Who Puts the Stuffing in the Bird When You Cook It

Just watch the show Good Eats with Alton Brown (he's my husbands cooking hero)...anyway he said DON'T put the stuffing in the bird. Bacteria and the likes are not good in there! and that it makes the bird very, very dry!

well it's only called stuffing if it's IN the bird, it's dressing if it's cooked out of it.
And we do dressing.

I'm a Stove Top fan myself.
Every time I have had stuffing from the birds butt, it has tasted like it literally came from a butt...

Like my stuffing a little dryer, not gooey, plus the oysters and veggies people use, Yuck!

Just my opinion :)

ETA: My husband used to hate stuffing, because the only kind he has ever had was his moms from inside the bird... I convinced him to try Stove Top and now he LOVES it :)

Absolutely 'not'. I do not recommend that at all, and a lot of Chef's out there do not recommend it at all either....I just got through watching the Live Help for Thanksgiving on Foodnetwork with Alton Brown, Rachael Ray, Sonny Anderson, and all those professional Chefs, and they absolutely say 'not' to put the stuffing in the turkey. For one, it does dry out the turkey when you do, and for two, there is a chance of ecoli, or someone getting ill from it. Those two statements are what they said yesterday on that show.

I would definitely cook the stuffing separately. :-)

I never put the stuffing in the bird. You'll dry out the turkey in order to cook the stuffing all the way through. Instead, cook the turkey and dressing separately. It'll taste better all around.

Never put the stuffing in the bird. Sure it adds flavor to the stuffing at the expense of a moist turkey.

Food poisoning aside, because you cook the darn thing so no chance, anything that comes in contact with the bird will wick the moisture out of the meat. You will end up with a dry bird. You may find people here that will say I am wrong, they have a moist bird, they have never tasted a moist bird, they just think they did.

My mom used to cook it that way until my dad actually told her that the turkey was dry and the stuffing sucked the moisture out of the meat.

We liked the cruchy stuffing so instead of fighting over the little that spills out of the bird it gets cooked in a BIG flat pan. LOTS of crunchiness to be had!

I've stuffed, but honestly there isnt enough room in there to make much, so I always make dressing on the side. A stuffed bird takes longer to cook. It was someone's cuckoo idea way back long ago to do that. If you stuff it, just make sure that particular stuffing gets eaten first since it will not last as long in the fridge as dressing cooked outside of the bird.
It's messier and a p.i.t.a. if you ask me..... just a lame traditiion from the 50's that has lingered for no real reason honestly.

I have heard it takes on some of the taste and moisture of the turkey tha tway. But the only way to do it safely, is to remove the stuffing after a while and bake it longer. Seems like an awful waste of time and energy to me.

We make the stuffing using some of the drippings from the cooked bird. I don't put it in the bird either. I don't like my stuffing that way.

I made stuffing in the bird once a long time ago. We had friends over for Thanksgiving dinner that year. My Mother in Law gave us some walnuts from her trees and not knowing any better, I put them in the stuffing. Id heard it might be good. It looked ok when it came out of the oven, but when we went to scoop it out, it was a disaster! I had the bird on the table and all fancy acting we went to carve it. That first spoonful of stuffing broke the crust and it came running out like grey diarrhea. Out of the bird, over the edge of the platter and onto the table cloth. Ive heard since then that black walnuts do this. Well, I wont be doing that again! I have used Stove Top ever since and we are happy.
What made me laugh with all these posts is Grandma T says "Ive stuffed." and Live Bold says shes "been doing it since she was 14." How many of you stuffed your bras at some point in life? lol

It grosses me out too! I won't eat stuffing that came from inside the bird.

I grew up with stuffing in the bird, but I don't prepare it that way now. But, I do stuff the bird with various dried fruit (plums, apricots, raisins/craisins) along with a cut up apple and onion. This makes the gravy extra flavorful and darker. We love it!

I never put it in the bird, I always make dressing and bake it separately. I'm a little skiddish about it too. My MIL does stuff the bird, and I've eaten it and been fine. But with each nervous mouthful the thought that I could get dysentery and die doesn't escape me. I'm semi-serious about that last part :).

all you need is a meat thermometer. When the turkey is 180, it's done (I pull at 165-170, because it continues to rise as it rests a good 10-15 degrees).

Ditto the stuffing. Pull the bird. Temp the stuffing. If the stuffing is under 180 you just scoop it out, put it back in the oven and heat it up to 180-185.

Voila.

The ONLY reason you can get sick from stuffing is because it absorbs the turkey's juices. If it's not up to 180, it's not done, so microbes can still be living. If you eat turkey, you can eat stuffing. They just both need to be 180.

To keep stuffing from drying out the bird... you do 2 things:

1) DO NOT cook the turkey until the stuffing is 180 (the turkey may well be 190-220 by then). It starts drying at 185 because the cells are getting lysed by the steam. Pull the bird around 170 and let it rest for 20 minutes. Temp the stuffing, and cook the stuffing longer if need be.

2) Make sure the stuffing is moist BEFORE stuffing the bird / aka don't just put in dry stuffing.

((PS... About 10 years ago one of the TV chefs got sued for saying 'stuff the bird and temp it'. Why? Because someone stuffed the bird and ADMITTEDLY did not temp it and got sick. Since then no network I know of will allow them to say stuffing in the bird on the air, but you will find people writing it down in their books.))

I've always stuffed it, it cooks right along with the turkey so no need to worry about poisoning. I am changing it up a little this year though since I read that the stuffing makes your turkey dry, I'm going to stuff it with pierced oranges and maybe some onion and garlic. I found a recipe where you cook the stuffing in the crock pot so I'm going to try that!

Because I vertically roast our turkey on a Spanek roaster, we don't stuff the turkey.
We like Stovetop.
It's simple, easy, tastes great every time and doesn't absorb too much fat from the turkeys skin as it cooks laying down in a pan.
When I roast, I have a lot of broth in the bottom of the pan.
I can skim the fat off, discard it and use the broth to mix up the stuffing and the gravy.

My mom always stuffed and that stuffing was the prize! It was so juicy delicious moist and flavorful. But, as a grownup, I do not.

I find the bird cooks more evenly and quicker if I do not stuff. I will put a cut orange, half an onion, a few sprigs of rosemary and thyme, and a few cloves of garlic in it. They will flavor the bird from the inside out without filling the whole cavity and impeding the cooking of the bird.

We always put the stuffing in! Makes it so YUMMY!!! But now I have a question!?! Ours has been coming out soggy the last few years can anyone tell me how their's has come out?? What are your secrets??

Do it every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Never had a problem and turkey is never dry. Its yummy. I do prepare a extra pan of dressing because there isn't a bunch of room in the turkey and I refuse to stuff its butt! :)

I stuff my bird (homemade stuffing starting with two cast iron skillets of corn bread made from scratch - if I brought home instant stuffing, my family would be checking the yard for pods). It is never dry, and no one has ever gotten sick from anything that came out of my kitchen.

ABSOLUTELY EVERY YEAR my bird gets stuffed (from the time I was born). Have never had a problem with illness (and we used to have HUGE family gatherings of 25+), and I don't think you could as long as you cook your turkey properly.

After reading some responses, my turkey is NEVER dry, and stuffing is usually moist and delicious. Trust me, I've had turkey both ways (stuffed vs not stuffed), and my turkey is usually awesomely moist. YUM!

We always stuff the turkey and then also do a pan in the oven as well just so there's enough. We never get sick.

I'm with your husband, it DOES taste better from in the bird, BUT, if you don't want to do it, DON'T. Even if no one is going to get sick (they won't) you shouldn't spend your holiday worried about it.

:)

I love the stuffing from inside the turkey the best too! people get food poisoning from the stuffing if it was packed in too tight (never pack it, just drop the stuffing in, no smishing it down!), or stuffed way prior to cooking (stuff it just before it goes in the oven), or left inside the bird to long after cooking (take it right out and put in a dish). I always cook the extra stuffing in a seperate dish, cause it never all fits inside the bird. hope your turkey day goes well!

My mother, MIL and all of my grandparents have ALWAYS made stuffing in their turkey's,, No illness, not ever. It gets all of the juices from the turkey!!! OMG!

I used to always stuff the Turkeys I roast, but now that I brine mine, it is too salty to stuff.. But once again I never ever had a problem

The secret it to not over stuff.. FYI, I also like to put a little under the neck portion of the turkey too,.

(Another late posting - but could be helpful for Christmas.)

A woman I work with bakes her dressing UNDER the bird. So, all the delicious drippings flavor the dressing, but with much less risk of contamination. She has an electric roaster, I think.

How do you bake a bird long enough to make sure the stuffing doesn't make anyone sick, but still have a tender, juicy bird?

I made turkey once in my life and didn't stuff it. I'm making Turkey this Thanksgiving though and thought about stuffing it. If I do, I thought about putting the stuffing in there hot after the turkey has cooked for awhile and is close to being done...LOL I have no idea if that's a good idea or not but it crossed my mind. I do remember my mom always stuffing the turkey. I thought you were suppose to until I became an adult and never saw this again. Good luck to you!

Sorry this is late but I had to answer because, like you, I'm always worried about poisoning my guests with improperly cooked food but I LOVE the way the stuffing tastes when it comes out of the bird so this is what I did.

My stuffing usually contains Italian sausage so I always cook that up on the stove top before mixing it into the stuffing and loading up the bird. So I pretty much precook the stuffing then put it in the bird and it still comes out delicious and I don't have to dry the bird out to make sure the stuffing completely done. As long as you precook the stuffing and the temp of the bird reaches 180 you know you're not going to be paying homage to the porcelain god later that day.

I also brine the bird so I don't have to worry about moisture. When I put the thermometer into the bird the juice squirts out so no worries about the stuffing drying it out.

I've always cooked stuffing in the bird, and I've been doing it for over 20 years. I've never poisoned anyone. Like with anything, you need to cook it enough. Stuffed poultry does have a longer cook time than unstuffed.

I stuff our turkey every year. i really do think it is much better :) I also make a second pan outside of the turkey since some of my in-laws don't like the idea. You can use a meat thermometer to check the temp if it makes you feel better. I mix bread crumbs, broth, chopped onions, celery and carrots and sometimes sausage until moist. Yummy.

Yes. It tastes so much yummier and moist, too!!!!

At our house we always had "the bird" stuffing and a seperately pan of baked stuffing in a pan. Not enough fits in the bird anyway. I dont like mine soft and mushy (bird) - I like it crispy on the edges (pan). That always worked for us!

I've been doing it since I was 14 years old. I'm 45, never had food poisen yet :)

My bird is never dry and everyone raves about my turkey.

my M. does, but the professionals say it dries the turkey out

My mom ALWAYS stuffed the bird, and gets quite put out with me when I don't. :) But if you brine the bird, you can't stuff it, and I like to brine my turkey. It never made my family sick, and we did it every year. Just be sure to use a meat thermometer, and not to overstuff.

When I was young, my aunt always put stuffing in the bird. We were always fine. My dad always stuffs the bird (still does) but also makes a separate pain because otherwise there is never enough. I simply cook the stuffing in a separate pan. Stuffing the bird makes it take longer to cook.

I know I'm really late in answering this, but my mom has always put the stuffing in the bird & none of us have ever gotten sick. She's been doing this for over 35 years. Whatever won't fit she bakes separately in a covered dish & there is absolutely a different, not-nearly-as-good flavor to the covered dish stuffing.

I like the flavors that the stuffing gives the bird but I won't eat it if it has been in the bird. Not that I am afraid I will get sick, I just don't like it.

I usually have a separate small pan of stuffing on the side for us to eat.

My dogs enjoy the stuffing from the bird for their treat!

Oh....GOD, I SO miss the days of the stuffing in the bird. :(

I always stuff my bird and have some in a pan on the side. If you temp it to 165-170 all germs are dead and it's safe to eat.