Replacement for Stuffing?

peeled oranges. as many as you can fit : ) discard after the bird is all cooked
Happy Thanksgiving!
V.

All great tips so far! My suggestion, besides all the citrus, onion, garlic inside, I always rub butter or margarine on the outside of the bird, then I put it in a cooking bag, and most importantly, put it in the rack BREAST SIDE DOWN...this way the juices will naturally drip down towards the breast.....and definately, let it rest 30 minutes prior to cutting. Good luck, enjoy and HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL THE GREAT MAMMA'S AND THEIR FAMILIES OUT THERE!

i am putting oranges and herbs in mine.

You can use this method with or without stuffing.

Wash the bird and remove giblets. put several cloves of garlic, a small onion, a carrot and a sprig of rosemary and a sprig of thyme in the bird's cavity. On the opposite end, the neck end, open a space between the skin and the meat. Put the stuffing in a stuffing sack (this is for easy removal so if you don't have one you can just put the stuffing in the bird) and then place it between the skin and meat. Close the cavity. Rub the birds with sage, thyme, herbs provance - whatever is your pleasure. Place the bird BREAST side down on a rack. Place the rack in a pan large enough to keep the bird from hanging over the edges. Pour enough chicken stock into the bottom of the pan to be about 1" deep. (you will need to keep an eye on the liquid level just incase too much evaporates). Place in oven at 425 degrees for about 8-9 min a pound. Tent the top of the bird with tin foil to keep it from over browning. You will not need to baste the bird. At about 1 1/2 hours use a meat thermometer to check doneness.....it should read at least 160 and you should check leg, thigh and breast - making sure that when you stick the breast it is into the meat and NOT the stuffing. When the temps are 160 - 163 you can pull the bird from the oven and let it set up for carving. If you want your stuffing dryer, remove it at this time, cover the end of the bird with tin foil to retain the heat and place the stuffing into a shallow glass pan that has been coated with a little olive oil. Put the stuffing back in the oven and turn the heat down to 350. Leave it in the oven until it is dry enough for your taste. Let me know how this works for you. LL

I have NEVER stuffed my turkey.

#1 - Brine the turkey for @ least 24 hours. Mine is already brining. 8 c. water, 1.5 c. coarse salt, 1 c. brown sugar, 3 crushed garlic cloves, 2 T thyme, 4 whole bay leaves and 1 orange and 1 lemon. Slide the fruit into 8 pieces, squeeze juice from the wedges into the water and then toss in the peels. I line a stock pot with a clean plastic trash bag, put in the brine and the turkey and then tie shut. I then set my stock pot in a ice chest with ice to keep cool.

#2 - Before you put it in the over, take a grapefruit or large orange and poke holes in it and stick it inside the turkey. As it heats up the juice will burst out and into the turkey.

#3 - Also, brush olive oil or butter all over the outside of your turkey. This will "seal" it and keep the juices in.

Works every time!

We don't do stuffing either, but we do cornbread dressing. Much yummier!

Good luck!

Brine your turkey, it is the best way to get a moist one. May be able to do it overnight for this year, but usually for at least two days is best. Good luck and hope it turns out moist for ya!

The last turkey I made for Thanksgiving, I stuffed it with orange and lemon slices, whole garlic cloves, a chunked onion and lots of fresh sprigs of sage, thyme and rosemary. It came out so moist and delicious, not to mention the smell of all those aromatics were incredible while cooking! Good luck and Happy Thanksgiving!

Ditto the cooking bag.

If you can't find the reynold's one (or don't want to spend 5 bucks for something you can make at home -but is messier-) all you have to do is make your own bag out of tinfoil. You just lay the tinfoil out, fold the edges together several times (fold, not scrunch) to make tight seams... lay the turkey on your now giant sheet of tinfoil, wrap it up, and fold the seams again so it's enclosed.

Warning: Anything cooked this way cooks MUCH faster, because you're doing a combo of baking/steaming/braising it. It will fall to pieces if you cook it the "normal" length of time, but will still be falling off the bone and moist if you cook it less. Just don't open the bag much as you're cooking it. :)

We also always shove butter pats under the skin, and another trick is coating it with peanut oil for a sweeter bird. Doesn't end up tasting like peanuts though, just sweet. When my FIL deepfries his turkey's he actually deepfries them in 100% peanut oil. So so soooooo good.

Try stuffing is with things like root vegetables. Much like you would for a whole chicken.
Then, make slits on the turkey, and (if you don't mind), stuff the slits with butter.
My Dad used to do that... and his turkeys always came out SUPER good, and moist. The only thing is, he cooked our turkey in a greased paper bag, that he just closed up with a string.

Good luck,
Susan

Ditto with butter under the skin. We learned this years ago from watching the Food Network....juicy turkey every time...even if the turkey is NOT Butterball brand.

Put aromatic vegetables and fruits inside (onions, apples) and if you want it to be as moist as possible, brine the turkey. it never fails.

Both Martha Stewart and Rachel Ray suggest putting chopped celery, onion, herbs (whole stems of thyme wrapped in string) and apples inside your bird to provide moisture and flavor to the inside of the cavity. Also, from what they said, if you stuff your bird it will cook faster than if it is stuffed. Hope this is what you were looking for.

J.,
Put your turkey in a Reynolds cooking bag and than in a large 99 cent throw away pan. You do not need to stuff your bird at all and it will fall off the bone plus use the juice for your gravy and throw out the pan (less clean up).

My mom has used these bags for at least 25 years and I have sense used them for ever type of bird including tukeys.

Other idea to stuff a bird with is whole garlic cloves, rice and I have even heard of apples.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving

J.

It is not what to put inside, the trick is several things.
One, you can just put about 1/2 stick of butter or marg.

The main trick is never poke your turkey, until the end when you want to check the temp. Then in the thickest part of the thigh.

Rub yout turkey, with a blend of olive oil, butter, salt and pepper prior to baking any way you cook the bird. For basting...
Depending on wheather you use a cooking bag or not. Cooking bag - just leave the bird alone, non cooking bag - baste the bird with drippings throught out the cooking process after the first hour.

Number 2 - never cut your bird until it has rested for
at least 30 minutes on the counter top after cooking.
This allows time for the juices to be absored.

Number 3 The dark meat will naturally be moist, it's the white meat that tends to seems a little dry. Cutting the white meat is the key to tender juicy white meat. Do not slice it one slice at the one off the bird. Start on either side near the breast bone, cut staight down, with a good sharpe knife, do not saw back and forth, this too releases juices.
then by the thigh, focusing on the breast meat only cut from the side into the breast to the bone, you should be able to pull the breast meat out in one section. This meat
should be a little long and fat. Now you are going to cut
the meat from end to end, not side to side. so your pieces look small to cut first than bigger as you go. Then you can cut the thigh and legs off.

Note you can also, put a cut an orange in half (take seeds out if any) and some lemon same way if you want and place them in the bird. They will kind of bust inside while cooking.

Good luck and have a great thanksgiving..

Hi J.,

I place an peeled onion and a pierced apple inside the cavity. Your bird will be moist. Use a meat thermometer. Enjoy.

Have a Blessed Thanksgiving.

F. E :^D

Hi J.,

I season the cavity and stuff my turkey/chicken with onion and oranges/lemons and cut them up in quarters. This makes the turkey/chicken very moist as long as you don't overcook.

Happy Turkey Day