We had an enormous turkey carcass left over at the end of Thanksgiving dinner, so I said “Hey, turkey soup.” The basic idea is simplicity itself– cut the carcass into managable pieces, stick it in a big put, cover it with water, and simmer for a good long while. After an hour or two, you’ve got a big put of soup stock, with stuff floating in it.
At this point, most recipes suggest straining the stock, to remove the miscellaneous bits of stuff. Which raises the important question: Strain it into what, exactly? The stock is already in the biggest pot that we own, which is at least double the next one down…
Really, I have to stop reading recipes written for people who live in kitchen supply stores…
(I bought some huge Tupperware containers a few days ago, to chill the brine for the turkey overnight, so those were pressed into service, but there was some dark muttering before I remembered those…)
What we do is pour it out of the big pot into several smaller pots, clean the big pot, then strain the stock back into the big pot.
This is only obliquely related to your problem, but still to be looked out for.
I’ve started encountering the kitchen staff problem- the recipe wants me to dirty almost every single dish! No care was given to reusing mixing bowls, or spoons, for no reason at all! Usually the second time through I’ve edited the recipe so as to be a bit more efficient on the clean up.
Cheese cloth is good for that. Just put everything inside the cheese cloth and tie it up, then after the broth is ready there is only one big piece to fish out.
Recipes and cookbooks run counter to the entire concept of turkey soup.
We solved that problem by having more than one 3 gallon stockpot. But multiple small pot staged filtering is fine. Couple of things to keep in mind – rapid temperature reduction is important. Turkey Broth is Culture Medium, so the longer it remains between 40F and 140F the more likely it will get inoculated by something nasty that will reduce its shelf life. Secondly, the more aeration the borth receives, the more likely that the first successful inoculants will be souring bacteria, who will destroy the flavour of the stock before it becomes dangerous to eat.
You may wish to purchase a chinoise, china cap, or a fritted/sintered glass filter, which will clarify the stock nicely. Also, ice cube trays for freezing after chilling are a great idea, because stock cubes are the best thing for impromptu home nicies like risotto or kasha or pilaf or whatever that can get jazzed up with stock cubes.
Also, good for freezing are the better-quality zipper bags, say the quart size. (Put a pint or so in a quart bag, and test over the sink to make sure your brand seals well enough to hold liquid.) I used to freeze them flat on a freezer shelf, which then lets you stack the frozen “stock squares” in a corner.