Leftover turkey carcass - soup or stock?

I find that a stock is much more satisfying when done in the manner you mention second (throw the carcass in with the vegetables).

Letting it cook down gives a fantastic taste to the soup as a whole and really brings the flavours together.

But then again, it’s up to your tastes :-)

In order to make the soup have that smooth rich feeling in your mouth, you have to let the bones give up their collagen so that your stock is gelatinous . That takes a long time. I always add to the bones, some coarsely chopped vegetables or even the clean trimmings of my soup vegetables yet to come. Some whole pepper corns and no salt. I cook until the bones are falling apart, then strain this, and throw away all the bone and gunk.
Then I add my vegetables and meat or whatever and cook that until it’s done.

@ModernEpicurian
@wilma

I’ve got it going right now, carcass, aromatics, pepper corns, some parsley stems, I will make a stock, strain and then do a fast Turkey noodle soup. Let it sit tonight and have tomorrow so the flavors can merge together, like you do with a good stew.

Thanks to both of you

@srmorgan sounds yummy! I stashed my turkey carcass in the freezer and will make soup when I feel like cooking again. I’ve spent too many days in the kitchen already this week. I need a break with warmed up leftovers.

I cooked the carcass with carrots, celery, green pepper, and onion. Then I removed the meat and veggies, tossed the veggies, strained the broth, and cooked it down for 45 minutes. I picked the carcass clean, adding the meat back into the broth, along with diced carrots, celery, parsley and thyme. Noodles will be added when served. The taste is wonderful!

The cheater way to get that “I cooked this so long that the collagen came out of the bones” mouthfeel is to throw in a packet of unflavored gelatin.

I make a stock with the carcass, the aromatics, and a bit of garlic. When everything has fallen apart, I strain out all the solids, add more vegetables, and shortly before serving I add the noodles and leftover turkey reserved from the bits carved yesterday.

I left that on a low simmer for over four hours. If the bones hadn’t given up their collagen by then they never will. Ten cups of water cooked down to a little more than seven!

Strained, sitting in the fridge. Tomorrow skim some of the fat, add noodles, peas, leftover steamed green beans, more carrots and celery, maybe some leftover dried mushrooms that I never used. Pepper and maybe a bit of dried thyme or tarragon. Fresh parsley as a garnish.

Beats anything that comes out of a can

Thanks to all.,