Of course this works best with wild birds like turkey, pheasant — or even a big mess of quail. PLEASE do not just “breast ’em out” and toss the rest — all those bones and meat are a first-class ticket to great stock! Click here for a detailed treatise on stock.
Even the feet (after parboiled and peeled) are golden when it comes to stock. Well, maybe not for quail — who has that kind of time.
Even the feet (after parboiled and peeled) are golden when it comes to stock. Well, maybe not for quail — who has that kind of time.
Note: To adjust the size of any stock recipe the limiting factor is either the amount of bones and meat you have on hand, or the size of the stock pot. Start with that and work backwards, sticking near the following ratios:
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When adjusting the servings, keep an eye on the stockpot capacity. Plan on no more than 3-4lbs meat/bones per roasting pan. You don't want to overcrowd it.
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lbs poultry
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Ingredients
Bones/Meat/Stockpot
- 2.42 lbs bones — Strip meat from leg/thigh bones to expose surface. Crack or cut bones. No more than 3 or 4 lbs of poultry per roasting pan — crowding inhibits browning.
- 1.6 lbs boned meat — e.g. boneless thigh, breast, tender. Count wings as 50/50 bone/meat.
- 12 quarts Min stockpot size — add 50% if using pressure cooker
Mirepoix (optionally dice & reserve 50% extra, to add last 20-30 minutes for extra fresh "note")
- 2 cup yellow onions — Rough chopped. Toss in papery skin also. Can substitute leeks.
- 1 cup celery — Rough chopped. Leaves OK.
- 1 cup carrots — scrub but leave skin on. Rough chop.
Spices, oil and other ingredients
- 5 bay leaves
- 4 Tbsp whole black pepper corns
- 1 bunch flat leaf parsley — cut stems from tops, reserve both
- 12 sprigs fresh thyme — 1 sprig fresh = 1/8 tsp powdered
- 5 cloves garlic — skin on, lightly smashed
- 6 Tbsp olive oil — approximate (4 tbsp = 1/4 cup)
- 1 bunch Fresh radish greens — optional but really good.
- 6 chicken feet — optional (improves body). Blanch/skin them if wild birds.
Liquid
- 6 quarts cold water — Approximate. Just add at least enough to cover everything.
- 2 cups dry white wine — e.g. Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, or Chardonnay. Cheap is fine.
- 1 big bag ice — to quick chill the stock after cooking
Ingredients
Bones/Meat/Stockpot
Mirepoix (optionally dice & reserve 50% extra, to add last 20-30 minutes for extra fresh "note")
Spices, oil and other ingredients
Liquid
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Instructions
Roast Bones & Meat
- Rough chop mirepoix. Preheat oven to 450°F.
- Toss bones/meat and rough-chopped mirepoix in olive oil, then season lightly with salt and pepper.
- Place on rack in large roasting pan (avoid aluminum), or separate meat/bones and vegetables into 2 smaller pans. If you are including skin, consider roasting it flat in a separate pan.
- Roast until golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Turn the bones about halfway through.
Simmer
- Add the remaining ingredients (except parsley leaves and reserved mirepoix) to a large stockpot. Transfer roasted bones and vegetables to the stockpot.
- Deglaze the pan with wine, pour into stockpot. If re-using the pan, clean to eliminate any residual glaze, which could char. Which is bad.
- Add cold water to cover everything then bring to a simmer. You can use high heat to get it there, but watch carefully and do not let it come to a full boil. And no stirring — ever!
- Once simmering reduce heat and slow simmer 4-24 hours (some suggest as short as 90 minutes). Uncovered if you have more water than you need (watch it and add boiling water as needed to keep the goodies submerged), or covered if you prefer. Some think > 4 hours is a bit fanatical ... they could be right. The goal is to extract all of the available collagen and flavor, but there is a point of diminishing returns. If planning to leave unattended overnight, especially over a gas range, for safety you should instead use the oven-finish (details below).
- Early in the simmering process, unappetizing looking stuff sometimes floats to the top. Many recipes call it "scum" or "impurities", and encourage you to skim it off. Others say don't bother. I've skimmed and not skimmed and can't tell any difference at the plate. (Side note: I hear that for seafood stock some seafoods do need to be skimmed)
- Optional oven finish: carefully move the covered stockpot to a 190°F oven after brought to a simmer. This saves the hassle of adjusting a burner for a consistent slow simmer and frees up the stove. Check the stock temp hourly and adjust your oven if needed until you are confident the stock is stably settled somewhere close to 190°F. Many ovens have an automatic 12-hour shutoff, so you should turn it off then back on before you go to bed if letting it go overnight. And then again when you get up, and again mid-day if you're going for a long cook. Another alternative is to use a slow cooker or an electric roaster. These can even be used in a garage, or covered area of a deck or porch, if you're cooking in AC weather and prefer not to heat up the house. If cooking in furnace weather do it inside! It smells great.
- 20-30 minutes before finish, add the optional reserved diced mirepoix. Gently poke it down to get it submerged, but don't aggressively mix.
- 10 minutes before finish, add parsley tops. Same routine on mixing.
process and store
- Remove from heat. The next steps until placed in the refrigerator should be taken without delay.
- Remove large items to a colander over a bowl to catch drippings. Filter out remaining solids using cheesecloth, muslin, old clean t-shirts, a chinois, etc., whatever you have handy. Ladle through the filter into another pot. How well you filter it is a matter of taste but be sure to get out any bone bits. Press or squeeze out and save all the liquid you can before discarding the solids.
- Optional: Salt to taste. Go easy, because most recipes expect the stock to be unsalted. Never add salt if you plan to reduce the stock. One advantage of salt is that it buys a little more shelf life in the fridge.
- Chill the pot quickly to at least room temp, then move to the refrigerator to chill overnight. The initial fast chill can be done by setting the pot in an ice bath in the sink. Stirring the pot, and keeping the cold water bath moving speeds things up.
- After cooled to at least room temp, move to the refrigerator. The next day remove any fat solidified on top. Discard it, or mix it with seeds for bird feeder suet. Evaluate your stock for body — watch the video at the top to see how it should look.
- Optional: If not as gelatinous as you want, warm up the stock. Per quart stock add 1 packet of unflavored gelatin first softened in 1/4 cup cold water.
- Optional: Clarify. Google “egg raft” for instructions. Leaves a crystal clear liquid — necessary for consommé, aspic or any soup which should be very clear. Another benefit is you have to deal with the yolks. Om nom nom nom.
- Good up to 4 days in the fridge. Freezes forever. See KillerNoms.com/WildGameStock.php#storage for details on storage.
Recipe Notes
If you don't have bones and meat handy, buy the cheapest whole chickens you can, and part them out yourself. Save boneless breasts and boned-out thighs for other uses, everything else goes in the stock. Drumsticks, wings, carcass, everything. Strip the meat from the drumstick to expose the bone. The more exposed bone the better. Go to KillerNoms.com/poultry4stock for more details.
If you want to dive more deeply into stockmaking geekitude, here's a good place to start.
View online at KillerNoms.com/poultrystock
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