Once and for all: Stuffing or dressing? Cooked in the bird or out?

[ohiosmith]

My wife likes it in, I like it out.

[AtomicKitten]

1. Alton Brown says no to cooking stuffing inside the bird.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/11/alton-brown-says-no-to-stuffing-the-turkey-dressing-thanksgiving.html

"When it comes to turkey, Stuffing Is Evil. That's because stuffing goes into the middle of the bird and is extremely porous. That means that as the turkey around it cooks, juices that may contain salmonella bacteria soak into the stuffing, which then must be cooked to a minimum of 165°F in order to be safe. Getting the stuffing to this temperature usually means overcooking the turkey."

[ohiosmith]

3. When I pointed that out to my wife, she suggested I get Alton to cook my Thanksgiving Dinner.

:shrug:

[AtomicKitten]

5. Well, it is said that which does not kill us makes us stronger.

And salmonella-soaked stuffing * IS * traditional in America.

[Major Nikon]

14. He does demonstrate a method for cooking stuffing inside the bird

The extra steps aren't really worth it, though. I just make mine separately.

[Denninmi]

2. Dressing. Out.

I only stuff very small birds like Cornish hens. Anything larger, and it takes too long to get a stuffing fully cooked.

So, if it's not inside the bird, it's dressing.

I usually put a couple of peeled onions, a couple of celery ribs, a couple of carots, and a couple of cored apple halves in the cavity of a turkey. These add flavor to the broth for gravy. I reserve the actually cooked veggies and apples to use later to make soup stock, pureeing them up.

[trueblue2007]

4. stuffing and outside the turkey

Apple & Walnut Stuffing
Serves 8

PRINT
Ingredients
1/2 cup; Butter

1 cup; Celery, chopped

1 cup; Onion, chopped

1 cup; Chicken Broth

1/2 cup; Sparkling Cider

1 10-ounce bag of Mrs. Cubbison's Multi-Grain Stuffing with Cranberries

2 cups; Apple, peeled, seeded, small dice

1 cup; Walnuts, chopped

Method
In a large saute pan over medium heat, cook celery and onion in butter until tender, about 5 minutes. Add chicken broth and heat for 2 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the stuffing mix, apples, walnuts and vegetable chicken broth mixture, and mix well.

Place stuffing in a greased baking dish and bake at 350F degrees for 45 minutes, or until heated.

[AtomicKitten]

8. Yum.

[sarge43]

6. Out

Inside, you risk either overcooking the bird or, worse, undercooking the stuffing.

[MiddleFingerMom]

7. "My wife likes it in. I like it out. You do the Hurkey Turkey and you turn yourself around...

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Personally a "properly"-dressed turkey is MUCH more desirable than a simply undressed one.
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[ohiosmith]

12. Hahahaha!

[freshwest]

9. Always cooked it inside in my younger days. Then outside when told it was safer.

[Arkansas Granny]

10. It's stuffing and it's cooked inside the bird. However, we learned a little trick

a few years back. When we take the turkey out of the oven to rest, we take the stuffing out of the bird (that has soaked up all those good turkey juices) and mix it with the rest of the stuffing in a casserole dish and continue to bake it while we get the rest of the dinner together and carve the bird. That way, we've got the flavor of cooked inside the bird along with the safety of cooked outside the bird.

[sarge43]

11. We have a winner.

Thanks for the tip.

[elleng]

13. BOTH!

Not enough room IN!

[Demoiselle]

15. Yes...

There have to be more cubic yards of stuffing available than could fit in any turkey....And we have vegetarian relatives, so we must cater to them . We mix up a batch with vegetable broth and cook it separately. Plus a separate quantity of stuffing cooked with chicken stock. Plus the turkey inside stuffing as well.
I loves me my stuffing.

[emilyg]

16. Dressing - never stuff.

[Tyrs WolfDaemon]

17. Are you starting with a live turkey? It may make a difference.

Live ones don't really like being stuffed.

[ohiosmith]

20. I plan on getting it drunk.

:toast:

[sakabatou]

18. We do it out as a condiment of sorts.

[HappyMe]

19. Stuffing!

I usually cook it outside the turkey so it has a crispy top. I shove an onion, half an orange and some herbs into the turkey cavity.

[ohiosmith]

25. Good idea.

:toast:

[Iggo]

21. Stuffing. Outside. (n/t)

[hamsterjill]

22. Dressing cooked outside.

Now why am I getting hungry???!!!

[aikoaiko]

23. Is you don't stuff it in, it ain't stuffing.

I stuff it. I also do someone on the outside for others.

[Scout]

24. stuffing. inside the bird. the night before. put it in the fridge. cook it.

my parents/our family has done it that way for all of my parents married life ... they've had their 67th anniversary ... none of us has died or gotten food poisoning. yes, there's raw sausage and raw eggs in the stuffing!

[trof]

26. RISSOLES!

A German friend turned turned us on to this.
It's now my favorite way to cook dressing.

Form the dressing into burger sized patties and sautee them until done and a bit crusty.
Dee-licious!