How do you do stuffing?

[Fire Me Boy!]

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, let's skip past the turkey and talk about what everyone loves most - stuffing/dressing.

How do you do it?

I'll admit, until I started dating my wife, my entire experience with stuffing/dressing was Stove Top. I didn't mind, but now I know better. And for the last decade plus, I make mine homemade. Sometimes I use the pre-cubed (un-seasoned) bread, but mostly I'll make my own.

Mine is pretty basic. It's what Mrs. FMB's dad made, and what we like. I've made a few modifications, and I think mine's better, but it's still very basic.

I prefer to start by drying out the bread in the oven. Add some diced onion, celery, mushrooms, and minced garlic sauteed in butter, and toss with the bread. I'll season pretty aggressively with rosemary, thyme, sage, salt, and pepper. Then it all gets moistened with stock - I really try for homemade turkey stock, but sometimes I just use from the store. Bake it all up under foil, and then take the foil off and let the top get crispy.

[Just Passin' By]

Originally Posted by BucEyedPea

I've changed how I do it ever since using that school. I even brine my turkey now too. Made a big difference.

They know how to cook turkey. There's just more than one way to skin-a-cat.

While I agree that there's more than one way to cook a turkey, you were the one tossing out the dry breast meat excuse from that school as the justification for not putting stuffing in the bird.

[Frosty]

I haven't had stuffing/dressing in years and don't miss it.

[BucEyedPea]

Originally Posted by Just Passin' By

While I agree that there's more than one way to cook a turkey, you were the one tossing out the dry breast meat excuse for not putting stuffing in the bird.

No, I said that's what RouxBe said because your "heathen" comment implied they were doing it incorrectly. I simply changed the way I do it because I trust what they said. I also heard, but may be an old wives tale, that there's bacteria if you put inside. I would think the heat would kill all that though.

[Fire Me Boy!]

Originally Posted by Just Passin' By

While I agree that there's more than one way to cook a turkey, you were the one tossing out the dry breast meat excuse from that school as the justification for not putting stuffing in the bird.

She's right. Alton Brown agrees.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/11/a...nksgiving.html

From his Good Eats: Early Years book:

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.

The way I see it, cooking stuffing inside a turkey turns the turkey into a rather costly seal-a-meal bag. If you're a stuffing fan, I suggest cooking it separately (in which case it's "dressing," not stuffing) and inserting it into the bird while it rests. Odds are no one will notice the difference.

[Fire Me Boy!]

And frankly, since I started making mine with homemade stock, I'd put mine up against any I've done in the bird previously, and I'd bet dollars to donuts you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

[BucEyedPea]

My past bread stuffings, but not my rice stuffings, did come out mushy and wet when I had it inside the bird cooking.

[Just Passin' By]

Originally Posted by BucEyedPea

No, I said that's what RouxBe said.

You quoted it. Are you really going to continue with this?

I've been making turkeys about every 1-2 months for the past 10 years, give or take. I have no problems stuffing a turkey and still having moist turkey breast meat.

[saphojunkie]

Originally Posted by Fire Me Boy!

And frankly, since I started making mine with homemade stock, I'd put mine up against any I've done in the bird previously, and I'd bet dollars to donuts you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

Slightly off topic, but have you tried French Laundry's recipe for roasted chicken? It is literally the best chicken skin I've ever had. Period.

I've seen him talk about it multiple times, and it's just salt, pepper, and then a little thyme.

[Katipan]

Originally Posted by BucEyedPea

My past bread stuffings, but not my rice stuffings, did come out mushy and wet when I had it inside the bird cooking.

Perfect!!

[Just Passin' By]

Originally Posted by Fire Me Boy!

She's right. Alton Brown agrees.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/11/a...nksgiving.html

From his Good Eats: Early Years book:

She's not right. 10 years agree. And, while I love getting Alton's takes, his fear of anything remotely 'unclean' takes him down some foolish and/or needless paths.

[Frosty]

Does anyone put turkey meat in their stuffing? My M-I-L puts the dark meat from the wings/drums in the stuffing and I've always thought it was weird and gross.

[Fire Me Boy!]

Originally Posted by BucEyedPea

My past bread stuffings, but not my rice stuffings, did come out mushy and wet when I had it inside the bird cooking.

Whenever I did mine in the bird, I always kept the mix a little dry. That's the key to doing them in the bird.

[stevieray]

I forgot to mention the chimney...

[Fire Me Boy!]

Originally Posted by Just Passin' By

She's not right. 10 years agree. And, while I love getting Alton's takes, his fear of anything remotely 'unclean' takes him down some foolish and/or needless paths.

Maybe you have some magical way of cooking stuffing inside a bird that heats the stuffing sufficiently to make it safe while not overcooking the breast, but most of use don't have that oven.

[Fire Me Boy!]

Originally Posted by Frosty

Does anyone put turkey meat in their stuffing? My M-I-L puts the dark meat from the wings/drums in the stuffing and I've always thought it was weird and gross.

That seems like a terrible waste of the best meat.