Dressing vs Stuffing: In the bird or out?

[ohiosmith]

[MiddleFingerMom]

1. Can we lock HopeHoops out of this thread?

[ohiosmith]

3. You are wise,......MFM!

[MiddleFingerMom]

4. He's gonna be physically unable to tear himself away from that second picture for awhile.

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Possibly literally.
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[JustABozoOnThisBus]

26. Why? You want all the stuffing for yourself?

I vote for stuffing it into the bird. If it's not secured, I don't know what MFM would do with it.

[HereSince1628]

2. Never do a whole bird anymore...always out, still called stuffing

I know it doesn't make sense.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

5. oyster dressing.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

27. That's too much work, putting stuffing into all those oysters.

Stuffing one big bird is more efficient.

[HappyMe]

6. I have always called it stuffing.

I cook it outside the bird. I get it ready part of the way the night before.

[femmocrat]

7. I make both.

I put some stuffing in the bird, and bake some on the side for the vegetarian in our family.

[hedgehog]

11. Me, too!

As a matter of fact, I make extra stuffing simply because I can't fit enough into the bird to satisfy the crowd.

BTW - don't stuff the bird, rather, gently drop spoonfuls of stuffing into the cavity to fill it.

[Lucy Goosey]

23. Me too, exactly

My little sister is vegetarian.

[riderinthestorm]

25. Yup, I do both too. The one baked on the side is for the vegetarians. Yum! nt

[glinda]

8. In.

[pokerfan]

9. A helpful video on preparing your bird

[misschicken]

10. Interesting!

I'm from Cleveland where it's always called stuffing regardless of whether it is in the bird or not.
Moved to Columbus and was baffled about what the hell dressing is. It was such a foreign word to me that I was imagining people use salad dressing with their turkeys.

[one_voice]

12. Always called it stuffing...

My mom always cooked it in the bird. I've always done it out.

[madinmaryland]

13. According to Alton Brown, only a douchebag cooks the stuffing "in" the turkey.

Basically to prevent salmonella, you have to cook the stuffing to 165 degrees, which means you end up cooking the turkey to the point where it is way over cooked.

[Aristus]

14. Ah! Someone has seen The West Wing's Thanksgiving episode!

[madinmaryland]

15. Actually, he was on NPR this morning.

[Aristus]

16. Martin Sheen?

Cool!

[sarge43]

19. "I could kill my guests."

"That's not necessarily a deal breaker."

Damn, I miss that show.

[TreasonousBastard]

17. Screw that nerdy whippersnapper Alton Brown-- Julia Child says STUFF IT...

the trick is to stuff it just before it goes in the oven-- leaving it stuffed overnight, even in the fridge, risks the nasties.

(Look up Julia's oyster stuffing, if you dare)

[LWolf]

18. Both. nt

[dr.strangelove]

20. gotta cook it outside or else you overcook the turkey.

We cook it completely outside, then stuff it in for the last hour the turkey is on. It overcooks the stuffing, but we prefer the stuffing that way.

[HopeHoops]

21. We don't do a bird, so it's out, but I make two kinds.

I discovered years ago that baking leftover stuffing is wonderful, so now I just make two different ones (both for variety and consistency). You make them the same to start out, but then add extra water (or broth) to the one you're going to bake, press it into a brownie pan, cover it with foil and bake it at 350 or so. The time depends on how much stuffing and how deep the pan is. It's already "cooked" just by making it so the main thing is to heat it through. Then remove the foil and "crisp it up" for 5 or ten minutes before serving. It's great with mushroom gravy.

[Graybeard]

22. Never in.

Too risky. The argument that cooking it in the bird adds flavor? I have found it doesn't make that much difference. You can get a lot of great turkey flavor in your stuffing by correctly using the giblet package.

Boiling the neck gives you a nice broth for moisturizing the stuffing and chop up the well cooked giblets
for use in your gravy.

[geardaddy]

24. Both.

My mom has so much stuffing that she cooks an extra dish outside the turkey.