Don't throw away your roasted turkey bones! Use them to make homemade roasted turkey broth in your crockpot.
It's wise to make use of the whole bird when you roast a bird for Thanksgiving or Christmas, so keep reading to find out what to do to make your own low sodium broth.
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Questions
What are the health benefits of homemade broth?
Drinking bone broth and eating soups with homemade broth have good health benefits.
- Source of gelatin, which is healthy for skin, hair, nails, and joints.
- Contains antioxidants.
- Contains amino acids that boost gut health.
- Has many vitamins and nutrients.
What uses are there for this recipe?
- Use it as a base for soups and stews.
- Use it instead of water for rice dishes.
- Use it as a base for gravy.
- Use it in stroganoff or tetrazinni.
- Use it to drink warm for bone broth.
How can I freeze this recipe?
- In wide mouth canning jars, with a little headspace to allow for expansion.
- In ice cube trays at first, then dump the 24 ice cubes into one freezer bag.
- In one cup freezer containers, so it's ready to use for rice dishes and making gravy.
- In freezer zip top bags, just label your bag before you fill it. Squeeze out all the air and seal tightly.
How to Make
Preheat the oven to 450 F. Break up the carcass, removing the skin (it greasy) and most of the cooked meat off the bones.
I used frozen bones leftover from Thanksgiving, but you can also use bones from a freshly roasted or smoked turkey.
Roast the bones for 25 minutes at 450 F. Remove the bones from the pan and place inside a large crockpot.
Quarter two large onions, leaving the skin on. Wash and cut the celery into 3 inch lengths. Wash, peel, and cut the carrots into 2-3 inch lengths. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes.
Remove the vegetables from the roasting pan and place on top of the bones in the large crockpot.
Put the metal roasting pan on top of a stovetop element that is set to medium high heat. Pour 1 ½ to 2 cups of white cooking wine into the pan.
Use a wooden turner to scrape the brown bits off the bottom. This is called deglazing the pan.
Reduce the liquid to half the original amount, which should take only a few minutes.
Pour the glaze over the roasted vegetables and roasted bones that are in the large crockpot.
Gather the ingredients to season: fresh thyme, parsley, celery tops, bay leaves, peppercorns, and salt.
Pour in 12 cups of filtered water, or enough to completely cover the bones, vegetables and spices.
Place the fresh parsley, celery tops, thyme, peppercorns, bay leaves, and salt on top of the water, bones, and vegetables.
Cover and cook on high for ½ hour, then reduce the heat to low and cook for at least 12 hours (up to 24 hours). Here's what it looks like after 17 hours of cooking on low.
Using a large slotted spoon or metal spider, remove the vegetables and spices.
You may want to use tongs to remove the larger bones. Discard the bones and spices. If you would like keep the vegetables, just rinse them and peel of the outer skin from the onions.
Remove some of the fat from the top.
Pour the liquid from the crock pot through the fine mesh sieve into a large bowl or pot. Discard the peppercorns and other small bits.
To get it clearer, strain a second time. This time, wet two pieces of paper towels to line the sieve. Pour it through the sieve and into a large mixing bowl.
Cool on the counter and refrigerate in an airtight container like a mason jar or glass carafe. If you want to freeze it in a mason jar, make sure to leave about an inch of head space for expansion.
If you've never tried making homemade broth, you'll be in for a pleasant surprise. Using the crockpot makes it super easy, plus it frees up your stovetop. The results of your labor will be one that is a rich dark color, full of flavor, and packed with nutrients.
When it's cold outside, nothing is better than a big bowl of homemade soup. I encourage you to make this recipe in your crockpot. It's so easy and it makes the house smell wonderful.
Variations
- Try using red onions, shallots, or leeks instead of yellow onion, but leave the skin on as it will help darken the color.
- Want to use other spices? Try fresh sage or rosemary.
- Other things to add include 2 or 3 crushed garlic cloves, a dried chile, or thick slices of green pepper.
Pro Tips
- If you don't have leftover bones, just roast up some drumsticks, then remove the skin and meat.
- Don't leave the skin on the bones; it will make it too greasy.
- The easiest way to remove the fat is to allow it to cool completely, then refrigerate. The fat will rise to the top.
- Rub the leftover bones with seasoned salt before roasting them.
Recipes That Use Turkey Broth
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Recipe
Crockpot Roasted Turkey Broth
Ingredients
- Leftover turkey carcass, with the skin and most of the meat removed
- 4 carrots, peeled and cut into 2 inch lengths
- 5 celery stalks, cut into 2 inch lengths
- 2 large onions, quartered with skins on
- 1 ½ cups white cooking wine
- 12 cups filtered water
- celery tops from the 5 stalks
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 4 sprigs fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 bay leaves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 F. Place the turkey bones (with skin and meat removed) in a large metal pan with sides and roast for 25 minutes. Remove the bones from the pan and set aside.
- In the same roasting pan, roast the vegetables for 20 minutes at 450 F. Remove the vegetables from the pan and set aside.
- Put the empty metal roasting pan on top of the stove over medium high heat. Pour the wine into the pan and scrape all the browned bits off the bottom with a wooden turner. (This is called deglazing the pan.) Reduce the liquid to half.
- Place the roasted turkey bones and roasted vegetables in a large crockpot, then top with 12 cups of water. Add the fresh thyme, parsley, celery tops, peppercorns, salt and bay leaves.
- Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes, then reduce heat to low. Let it cook for a minimum of 12 hours to a maximum of 24 hours. (I cooked mine for 17 hours for the photos.)
- Skim off any fat with a large spoon and place in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate so the fat can rise to the top. The rest of the broth can be reused.
- Remove the bones, vegetables, fresh herbs, peppercorns and bay leaves from the crock pot by using a large slotted spoon.
- Strain the broth by pouring it through a fine mesh sieve into a large bowl. If desired, strain a second time, this time lining the sieve with damp paper towels. The paper towels will catch more of the small particles than cheesecloth would, and should result in a clearer looking broth.
- Cool on the counter, then refrigerate. Once cold, it's easier to remove any remaining fat floating on top.
- To freeze, pour completely cooled broth in large airtight mason jars, leaving about 1 inch of head space to allow for expansion, and freeze for up to 3 months. You can also store the broth in freezer bags for soups or in ice cubes for gravies or rice dishes. If you plan on drinking this bone broth in a mug, store it in 1 cup freezer containers.
Notes
- No turkey bones? Use drumsticks, then remove the skin and meat.
- To reduce the grease in the broth, remove the skin.
- Allow the broth to cool completely, and the fat will rise to the top then skim it off and refrigerate.
- Before roasting, rub the leftover bones with seasoned salt.
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