Stuffing - What's up with eggs?

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This is all great stuff, and the egg debate is clearly falling in two camps - to egg or not to egg. The consensus seems to be "do what you want." Or, what your mom did at least. Since I don't have a family traditional recipe to draw from, I'm looking to start my own tradition.

Recipes I've researched call for between 1 and 3 eggs, if it calls for them at all. I'm personally going to leave it out this year, see what kind of reaction I get and go from there. I think using freshly toasted bread and herbs from the garden will be more than enough to put it over the top.
 
Effington said:
This is all great stuff, and the egg debate is clearly falling in two camps - to egg or not to egg. The consensus seems to be "do what you want." Or, what your mom did at least. Since I don't have a family traditional recipe to draw from, I'm looking to start my own tradition.

Recipes I've researched call for between 1 and 3 eggs, if it calls for them at all. I'm personally going to leave it out this year, see what kind of reaction I get and go from there. I think using freshly toasted bread and herbs from the garden will be more than enough to put it over the top.
Click to expand...

Make two small casseroles and let your panel of experts decide! :LOL:
 
My family (mom and aunts) ALWAYS added eggs. BUT it seemed that all you had to do was SMELL the stuffing and the gassy emissions started. I was the black sheep and decided that when I started making the stuffing I would try no eggs and hub and girls like it that way.

I don't understand the binding thing. I like it to be a pile of stuffing. Unless you want to slice it like a loaf why bother. And if you stuff the turkey it comes out in clumps anyway.

To each his own. I have had egg stuffing and it tastes very good. Taste was never my issue. This is just my opinion. Also without eggs you don't have to worry about being so careful with the cooking and storing issues that arise from eggs.
 
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msmofet said:
My family (mom and aunts) ALWAYS added eggs. BUT it seemed that all you had to do was SMELL the stuffing and the gassy emissions started. I was the black sheep and decided that when I started making the stuffing I would try no eggs and hub and girls like it that way.
Click to expand...

Hmm, I'm starting to think those gassy emissions might induce my in-laws to leave a little earlier than normal... starting to rethink the eggs :LOL::angel:
 
My mother was Danish and thought bread stuffing was something North Americans came up with during the Great Depression as a way to save money. She stuffed holiday birds by making meatloaf in the cavity.

I hated bread stuffing as a kid, when I got it at someone's house or in a restaurant. Thought it was nasty stuff.

I started to enjoy stuffing when I followed a recipe in Joy of Cooking. It has soft bread crumbs, celery, onion, apples, raisins, melted butter, seasonings and I can't remember anything else. I make the soft bread crumbs in the food processor from saved up heels of whole grain bread.
 
I have never put eggs in stuffing. I found out after years of making it that my mother, who I learned from put eggs in hers. I must have missed that step. I never missed the eggs thought.:chef:
 
Interesting. I had never heard of eggs in stuffing before I read this thread.

My grandmother just used pounds of butter! I cut that back and use stock instead. It's always nice and moist and holds together just fine.
 
Just in case anyone is interested, I have put together a recipe that I will be using. I came up with this thanks to a lot of inspiration from some great food bloggers and amateur chefs (plus you guys of course), but with enough twists to make it my own. I'm using sourdough bread, hot Italian and Andouille sausage, and I'm adding just a little maple syrup to the chicken stock to give it a sweet, fall flavor.

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f20/thanksgiving-sausage-and-sourdough-stuffing-76283.html#post1075273

I don't really like fruit in my stuffing, but I'm sure it would be great with some apples and dried cranberries if that's your thing.
 
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My stuffing/dressing has eggs in it.
Bread toasted and dried and cubed.
Italian and breakfast sausage cooked
rice cooked, finely chopped celery and onion, cubed apples, turkey broth from giblets and seasonings, chopped mushrooms, sage, rosemary, s&p.
After I've gotten it just the right moistness--gently falling apart, I add a few eggs to hold it together once it is cooked.
(two loaves of wheat bread--6 eggs)
I make them into stuffing balls--large or small and bake them. They are moist on the inside and crusty on the outside. Split them open and add some gravy to serve.
 
I was pretty happy with my stuffing sans egg - I really like it loose and in big pieces - but the egg thing is definitely based on how you like it or your tradition.

I have to say, my stuffing was a huge success. The sourdough was excellent, perfect for holding just the right amount of moisture without getting soggy or wet. I never liked stuffing much before, but now I have my own tradition.
 
Effington said:
I have to say, my stuffing was a huge success. The sourdough was excellent, perfect for holding just the right amount of moisture without getting soggy or wet. I never liked stuffing much before, but now I have my own tradition.
Click to expand...

DC: Saving the world, feeding the hungry, one recipe at a time.:yum:

Glad it worked for you.
 
I didn't use egg before in stuffing/dressing, but now that I have those farm FRESH eggs and they are "free," I have to use them up! (The girls have been hiding clutches--we have been finding clutches of 6-13 eggs in the oddest places...).
 
How does a clutch happen?
A. one chicken decides to lay 6 eggs--most unlikely.
B. a bunch of chickens all go lay a bunch of eggs in one unlikely place--'hey chicken lucy loo, over here, we are putting together a clutch'.
C. a bunch of chickens lay eggs and later move them into an unlikely place--'hey chicken licken', we are hiding them here to watch our human caretaker play hide and seek'.
 
They aren't sitting on them, the barn is cool (we have hard frost on the ground every morning). The girls are redefining the definition of an Easter egg hunt. FWIW, you can keep eggs for incubation at room temperature for up to 10 days before you start incubating them (some people keep them in the fridge for a week before putting them in the incubator). But no, they are not "FRESH" because FRESH means today, but then, the eggs people buy at the store aren't FRESH today either. The eggs we've found in these clutches have been designated for "dog" eggs, just to be safe.
 
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Blissful--how does it happen? Well, Plymouth Rocks don't lay every day (they take a day off out of 7). The Buff Orpingtons seem to take a day off every so often as well. The Buffs eggs are "pink," and more elongated. So their eggs are obvious. The Rhode Island Reds lay every day. So there are always 11 eggs. That's when the "Easter egg" hunt begins...to see which of the PRs and Buffs laid eggs. The PR eggs are smaller than the RIRs and not pink. They also have a thicker membrane. But yes, maybe it is just they are trying to give us a "game" to play because they follow me around when I go collecting. Perhaps we should move them to the coop and force them to use the nest boxes rather than giving them more space in the barn...They do have nest boxes in the barn, but the coop is smaller and the nest boxes are mounted on the walls. So they would have fewer choices of where to lay eggs...but they like the tractors, the canoe, the rototillers, and their loveseat. I'm too much of a softy to take away their furniture.
 
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<whispers>

Awk! She found them!
Yes, new place over here.
Bet it takes her more than 3 days to find this one, Awk!
She's looking at us.
Quick! Act like a chicken, Cluck Cluck, Cluck!
 
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