of stock down to a liter. Lots of sage. Best gravy I ever made! Six of us ate up every drop of that precious liquid. Oh yum!

Hope y'awl had a fine holiday!!

Geo

Hi,

I was at a hearth cooking class. I returned home with leftover bits of turkey, capon and chicken, which I made into stock for use on Thanksgiving dinner.

On Thanksgiving day, I began roasting the turkey breast side down for 45 minutes at 425 degrees. When I pulled it out to flip it, I used this opportunity to add carrots, onions and celery to the roasting pan. I returned it to the oven whose temperature was lowered to 325 degrees.

Two hours later when the turkey was done, I put the turkey on a preheated platter to rest 30 minutes. Meanwhile I pour all the fat, vegetables and juices into a quart glass measuring cup. Once the fat rose to the top, I spooned off the fat. I poured the remaining contents with a scant amount of fat into a saucepan. I began heating it, then used my blender wand to puree it. I made no adjustment to the seasoning because it was perfect as-is. I heated it through and served it.

I used the stock when mashing rutabagas and for cooking chestnuts for the dressing. It was available for the gravy, though never used for it.

Regards,

I left the carcass in the slow cooker for hours, simmering into a nice stock. Then this morning I met pairs4life at a knife skills class this morning and since we were able to take home a bag of chopped onions, celery, peppers, carrots, zucchini and a little parsley, I think I'm going to end up making soup earlier than I thought. I feel like I'm getting four free meals.

As for the gravy, I'm combining many of the ideas above. I went to Chambers restaurant just a few blocks north of me for fresh giblet gravy for the meal, then saved all the drippings. They filled two pint containers, but once I take the giant block of fat off the top, I think I'll have one pint. This will go into the freezer to be defrosted for next years' homemade gravy.

We were all pleased with most of the meal (except I hated the recipe I used for corn pudding this year, blecch) and poor kitty was very disappointed that he only got to lick some spilled drippings off the floor. You could tell the little guy was devising a plan to get up on the buffet to no avail.

BadgerDave wrote:
This past Saturday I used Michael Ruhlman's recipe for stock, as described here.

I tried this for the first time this year and it turned out great! I bought 4 turkey wings and used the neck from the turkey I roasted on Thanksgiving day. I let the stock sit in the oven at 190 for about 20 hours, it was some of the most flavorful stock I've ever made.

I don't know if it's good or not, but I noticed that Schmeisser's sells pints of frozen gravy.
7649 North Milwaukee Avenue Niles, IL 60714-3178 - (847) 967-8995

Just wanted to bump this thread for others, because it helped me so much last year. I used a lot of Mhays' info (as well as others) to make some of the very best gravy I've ever tasted, and I'm starting on the stock for this year's right now.

Happy Turkey Day, all!

Hi,

I roasted a turkey last week, largely because we couldn't wait. Whatever leftover gravy was packed away into the freezer as back up for this week.

While I can make pan gravy, my preference is to use blended vegetables as the thickener. This is what I sent by e-mail to a sister:

I chopped a generous quantity of carrots, onions and celery that I put underneath the bird after the initial browning. I make stock with the neck and giblets, but not the liver.

After the turkey is done cooking and while resting, I pour all the accumulated juices and vegetables into a large glass measuring cup (I use a quart size). Let it settle with the fat rising to the top.

Meanwhile take some white wine or stock, pour into the pan and stir to dissolve and lift up any remaining flavorful bits on the bottom.

Pour off the fat without getting the tasty stuff underneath. When I have removed almost all the fat, I will dab the surface with a paper towel to remove more fat.

I think I gave you a stick blender, I use it to blend the vegetables and juices. Add the juices from the pan, then blend everything with the stick blender. (keep it submerged or in a deep enough vessel, because it can make a mess if you lift it out with the stick running) Adjust with stock to the desired thickness.

If it is too thin, either use flour mashed into butter or some cornstarch dissolved in water to thicken.

I attempted to keep stock from last week's bird. I like to boil stock down to a very small quantity. I left the room to return to a cloud of smoke from the now dry pan burning whatever was left of this stock.

Regards,

I wonder if in a pinch you could make turkey gravy from ground turkey. Crumble some in a roasting pan, add chopped onions, herbs, seasonings, celery and carrots and roast in oven. Maybe add a tad of white wine or water or stock and make gravy. Take ground turkey and use for chili, etc. Of course strain out the vegetables or puree them, or add to soup.

toria wrote:I wonder if in a pinch you could make turkey gravy from ground turkey. Crumble some in a roasting pan, add chopped onions, herbs, seasonings, celery and carrots and roast in oven. Maybe add a tad of white wine or water or stock and make gravy. Take ground turkey and use for chili, etc. Of course strain out the vegetables or puree them, or add to soup.

I think you certainly could. It would be missing something without bones, but if you browned the ground turkey well you would get something better than you would get from canned chicken stock. I'd go heavy on the browning of everything and add extra vegetables if you take that route. Browning the vegetables gives everything a deeper flavor and the flavor is likely to be pretty light without bones or cartilage. I've had some pretty good gravies made from just homemade vegetable stock (vegetarian friends).

I wouldn't count on using the ground turkey for anything else, if you cook it enough to extract the flavor it would be useless after making the stock.

I think if you are clever with browning and vegetables you can make gravy from almost nothing. i prefer a brown or at least tan colored gravy. I hate getting that pale colored gravy. Adding paprika to the mix will also add color. I generally baste my turkey with some butter or margarine and add paprika to the baste.

If you roast the ground turkey, instead of discarding it, moisten it with a little stock and feed to the cat, if you have one.

G Wiv wrote:... I often have cooking shows on in the background when I am in the kitchen, one of the tv cooks suggested potato starch as a thickener, no possibility of lumps and glossier finish. True, no lumps, glossy, but a viscous mouth coating gelatinous aspect that, while not unpleasant, seemed more suited to egg fu young than turkey gravy.

Perhaps that was Alton brown. I saw him recommend using similar amounts of flour and potato starch to thicken. His claim was that the potato starch interfered with the propensity of flour starch to set up solid as it cools. He also did not make a roux. He mixed the thickeners one at a time in cold stock before adding to the hot drippings+stock. (If you search for "Alton Brown potato starch giblet gravy" you will find it.) I went light on the thickeners when I made mine and used probably about 60:40 potato starch:flour. In retrospect I probably should have gone the opposite way on proportions. The gravy was somewhat translucent but I did not find it objectionable at all. Of course I like almost anything that doesn't try to eat me first so I'm not a good judge of what the discerning palate would prefer.

-hank

I made a quite delicious turkey gravy. It was brown not white and very flavorful. The turkey breast was simple. Basted it with a mix of oil and butter with a sprinkle of poultry seasonings. Onions and celery in the pan. After an hour of roasting and some brown bits at the bottom put almost a whole can of turkey stock in. Roasted another hour. Cut turkey and threw out vegetables. Strained pan juices into a large saucepan. Added rest of stock. Made a slurry of cornstarch and cold water. Got pan a boiling and added slurry. Stir and thicken. Pour into gravy boat. Yum.

I was very happy with my gravy this year. I made almost 2 quarts of turkey stock (turkey necks, gizzards, onion, parsley, celery, carrot, bay leaf, salt and pepper corns) ahead of time and froze it. I also made a small amount while the bird was in the oven from the neck and giblets. I took the fat from roasting (mix of turkey and bacon), made a roux with flour, and added reduced mixed stocks plus deglazed pan and roasting juices. My stock was dark because I leave some skin on my onion for color. I often use corn starch and have also used potato starch, but, for me, nothing beats a real roux-based gravy if well cooked.

A little late but I like to dry brine my turkey also and I put it in the Reynolds oven bag, you can find them at Jewel usually. I'm pretty sure they are juice proof but are certainly food grade material and if you're worried about leaks you could just put the turkey into the bag then use a garbage bag as insurance. Mine sat in only the oven bag for 3 days in an iced cooler in which the cooler collected a puddle of melted ice but the bird in the bag remained undiluted.

I also make my own gravy from scratch, for me it's all about the gravy. The usual flour, drippings, butter, red wine and stock route.
Last year at this time I took the remaining carcass and wings which went uneaten and made a stock with added fresh vegetables and herbs. I froze the stock thinking I would make soup or another turkey dinner in the ensuing months. Never happened. This years thanksgiving prep I took the 2 quarts of frozen stock out (a small amount of frost was on top where a little air contacted the stock which I rinsed off well in the sink - Important) before dropping into my stock pot to thaw and reconstitute with a handful of fresh rough chopped onions, celery and carrots and herbs. I would then roast the giblets and neck that came with this years Ho-Ka and add them to the pot to simmer away. I was thrilled to find the stock was excellent and this year I made the best gravy yet.

In years past I would buy Turkey wings, roast with the usual veggies and make a stock with that ahead of time. With the wings you get the most unctuous and gelatinous stock which may even require less flour or starch to thicken.

What a way to go.

Once again, I'm bumping this thread for new members (and those like me who like to skim through old posts for inspiration/reminders).

May you all have a wildly successful dinner, with a gravy boat chock-full of the good stuff!

I do note that Trader Joes sell ready made turkey gravy just heat and serve. I am assuming you could also doctor it up. If anyone has tried it or does try it please post and let us know how it is as there are some that might need to use ready made.

A friend invited us for Thanksgiving this year and then confided she was cooking her very first turkey. I sent her a slew of how-to-cook-Thanksgiving-dinner articles I'd written over the years, and she did a very creditable job with the bird and gravy. Below is the gravy recipe I sent. I'd forgotten how good a gravy it makes. (I confess that I usually don't bother with traditional gravy, personally, but just serve the defatted turkey juices, sometimes enhanced with a wine reduction.)

Turkey gravy
MAKES ABOUT 4 CUPS

Turkey giblets and neck
4 cups chicken broth
1 medium onion, trimmed but not peeled, cut into quarters
2 medium carrots, cut in chunks
1 stalk celery, cut in chunks
1 bay leaf
10 whole black peppercorns
6 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons flour
Salt and pepper to taste

Start the night before serving or up to two days in advance. Reserve the liver for another use. Place the remaining giblets and neck in a small, shallow roasting pan and cook at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, until browned.

Transfer to a saucepan with the chicken broth, vegetables, bay leaf and peppercorns, and simmer on the stove top about 2 hours.

Strain, discarding the solids.

Meanwhile, place the roasting pan on the stove, add the butter and melt over medium heat, scraping the pan. Whisk in the flour and cook, stirring, until the mixture browns, about 10 minutes. Add the strained stock and cook 10 minutes more, until lightly thickened. Cover and refrigerate for up to two days, until just before serving time.

When the turkey has roasted, remove it from the pan, and pour the drippings into a large glass measuring cup. Refrigerate at least 5 minutes. Spoon off and discard the fat that rises to the top.

Return the drippings to the roasting pan, place it across two burners over high heat and bring to a boil, scraping the pan with a wooden spoon. Add the refrigerated stock mixture and bring it back to a boil.
Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring often, until thickened. Season with salt and pepper to taste. If there are any lumps, strain through a sieve.

It's that time of year again! My stock made of roasted turkey bits is simmering on the stove and I came back here looking for this thread to review all the great gravy tips, and wanted to hear what's new and groovy in your gravy boat this Thanksgiving.

I made my turkey stock this weekend. This year, I used Ruhlman's oven method for the stock. It still needs to be reduced further, so I cannot make a final judgment about it. At this point, the stock's a bit weak but has good flavor, just what I would expect.

Hi,

I put aside stock from last year's turkey for this year's gravy. I tend to scatter carrots, onions and celery on the pan's bottom. If I do it right, the pan drippings and those vegetables once blended together make a gravy with the stock there to thin it out.

Another good use for the turkey stock: Sara Moulton commented how the turkey is sometimes a little too cool after being carved and assembled on a platter. She suggested freshening and gently heating the meat by pouring some hot turkey stock. I like this idea better than adding gravy, which may interfere with your guest's tastes.

Regards,

Glad I read this since we are smoking our turkey, thus no drippin's for gravy.