I don't understand stuffing the turkey

[Anonymous]

What do you stuff it with? Why do you stuff it? Does it make it taste better?

In my house, we have "stuffing" aka "dressing" which is a separate dish. Someone commented to me "oh, I could never buy that Turkey, because I have to stuff my turkey every year." They were talking about how I buy the "turkey in a bag" so I don't have to clean out anything. Why do you have to stuff a turkey?

[Anonymous]

It doesn't make the turkey taste better. It makes the stuffing taste better (turkey drippings into the stuffing as it cooks

[Anonymous]

Stuffing tastes better than dressing, don't need to make space/time in the oven, everything's ready/warm at once, tradition.

[Anonymous]

It's unsanitary. In order to get the stuffing to a safe temp you have to overcook the turkey. No excellent cook I know stuffs any more.

[Anonymous]

It's the same stuff. If it's in the turkey, it's stuffing; if it's outside in a casserole pan, it's dressing.

If you do stuff, you don't want to pack it in--you want to leave it a little loose. You also don't want to put it in too cold. Room temperature or slightly chilled. Otherwise you risk it, and the inside of the turkey, not cooking enough.

The original reason for stuffing the turkey was to slow down the cooking. You wanted to leave the bird in there a good long time, on low heat, to give the fat that's in and under the skin time to render, and seep through the meat, flavoring it and keeping it moist. Of course, a lot of that liquid fat would drip down into the stuffing and make it pretty tasty too.

These days, no one wants to wait that long, and factory-processed turkeys have been bred not to have that much fat under the skin and over the breast anyway. So that old method doesn't really work (except with heritage breeds). Leaving a grocery store turkey in that long can dry the breast, in addition to making the guests cranky. In these modern times, to make the turkey cook faster (and to be extra sure it's done on the inside and no one gets sick), it's easiest/best not to stuff--leave the cavity open, or just throw some quartered fruit or onions and some herbs in there. Let the hot air flow through.

But--some people really like that flavorful stuffing with drippings in it. So, as PP said, the current reason to stuff is just because you like stuffing, and want it to taste good with those drippings. If that's you, go for it. But don't pack it in. And you'll never fit enough in for all your guests, so you're still going to need a pan of dressing on the side. But the stuffing will probably be the first to go from the table.

[Anonymous]

I was going to use the drippings/broth from cooking the neck for my dressing. Won't that provide a similar flavor as if it were stuffed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's unsanitary. In order to get the stuffing to a safe temp you have to overcook the turkey. No excellent cook I know stuffs any more.

The trick is to heat up the stuffing before you put it in the bird, that way everything reaches a safe temp at the same time.

[Anonymous]

Can't hurt. Sounds good.

It won't be as fatty as bird drippings, but that's OK. Still flavorful.

BTW, after you butter your casserole pan, pour a little of that stock/broth/whatever into the bottom of the pan before filling it with dressing. It'll keep it from drying out.

[Anonymous]

^^^ Was responding to the neck drippings poster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's unsanitary. In order to get the stuffing to a safe temp you have to overcook the turkey. No excellent cook I know stuffs any more.

I have been trying to argue for cooking stuffing separately but my spouse will not hear of it. tradition.

[Anonymous]

So don't do it. Non-dilemma solved.

[Anonymous]

When I say I am stuffing my turkey - it is not with "stuffing" that we eat as I side dish.
I stuff my turkey with onions, celery, fresh herbs and lemon.
I tried stuffing it with stuffing once before and I will never do it again. It made my stuffing soggy, non presentable and took much longer to cook the turkey. Not worth it to me.

[Anonymous]

We don't stuff the turkey with bread dressing anymore- we bake the stuffing separately and stuff the turkey with aromatics- onions, celery, herbs, lemons, etc.

[Anonymous]

I'm making dressing myself and bringing it. My SIL insists on stuffing the turkey but I know she doesn't do it correctly (based in last years and undercooked turkeys) so I'm worried that it's just a big bowl of bacteria. Yuck.
So I'm bringing my own, against her wishes.

[Anonymous]

I love stuffing/dressing cooked by itself, but the stuff out of the turkey is just a nasty bowl of mush. Even if it is safe to eat bacteria wise, it tastes awful and the texture is just gone. Don't do it for many reasons.