no soup for me!

February 12, 2009 3:15 PM

What can I do with this turkey carcass? (Besides make stock/soup/gumbo/etc.)

I've searched AskMe (searching for "chicken carcass" had some interesting results) and the Web in general, and this stripped-of-its-meat turkey breast carcass is still here. I'm a vegetarian so although I am happy to cook up a turkey breast for dinner & sandwiches for my kids, I'm not interested in making a big pot of soup I can't eat with them. My freezer is only so big, and it's got a lot of veggie stock in it right now.

The dog is happy to eat all the nasty gristly bits, but I can't give her the bones, she'll make a mess from both ends. I hate to throw this out though, and I'll be doing it again as it's much more economical and less processed than deli meats, so I'd love some ideas I can use as a matter of course. Thanks in advance.

posted by headnsouth to food & drink (16 comments total)

Throw it away.
posted by Max Power at 3:34 PM on February 12

My parents always feed these to the raccoons that live outside ... no idea if you live somewhere where that's feasible.
posted by pombe at 3:34 PM on February 12

If you don't want to make soup stock there is not much use for bare turkey bones. Thrown them in the trash.
posted by JayRwv at 3:39 PM on February 12

You can use it to make bone meal - boil to really get all the flesh off; hang in the sun to dry thoroughly (or burn down to charcoal on a gas grill or in a wood fire if you want easier crushing), and then pulverize. Add to your compost heap or in your garden soil.
posted by peachfuzz at 4:10 PM on February 12

Hm, yeah you kinda threw out all the options there, unless you want to make a puppet. You could make stock then freeze it in ice cube trays for smaller servings of soup so you don't have to make a giant pot all at once. But if you don't have space for it, I'd just ditch it.
posted by dead cousin ted at 4:11 PM on February 12 [1 favorite has favorites]

Feed the local raccoons or opossums etc, if you have any.

That helpful answer was just camouflage for my real message, which is that I once saw a spoof of Martha Stewart, in which "Martha" demonstrated a wonderful use for a Thanksgiving turkey carcass: spray-paint it gold and use it to display Christmas cards. I suppose you could use yours for valentines. Sssh, don't tell the mods I'm here.
posted by Quietgal at 4:14 PM on February 12

Hang it from some twine or wire in a tree. The birds will pick it clean. Good protein for them in the winter months.
posted by jeff-o-matic at 4:14 PM on February 12 [1 favorite has favorites]

Oh man, every year my family does Thanksgiving dinner together and one of the best parts of the weekend is the turkey rice porridge the morning after. It's made with the turkey carcass simmered with water, green onions, sliced ginger, and rice until soupy. You can also add any soft, cooked veggies like in this photo. It's a classic Asian comfort food. I'm sure it would work fine even with the meat stripped off the bones before boiling.

We typically eat it with picked vegetables and scrambled eggs for breakfast but really any light side will do.
posted by junesix at 4:18 PM on February 12 [1 favorite has favorites]

Make a dinosaur!
posted by sevenyearlurk at 4:27 PM on February 12

Feed the local raccoons or opossums etc

Except that cooked bird bones can splinter and cut animals' esophagi open, so i've heard.
Of course, if your neighbor's dogs have been coming in your yard and ripping open your trash, have at it.
posted by dunkadunc at 5:21 PM on February 12

2nd putting it up for the birds. It sounds weird, but I've seen my grandmother do it. Good source of protein & fats that they need right about now.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 5:41 PM on February 12

Don't make stock for yourself, make it for your dog. Splash some on your dog's food as a treat. It doesn't take much, so you can still leave a carcass up for the birds.
posted by graftole at 6:58 PM on February 12

One thing to consider is that bones freeze pretty well, so you could make stock later if it's just an issue of not wanting to make stock now.

I've also seen some really odd ball wind ornaments out of chicken bones. Bone can makes anything look instantly tribal, including the tree in front of your house.
posted by magikker at 7:51 PM on February 12

If the reason you don't want to make stock is because you don't have room in the freezer, you can make stock, strain and boil to reduce it to a really tiny amount of really concentrated stock.
posted by primer_dimer at 2:48 AM on February 13

Make stock, use it to cook (delicious) rice. For your dog, if not for the family. Homemade turkey stock is really delicious, you get good stock in an hour.
posted by theora55 at 8:05 AM on February 13

Thanks for the ideas everyone. I ended up hanging it up behind the shed for the birds, although I suspect the squirrels got to it first. I marked peachfuzz's idea as best answer, because what a great idea (even though I didn't do it).
posted by headnsouth at 5:18 PM on March 20