How to Make Chicken Stock Using a Cooked Chicken or Turkey Carcass

After a baked chicken or roast turkey dinner, save the carcass bones for a flavorful stock. After picking the meat from the cooked bird, save the bones and place in a stock pot with some aromatic vegetables and water, and simmer slowly.

Chicken or Turkey Stock from a Cooked Carcass

• 1 chicken or turkey carcass from a roast bird, picked clean of meat
• 6 to 8 cups of water
• 1 1/2 cups chopped celery
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• Several sprigs of fresh parsley
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 to 5 peppercorns

Place the carcass of the roast turkey or chicken in a large stock pot. Add in the water, then the celery, onion, and carrots. Top with the parsley, bay leaf, and peppercorns.

Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat. Let the stock simmer on low heat, covered, for about 2 to 3 hours, or until the broth is very well flavored.

Remove from heat, and take out the bones. Strain the stock through a fine mesh strainer or a double layer of cheesecloth, and cool the stock over an ice bath to chill quickly. As it is chilling down, remove the surface fat that floats to the top. Place in a covered container, and store in the refrigerator up to 4 days, or seal tightly and allow room for expansion, and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.