BROTH: FROM THE BEGINNING ...

It's a long process, how I make my broth ... no less than 3 days

3 DAYS

Day One:

Debone your turkey ... yup, this is our New Year's turkey - although, hubby did save the bones from the Christas bird as well, but I'm just using the roasted bird in this batch ... any scraps of the skin/fat can also be added - it's got some good flavor as well.

Hopefully, you've been saving all your veggie scraps - celery ends, carrot peelings/ends, onion skins, green bean ends, etc. I keep mine in the freezer until I'm ready to use them.

Toss them in with the bones ... yup.

I am using my new ROASTER OVEN ... it's supposed to be 22 quarts according to my husband - I want to say it's a 20 quart (I filled my 6-qt pot 3 1/2 times and put it in) ... with COLD WATER ...

Yes, it has to be a cold as you can get it, without it being frozen ... the colder the better.

Add 1-2 tablespoons of KOSHER salt or Canning/Pickling salt - do NOT use regular table salt or Iodinzed salt, the additives in them are not conducive to the canning process.

Add 1 Tablespoon pepperCORNS .. yup, not ground - the whole hard peppercorn.

Add a bunch of bay leaves - remember, this is a BIG batch ... so it is okay to add 5-8 leaves ... but I have found, if you don't add enough it just doesn't taste right.

Set your roaster on 300F and let it cook for an hour, then turn the roaster down to about 225-250F ... and leave it be.

Let it cook OVERNIGHT ... maybe even 2 nights ... but no less than 24 hours.

You will know it is done, when the leg bone (the thickest bone) will easily snap or crumble.

Be sure to check your pot, adding more water if needed - but make sure it is COLD water.

DAY 2 
IF YOU THINK YOUR BROTH IS DONE ... give it a taster, and adjust the flavoring as you deem necessary ...

Now, you are going to need a coupld things:

A strainer
Something for all this broth to go in that can take the heat
Room in the fridge for all this broth

This is where those huge 5-gallon buskets come in handy, but since most refrigerators done have the space between shelves, I have also used 2-quart pitchers and large refridgerator containers (my Lock-n-Locks work great)

Just be sure the strainer will fit over the opening of the containers.

When I use my 5-gallon bucket, I tend to put a cooling rack across the top, and use an old basket from a large coffee urn - the thing where you put the coffee grounds ... I simply line it with paper towels if I feel it's needed, but the holdes are small enough to where most everything is caught.

Let the brother drip into the containers slowly, don't try to "force" it through - or it will coume out cloudy

Once you have all your strained broth in your containers - place them in the refrigerator overnight ... or until the fat solidifies on the top ... but the colder the fat, the easier it will be to remove .... tomorrow.

DAY 3

Okay - nows the time .... you have to decide HOW you want to preserve all this broth.

If you refrigerate it - leave the fat cap on, taking it off just before you use it - I've heard it can last a couple weeks.

Or you can FREEZE it .... remove the fat carefully (it is still useful) and put the broth in freezable containers.  If you are using zipper bags, be sure they are marked as "freezer" quality ... or you can use plastic container with freezable lids.
Just be sure to LEAVE HEAD SPACE for expansion - remember, when theing like water/broth freeze they tend to EXPAND ... I suggest leaving no less than 1 inch of "headspace" for this expansion.

Or, you can CAN it up!!!

That's what I'm planning on doing - but that will be a different post.