You don’t have to clarify your turkey broth. It will still make a delicious soup if it’s cloudy. But clarified … now this opens up some new possibilities.
The technique I’m using is ice filtration, which I first saw on Kok Robin. You might also want to check out From Cook To Chef for some of the science behind why it works.
Or just read on for the how-to.
Some people like to cook turkey or chicken legs just to make stock. I’ve always thought stock is what you do with the carcass after you’re done with the Thanksgiving or Christmas turkey.
Break it down and place it in a large pot and cover with water.
Let me just end the suspense and say that no, I don’t cook any aromatics (celery, carrots, onions, herbs) before adding the turkey. And I don’t salt it. Not because of health concerns, I just like to keep pure broth with no other flavors in it.
Anyway … I also use the wings and drumsticks, which are just annoying to try to eat but add some great flavor. You can see below that I needed two pots to hold everything. I set them on a low simmer for most of a day before picking out all the bones.
After fishing out the bones I was able to combine everything into my largest pot, which then went into the freezer overnight. It always rises up in the middle like this, so don’t freak out about it.
Place a colander inside of a large bowl and line it with multiple layers of muslin or cheesecloth.
Place the pot upside-down on top of the colander.
Keep checking every half-hour or so until the frozen broth has come loose from the pot and slid down into the colander.
Make sure the colander and pot are somewhere the cat can’t get to. They’re sneaky.
As the broth melts, check frequently and pour off anything that has strained through.
I thought about canning the finished broth in jars, but I mostly have quart jars. Usually I don’t need that much broth at a time, so I decided to freeze it in insulated cups instead.
When all was said and done, I had more than three quarts of clarified broth.
Divided between 12-ounce and 16-ounce cups, I’ve got enough for all the soup I can stand through the whole winter.
And that’s it.
