what happened to my turkey stock?

[anomaly13]

i simmered stock the other day for about 10 hours with intentions to simmer it today for another 8 or so hours.  when i took it out of the fridge the whole this was solid, no liquid.  More like jelly then solid, i can see the layer of solid fat on the top but under that is jelly all the way down to the bottom.  I used a carcus, neck bone and veggies, the carcus was picked pretty clean so not much meat or skin left on.

is it still ok to use?

[HollyBearsMom]

That's good!  That means you cooked down all the yummy bones and basically made a turkey gelatin (sp).  You can scrape off the fat and reserve it and then when you reheat the stock it will liquefy again and be full of all kinds of yummi goodness! perfect for turkey soup and dumplings.

I use the fat (schmaltz) for frying up potatoes!  If you saved the turkey liver it is great for frying that too.  I soak in milk and then dip in panko and fry up. This was my son favorite all time food for years.  He loved whenever I roasted a chicken and could not wait for the liver.

[Annie Mac]

You have just made an aspic! People do this on purpose (or at least they used to, until we all figured out it's really gross, lol). It's totally fine to eat. Just heat it up, and it will go back to liquid state. There is natural gelatin in meat, esp cartilage, I think. Sometimes my stock gels too. No biggie.

[tanyalynn]

My goal when I make stock is to have it solidify in the frig.  My kids think good soup is solid when cold.  Bwahahahahaha (for warping their sense of normal).

[greeny]

For me, my soup isn't a success unless in turns into gelatin.  You did good!

[bluebackpacks]

Originally Posted by anomaly13 

 when i took it out of the fridge the whole this was solid, no liquid.  More like jelly then solid, i can see the layer of solid fat on the top but under that is jelly all the way down to the bottom.  

Perfect!  

[anomaly13]

thanks for the responses!  been using that stock and it sure is yummy.  

my next question is....... why dose this never happen with my chicken stock?  i use the same method and ingredients, except chicken not turkey,  also i usually use a crock pot over a couple days instead of a stock pot on the stove.  my chicken stock has never jelled, whats up with that?

[bluebackpacks]

Originally Posted by anomaly13 

thanks for the responses!  been using that stock and it sure is yummy.  

my next question is....... why dose this never happen with my chicken stock?  i use the same method and ingredients, except chicken not turkey,  also i usually use a crock pot over a couple days instead of a stock pot on the stove.  my chicken stock has never jelled, whats up with that?

I am going to guess that it is one of two things:  factory farm chicken or the lack of acid.  There is a huge difference in the stock from free-range chickens and those from factory farms.  I don't think I would have believed this if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes.  Regarding the acid, are you using vinegar/wine/lemon juice to pull out the nutrients from the bones?

[velochic]

The crock pot may be boiling your carcass at too high of a temperature if your stock is not gelling up.  The key is a long, slow simmer, which is much easier to control on the stove top.  Back in the 80s when I was first on my own, I used to watch these PBS cooking shows.  I would tape them on my VCR and watch them so I could write down the recipes (no getting them off of the internet back then).  I remember in my notes to make perfect stock, to only simmer, never boil.  I've read this over and over again since those days.

And as the pp said, a couple tablespoons of vinegar will help pull the calcium out of the bones.  However, to my experience and knowledge, it does nothing for helping it gel, unfortunately.  Also, make sure you don't just use the bones, use the cartilage, as well.

[tanyalynn]

Originally Posted by anomaly13 

thanks for the responses!  been using that stock and it sure is yummy.  

my next question is....... why dose this never happen with my chicken stock?  i use the same method and ingredients, except chicken not turkey,  also i usually use a crock pot over a couple days instead of a stock pot on the stove.  my chicken stock has never jelled, whats up with that?

If you normally do it a couple days, I think that's the problem.  Shorter simmer times--within reason, but I've read of people sticking to the 4-6 hour window for chicken--produce more gelatin than really long ones, say 24+ hrs.  Took me quite a while to twig to it.  Other variables that matter are the amount of bones and especially skin/connective tissue you're including, but even packed to the top of my slow cooker, if I simmer for > 24 hours, it doesn't gel anymore, and short simmers always do (always do if I've filled the slow cooker, I mean).  The GAPS diet discusses it more if you want to read about it, they're focused more on the gelaton for digestive healing than the mineral content. 

[velochic]

I missed the part about over 2 days.  I agree with TanyaLynn that it could be contributing to the problem.

[anomaly13]

thanks for the tips!  

we normally eat free range chickens however do eat some conventional chickens.  I do use all the parts of the bird and the total cooking time is usually 18 hours spread over 2 days.  dh can't stand to smell anything cooking over night so i have to put it in the fridge over night it and start again in the morning.  it could be too high more of a boil then a simmer, i never pay attention to it during the cooking.  

next time we roast a chicken i will try some of your tips including adding an acid and a shorter cooking time on low in the crock pot.