I have a turkey question

[Henrik]

So, turkey seems to be a big thing in the US. Especially for thanksgiving. I get the bird. And a smoked bird? Even better. And the gravy? Come on, who doesn’t like sauce?

The thing I don’t get is the stuffing. It’s made in elaborate ways, with lots of flavor, but where does it go/how do you eat it? I’m thinking that if it contains bread and other stuff, and you actually stuff the bird with it, doesn’t it just turn into mush? Like a McDonald’s Happy Meal in a blender? Or is it served on the side directly, as a potato side substitute?

Any light you can shed in this matter is much appreciated.

[Panhead John]

Sure! One of the most popular here in the U.S. is a cornbread dressing with giblet gravy on the side. I always cook it outside of the bird. It’s better that way. And it’s served as a side dish with giblet gravy poured over the dressing. Cooked cornbread, sautéed onions and celery, boiled eggs, a little diced cooked chicken meat added, as well as drippings from the turkey and chicken stock. It’s cooked in an aluminum pan or baking dish in the oven. It’s delicious and my favorite part of the meal, even more than the turkey. Those aren’t all the ingredients but I’ll find a comparable recipe link and add it to this post for you. In this recipe, boil the eggs and cut them up, then put them in with your mixture, instead of what they say to do. https://addapinch.com/southern-cornbread-dressing/

[smokin fool]

Great recipe, I was about to ask for a good cornbread dressing recipe.
Thank you.

[Panhead John]

You’re welcome sir. It’s a good "Southern Dressing". Be sure to make your cornbread a day or so ahead of time. Keep it wrapped up in the fridge till you’re ready to use it.

[Henrik]

Now this sounds good! And makes perfect sense. Thank you!

[Jerod Broussard]

Forget it and serve some Stove Top Stuffing on the side.

[ofelles]

Says the man who revived authentic Texas clam chowder
Panhead John
but I agree

[smokin fool]

10-4 you need at least 4 boxes of Stove Top Stuffing in case you boot the stuffing....
....and six cans of Franco-American gravy, 4 turkey and 2 beef in case you boot the gravy.

[Huskee]

LOVE LOVE LOVE Stove Top! Yum. Ain't no snobs gonna tell me it's not good.

[Dan Deter]

Generally these days most people make their stuffing as what is more technically correctly referred to as "dressing", although the words are used interchangeably. What it means is the stuffing or dressing is cooked in an oven or smoker separately from the bird. When I was a kid it was still common to cook the stuffing inside of the bird's chest cavity, but that suffers both from the issues you thought of and from the risk of salmonella when it doesn't get hot enough in there without drying out the turkey. At our house we put some onion, celery, and apples in the chest cavity for flavoring while cooking.

Either way its usually served on the side directly, and often right next to mashed potatoes or some other potato variant. Why have 1 carb when you can have 2?

[Henrik]

Why have 1 when you can have 2? I like your thinking!

[wu7y]

Same as one of my "rules of life" regarding garlic. If a little is good a lot is better.

[klflowers]

Stuffing is usually cornbread based and it is cooked in the turkey. Onions, bell peppers, sometimes sausage, seasonings. We used to put water chestnuts in ours. Basically, depends on whose family is doing the cooking. Eat it on the side with the turkey. Now days we make dressing, which is basically stuffing but cooked outside the bird. Same ingredients though. My wife makes it and I am not sure what she uses other than corn bread and turkey bits and drippings. We eat it on the side with gravy.

[shify]

Beg to differ. In my 40+ thanksgivings, never seen a cornbread stuffing. Usually French or Italian bread based or when I was growing up Pepperidge Farm stuffing cubes.

[Panhead John]

Never seen cornbread dressing? Really? Where you from.....Antarctica?
😂

[klflowers]

shify I said usually. My family always made cornbread stuffing or dressing. When I moved out on my own I tried some different variations, but I always returned to cornbread. Guess it is what you grew up with.

[RonB]

Some stuff the bird with it, (might be how it got it's name... ), and some don't. If you stuff it, it gets infused with turkey drippings. However, if you are not careful in watching the temp, it might be contaminated. I'm not a stuffing fan, but if I were, I'd cook it separately and add some drippings that have reached a safe temp to it.

And when stuffed, it slows the cook of both the bird and the stuffing. It might lengthen the cook enough to dry out the bird too.

[Henrik]

This is my thinking exactly. Sounds much safer and better to cook it outside the bird.

[LA Pork Butt]

I make a crawfish cornbread dressing which my daughter-in-law loves. I grew up with oyster dressing which my son loves.

[Panhead John]

Oh yeah! Dats fo sho cher!

[klflowers]

Yep that is really good. My wife likes the traditional dressing though. We eat turkey and dressing all year though, so I may make some after the holidays.

[mrteddyprincess]

I grew up with oyster dressing too! Wasn't Thanksgiving or Christmas without it.

[Beefchop]

Just to add - you can use white bread in your stuffing/dressing, but to keep it from getting too mushy it's best to let it dry out or age for a day or two. Use a bread that comes in an actual loaf and not the sandwich kind for best results. Some cook it inside the bird while others don't. I think Meathead addresses the problems with cooking it in a bird (i.e. to get the internal temp high enough you risk drying out the meat) but don't tell that to my Cajun friends. They love to stuff everything! Right, LA Pork Butt ?!?

[LA Pork Butt]

Have you heard of a turduckin?

[Beefchop]

LA Pork Butt Absolutely! We've never cooked one, but I'm tempted to order one next year. Always see signs this time of year at Rouses, Albertsons, etc.

[LA Pork Butt]

Beefchop My Brother-in-law and I did one from scratch years ago. We deboned and made the three different stuffings. It was a lot of work, so the price you pay for one is worth it. It tasted great. My only disappointment was that I expected three distinct flavors, but the favors of the three different stuffings and the three different meats seemed to blend together. Let me know how it turns out for you next year.

[ofelles]

Ciabatta bread or sour dough is great also. As dressing of course.

[IowaGirl]

Y'all folks who think stuffing/dressing is based on cornbread ... well, ya didn't grow up in Iowa. Most people in the upper Midwest grew up on bread-based stuffing.

Regardless of what base you use -- wheat bread or corn bread -- I imagine it evolved as a frugal way to use up old, stale bread and as a way to stretch expensive meat enough to feed a hungry horde. Fill 'em up with taters and bread and they won't eat so much meat.

If you think about how a bird would have been cooked over an open fire or in a wood stove with limited space for lots of pots, I think you can see why stuffing the bird might have made sense once upon a time given the logistics of how the kitchen worked back in the day.

Stuffing the bird was still fairly common when I was a kid, but I think a lot of people cook their dressing separately nowadays. That makes a lot more sense from a food safety point of view.

Depending on the cook who makes it, dressing can be mushy, wet, and pudding-y -- textures I do not care for in a dressing -- or it can have a springy, light, yet moist texture. If you cook dressing inside the bird, it might be a little more moist, but I think most of the moisture comes from the amount of broth or milk added to the dressing in the beginning.

Do you make bread pudding in Sweden, Henrik? Good dressing is a lot like a nice bread pudding, except on the savory side, rather than sweet.

You eat it a lot like you would eat mashed potatoes -- treat it as a starch that has a savory flavor profile, sometimes with a little added sweetness from fruits such as raisins or dried apples. Many people put gravy over it, although it can be eaten plain too.

[IowaGirl]

I would like to eat cornbread stuffing that is well made. The ones I've eaten tend to be overly wet and gloppy -- rather disagreeable, IMO. But I know tamales can be light and fluffy yet moist, so I'm hoping someday I'll encounter a cornbread stuffing that's nice like that.

[klflowers]

Panhead John I need to try some crawfish dressing. As soon as possible.

[Panhead John]

IowaGirl Years ago we did the dressing inside the turkey and that does tend to make it a little too wet and gloppy. Being enclosed like that doesn’t let the moisture escape. But for many years we’ve always done it in a casserole dish or aluminum pan. And also we use day old cornbread instead of fresh. We don’t stir it too much when putting it together. And doing the last half of the cook uncovered helps so it isn’t too wet. A well made cornbread dressing I see in your near future!

[MBMorgan]

Meathead wrote a pretty thorough article on stuffing/dressing that addresses your questions: https://amazingribs.com/tested-recip...muffins-recipe

FWIW, I grew up eating cornbread stuffing (cooked in the bird) but now really prefer bread dressing (cooked on the side).

[Thunder77]

I always do bread stuffing. I deliberately make extra, so some goes in the turkey, and some get cooked outside of the turkey. I like the stuff cooked inside the best.

[Old Glory]

I grew up with my Mom making potato stuffing. It was good but I like bread stuffing much better. I make Wild Mushroom bread stuffing. It cooks in a casserole dish and served on the side with gravy. Probably my favorite part of the meal. It is a ton of work but sooo good.

Here is the link: https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/...hroom-stuffing

[Thunder77]

I would literally be thrown out of the house on my ear if I presented a bird without stuffing. I start with very dry bread cubes, so that moisture absorbed from the turkey makes it perfect, not overly moist. I don’t like cornbread stuffing because it tends to get mushy. I cook my turkey a la Meathead, on a rack in the oven, ABOVE a roasting pan with water in it. I have never made anyone sick, and my turkey always gets rave reviews.

You can also pre-heat stuffing before putting it in the bird.

[Bogy]

Thunder77, I knew I was forgetting something in my comment above on @IowaGirl's post. I heat up the liquid to boiling before mixing it in with the dry ingredients, and fry the sausage, so it all starts out pretty hot.

[HawkerXP]

I don't know what the heck you all are talking about.

The TURKEY is only involved as a way to keep the stuffing / dressing moist!

[Thunder77]

That’s a hoot! 🤣🤣

[Dan Deter]

My family actually had both bread-based and cornbread-based. Since my aunt passed away Its been just the bread based, which is what I know how to make, and do make since its my family that we host, My wife's family (Texans) are cornbread stuffing makers, but since most of our guests are used to the bread based and she doesn't know how to make it for less than 30, I handle the stuffing

[smokin fool]

I'd never tried corn bread dressing until we did a Texas Christmas years ago made by my transplanted Maltese-Canadian sister in law.
I'm the only one that liked it though, I get out voted for bread dressing every year.