Countdown to Turkey Day: Make Your Thanksgiving Stock Ahead of Time

Hi there!

Today isn’t a task you have to do. It’s more of a discussion with some ideas you may want to try if they work for your Thanksgiving dinner plans. Catch up on everything we have covered so far in the Thanksgiving Countdown at the bottom of the page.

If you have been saving bones from chicken dinners, making your own stock can be delicious and very budget-friendly. If you want to ensure your homemade stock has the same rich flavor as your roast Thanksgiving turkey, buy turkey necks or wings and roast them before making stock. Lisa likes to use smoked legs to go with her necks and wings in her Thanksgiving stock recipe.

If you don’t want to freeze your homemade stock, you will want to make it no earlier than the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and store it in the coldest part of your refrigerator. For the super-ambitious among us, you can also can your stock. (Make sure you follow all safety regulations for canning food that you plan to use.) If you have never canned food, Thanksgiving is not the time to try something new and make it into a memorable event that will be discussed for generations.

If you have room in your freezer, it is safe to go ahead and make your Thanksgiving stock at any time now. Thaw it either the day before in the refrigerator or in a water bath the day of or just before you want to use it.

Never made stock before? Do you need help troubleshooting your stock-making? Boy, have we got you covered:

Roast turkey necks or wings to make stock

Chicken stock from chicken feet

How to make turkey stock (a ratio recipe)

Food safety, bacteria and homemade stock

Why does my stock taste like water?

Why is my chicken stock greasy?

Why do we leave the lid off when making stock?

Previously in the CountdownMade a plan for all of our leftoversMade a plan to make doing the dishes easierEnsured we have enough place settingsCreated a plan to grocery shopCreated our soft menu planWritten a tentative guest listFigured out how our guests’ needs affect our plansCleared the tableSet the intention to keep it clear.Made a point to try to stick to the weekly chore schedule