Stuffing in the bird?

[Anonymous]

But what flavor sausage?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But what flavor sausage?

Mild breakfast sausage with sage. The ones in the roll packages.

[Anonymous]

More people get sick from defrosting the bird. They leave it out and bring it to room temperature. Once the bird reaches 40-135 it is a bacteria no kids resort. All it would take is a few hours at room temperature. It is the turkey, but people blame the stuffing.

[Anonymous]

Another turkey stuffer here. My turkey is usually 20 pounds and stuffed. If I could force more stuffing into it I would, it's my favorite part. I've eaten stuffed turkey for 30 + years. This is my 8th year hosting. No one in my family has ever gotten sick in decades of Thanksgivings.

[Anonymous]

My mom has always stuffed the hell out of a 20-25 pound bird. Every possible orifice. No one has ever gotten sick. And she cooks the turkey breast down for the majority of the time so it doesn't dry out, either. There is usually extra stuffing that doesn't fit and that gets cooked outside the bird, separately wrapped; then she scoops out the stuffing from inside the bird and mixes it with the other one. She is fanatical about getting the stuffing out of the bird pretty quickly and not letting it sit in there for a long time after it cooks -- she's always said that is a health risk. Who knows. But her bird and her stuffing are legendary in the family and we wouldn't do it any other way.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks, everyone, for the advice and suggestions-- even snarky poster who suggested I'd be okay with causing vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal cramps for my guests. (Oh, if you only knew! I am queen of cautious food prep, for good reason.)

So I'll add my own bit to the thread.

My mother has arrived for the holiday and suggested doing the stuffing in a crock pot. She did it last year with great success. It eliminates the food safety concern but keeps the stuffing nice and moist and not dried out like in the oven.