Stuffing/Dressing Poll

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

How Do You Like Your Stuffing/Dressing?

  • I call it stuffing.

    Votes: 73 58.4%
  • I call it dressing.

    Votes: 40 32.0%
  • I prefer bread.

    Votes: 53 42.4%
  • I prefer cornbread.

    Votes: 32 25.6%
  • I prefer rice.

    Votes: 7 5.6%
  • I stuff the bird.

    Votes: 39 31.2%
  • I use a casserole.

    Votes: 57 45.6%
  • I like my stuffing/dressing moist.

    Votes: 96 76.8%
  • I like my stuffing/dressing dry.

    Votes: 11 8.8%

  • Total voters
    125
  • Poll closed .
From what I have heard, the danger of food poisoning is only if the bird is stuffed, then refrigerated for a length of time before roasting. I have never heard of anyone having problems when they stuffed the turkey right before roasting. If I recall correctly, you used to be able to buy prestuffed frozen turkeys for awhile (can you now--I haven't seen any) and I think that might have also been a problem.

:)Barbara
 
Last edited:
I'm another one in the "stuffing" if it's in the bird and "dressing" if it's cooked outside the bird.

I prepare the one that's been served in my family for generations...plain bread crumbs, milk, butter, eggs, celery, green pepper, onion, sage, salt and pepper. I usually have to slap Buck's hands when I mix it up. He claims he's testing for seasoning.:angel:

I like it moist but not wet and cooked in the bird. The overflow (I always make extra.) is cooked in a covered casserole. I also make a casserole of cornbread dressing because I enjoy the taste cornbread gives it.

Even though it's only been Buck and me celebrating the holiday in recent years, I still prepare the vast array of dishes I did when all the children were home. There's nothing like leftovers. Love Thanksgiving and all the tasty traditions that come with it.
 
I use a slowcooker for my dressing/stuffing (either term for me). Bread cubes, pork sausage, celery, onions, garlic, lots of herbs. Yum.

This sounds interesting. I stuff the turkey, but we love the stuffing most of all, so this sounds like a neat way to make some additional. Or it could be used to make stuffing when you don't have a whole bird to stuff. Can you give us some details? I've never seen a slow-cooker stuffing recipe.

BC
 
Even though it's only been Buck and me celebrating the holiday in recent years, I still prepare the vast array of dishes I did when all the children were home. There's nothing like leftovers. Love Thanksgiving and all the tasty traditions that come with it.
Same here! Just because it is only the two of us doesn't mean the Thanksgiving meal has to shrink. Thanksgiving leftovers are the best!

:)Barbara
 
The danger of food poisoning is present from the stuffing in the turkey cavity if the turkey is not cooked long enough to bring the internal temperature of the stuffing up to a minimum temperature of 161F.

The raw turkey juices run into the stuffing, making it necessary to cook it as much as the turkey.

Since it's such a large mass, the turkey meat tends to dry out by the time the stuffing gets hot enough.
 
Thanks Andy! I guess that's why I cook my turkey in a bag (moist and perfect every time) and my dressing in a casserole. Well, that and not wanting to fool with stuffing the darn thing! :-p

:)Barbara
 
I just like eating Stuffing/Dressing and then its time for FOOTBALL/SLEEP TIME :ohmy:! WHAT A tripta ;)
 
Odd poll question, since it was two part. Dressing or stuffing, and do we like it dry or moist.
So my opinion is that I call it stuffing, and prefer it moist on the inside of the bird and crunchy on the outside. Happy Thanksgiving Canada! Oh and thanks for the cold air (NOT) ;)
 
Happy Thanksgiving Canada! Oh and thanks for the cold air (NOT) ;)

That's funny because we were sweltering here over the weekend :brows: I didn't get to have turkey this weekend though...we left early for a hockey game.

I have always stuffed the bird, as my mom always did. I've never had food poisoning, and I've also never had a dry bird that has been cooked by myself or my mother. I just don't get people that say turkey is dry because they obviously are cooking at too high of a tempurature or something.

I think I have also heard that it is only if you stuff it and then refrigerate it that you run the risk of food poisoning. But then, how does that explain the pre-stuffed frozen turkeys?
 
That's funny because we were sweltering here over the weekend :brows: I didn't get to have turkey this weekend though...we left early for a hockey game.

I have always stuffed the bird, as my mom always did. I've never had food poisoning, and I've also never had a dry bird that has been cooked by myself or my mother. I just don't get people that say turkey is dry because they obviously are cooking at too high of a tempurature or something.

I think I have also heard that it is only if you stuff it and then refrigerate it that you run the risk of food poisoning. But then, how does that explain the pre-stuffed frozen turkeys?



I'm glad your turkeys come out moist.

Check out my earlier post above for the explanation of the food poisoning (salmonella) issue.
 
I'm glad your turkeys come out moist.

Check out my earlier post above for the explanation of the food poisoning (salmonella) issue.

Ya, I did read that. Maybe I just have a strong stomach :)

I would think I have been cooking it to an optimal temperature of 165° all along and that's why I haven't been sick. Low temperature and a long period of time = yummy turkey+stuffing as far as I'm concerned! It also could be that I was raised in the country and my system is more immune to all these bugs because I probably ingested a lot of stuff iin my water, the dirt I ate, etc. etc. :LOL:
 
Last edited:
Or really good luck. It's not a risk worth taking, especially if you are feeding the elderly, the very young or persons with compromised immune systems.

I totally agree with you that they say it is a very risky thing to do in this day in age, but I am also a survivor of lawn darts, lead paint, no seatbelts, etc., etc. so I am one of those stubborn 70's kids that thinks that we're too soft today....but I digress.

I am in no way saying that stuffing a turkey is not a dangerous thing according to the FDA and whatever else there is out there, but I also believe that the percentage of people actually getting samonella compared to the thousands of people that have been eating turkey this way for years is minimal and that there must be more factors involved than just not hitting the proper temperature.

I absolutely agree that it is possible, but only with certain factors in place IMHO.
 
Same here! Just because it is only the two of us doesn't mean the Thanksgiving meal has to shrink. Thanksgiving leftovers are the best!

:)Barbara

No kidding. If I'm having Thanksgiving dinner at someone else's house, I make the whole thing at my house the following Sunday or the weekend after that - I can't stand *not* to have Thanksgiving leftovers :wacko: Whatever would I use to make turkey a la king?
 
Last edited:
The danger of food poisoning is present from the stuffing in the turkey cavity if the turkey is not cooked long enough to bring the internal temperature of the stuffing up to a minimum temperature of 161F.

The raw turkey juices run into the stuffing, making it necessary to cook it as much as the turkey.

Since it's such a large mass, the turkey meat tends to dry out by the time the stuffing gets hot enough.

Interesting. I've been eating stuffing from the turkey most years for over 40 years, since I'm using my mom's recipe :) with never a problem. The stuffing always comes out steaming. The dressing in the casserole just doesn't have the same flavor without the turkey juices in it.
 
I've looked into it and found this:
The Centre for Science in the Public Interest says:

Over half of the food-poisoning outbreaks linked to turkey are caused by improper cooling, not improper cooking, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). In an analysis of outbreak data, the consumer group found that
Clostridium perfringens and Staphylococcus aureus caused 52 percent of food-poisoning outbreaks linked to turkey between 1990 and 1997. Salmonella caused the remaining 48 percent of outbreaks.
"Cooking turkeys thoroughly -- to 180 degrees -- can eliminate such well-known hazards as
Salmonella and Campylobacter.
To stop bacterial growth on leftovers, CSPI recommends consumers use a simple formula:
Butother problems can occur if holiday leftovers aren't properly handled," said Caroline Smith DeWaal, food-safety director for CSPI. "This year, we're issuing a 'leftovers alert' for holiday food preparers, because a large percentage of food-poisoning outbreaks linked to turkey were caused by bacteria that grow in fully-cooked food that is left out too long or is not chilled thoroughly."
  • 2 hours: Move the meal from the oven to the feast to the refrigerator in two hours or less.
  • 2 inches: Store refrigerated food at a shallow depth -- about two inches -- to speed chilling.
  • 4 days: Eat refrigerated leftovers in four days or less. Freeze leftovers that will be kept longer.
"Following the 2 hours -- 2 inches -- 4 days formula for all leftovers could help prevent about 400,000 food-related illnesses each year," said DeWaal.
 
No kidding. If I'm having Thanksgiving dinner at someone else's house, I make the whole thing at my house the following Sunday or the weekend after that - I can't stand *not* to have Thanksgiving leftovers :wacko: Whatever would I use to make turkey a la king?
And the leftover mashed potatoes and dressing covered in gravy? :cool: Sometimes I think the day after Thanksgiving is better than Thanksgiving! LOL

:)Barbara
 
Back
Top Bottom