To stuff or not to stuff?

[Bork]

I'd make a poll, but all I have is my Blackberry, and I don't think that'll work

Do you put stuffing in your turkey, or cook it on the side? My family's been arguing about it for about an hour now. The FDA doesn't recommend cooking stuffing in the turkey. Their reasoning is that the turkey juice might drip into the stuffing. You'd then have to cook the stuffing to 165F, which would dry out the turkey. So, you're supposed to cook the stuffing (which you'd then have to call dressing, since you wouldn't be stuffing it in anything) in a baking dish, outside the turkey.

What do you guys do? I've always had the turkey stuffed - and I've never know anyone to get salmonella poisoning from turkey stuffing.

[Tookie]

I didn't like stuffing growing up, and since I discovered how much I loved it when I was vegetarian, I've always cooked it outside the turkey. Now I add the giblets, but still cook it in a pan. If you do it right, it gets crispy on the outside while still being moist on the inside and that's an amazing thing.

[monk]

It's the time factor for me. A stuffed turkey takes longer, which means getting it in the oven earlier if I want to eat it at 2 oclock. The directions on the side say to give it up to an hour extra cooking time if it's stuffed. Sorry to say but I'm even going to cheat on the gravy more than likely(but I'll save the turkey drippings to make real gravy later for turkey open face sandwhiches.)

and I was totally hoping this was about bras and boobs.

[Rainbow Dolphins]

Okay, well, yeah, FDA regulations say NO, do not stuff your turkey and if you do, cook that shit to an internal temp of 165. And if you were cooking professionally and selling your turkey to patrons, I would say yeah, that's what you need to do. But you know what? FDA regulations are overly cautious (because it's very important you don't serve food that makes your patrons sick, of course) and you don't always necessarily need to follow them, especially if you are cooking in your home for your family. These regulations are strict PURELY because it's important not to make people sick, not because some of these practices are likely to make people sick, if that makes any sense. Have you ever ordered a rare steak at a restaurant? That is against FDA recommendations- the FDA says you need to cook steak to 145. But that is gonna be one dried-out, shitty-tasting steak if you follow that guideline, that's medium-well done. I also remember fighting over the stuffing that cooked inside the turkey (it never made it past the day of thanksgiving) at my mom's house because it tasted SO MUCH BETTER than the stuff cooked on the side. So I say, screw the FDA gettin' all up in your culinary judgement, stuff the bird.

</culinary school-inspired rant>

[monkeypoop]

I've never been a huge fan of stuffing or dressing, but at my house we do both. That might be a good option for you, so everybody in your family can get what they want. The people who are concerned about stuffing it in the turkey can eat dressing on the side that hasn't touched the bird, and the people who want it to absorb some of the extra juices can eat the stuffing from inside the bird.

Also, my mom puts the giblets in the gravy and it is soooo delicious.

[Bork]

Yes yes YES, RD, I am so on your side!! Damn the FDA: they only care about people in corporate restaurants who will complain at the drop of the hat. I was firmly on the "stuff the turkey" side, as was my grandmother, who's stuffed the turkey for 80-some odd years with no incidences of food poisoning.

And to think, this whole debate came about because we were trying to figure out how long to cook the turkey. Still not sure we answered that question...

[Sonic#]

I typically prefer the dressing to the side, but that is my unquestioned assumption that mixing different kinds of food before they're in my tummy is wrong.

[kelsa]

I like it on the side because its easier to snitch from a casserole dish than a turkey's cavity. I dont think I've ever had stuffing from inside a turkey, hm.