Every Thanksgiving, I prepare a big pot of stock to use all Thanksgiving Day long. This luscious stock is one of the secrets to a moist, beautifully colored roast bird with wonderful gravy, as shown in Perfect Roast Turkey with Best-Ever Gravy . Some of the stock also goes into the stuffing, some usually gets turned into soup, and I often use it in side dishes as well. The recipe is easily doubled or even tripled, assuming you have a stockpot big enough to hold the ingredients. If you want a smaller amount of stock, make the Small-Batch Turkey Stock Variation below

. But don’t worry about having too much stock. Any leftovers can be frozen or used the next day to make a terrific soup.

Turkey parts with lots of bone, like wings and backs, make the best stock. Use the turkey neck, heart, and gizzard from a whole turkey in the stock, but not the liver. (Liver makes the stock bitter.) When the stock is strained, you can retrieve the neck and giblets to use in giblet gravy. If you want to use liver in the gravy, add It to the stock during the last 15 minutes of simmering, and poach It just until cooked through.

Browning the turkey parts first gives the stock a rich color that will make a dark gravy. Cooking the vegetables brings out their flavor. Too many cooks throw the giblets In a pot with some water to boil up a weak, pale stock that doesn’t have much flavor.

Never let stock come to a rolling boil or it will become cloudy and have a less refined flavor. Cook the stock uncovered.

Add the herbs to the stock after you’ve skimmed it. If you add them at the beginning, they will rise to the surface and be skimmed off with the foam. By the way, the foam isn’t anything unwholesome—it’s just the coagulating proteins in the bones. They are removed to make the stock clearer.

The longer a stock simmers, the better, up to 12 hours. Replace the water as needed, as it evaporates. While I trust my stove to simmer the stock at a safe temperature overnight, some of my students have been shocked at the idea. A great alternative is to make the stock in a 5½-quart slow cooker. Transfer the browned turkey and vegetable mixture to the stockpot, add the herbs, and pour in enough cold water to cover well. Cover and cook on Low, and the stock will barely simmer all night long to create a clear, delicious stock.

If time is a factor, just simmer the stock for an hour or two—it will still be better than using canned chicken broth to make your gravy. Or make a pot of stock well ahead of Thanksgiving and freeze it.

Don’t add salt to your stock. The stock Is often used in recipes where it must reduced, and the finished dish could end up too salty. To check the stock’s flavor, ladle some into a cup and season lightly with salt before tasting. Without the salt, It may taste deceptively weak.