Checking doneness on stuffed items

[pacanis]

Lets say you are taking a piece of thin meat, like a chicken breast, putting a stuffing of sorts in it, rolling it up and cooking it. Lets also say you have the breast wrapped up in..... bacon!
How do you physically tell when it's done without disturbing the bacon? So fork testing is not allowed. Can you stick a probe thermometer into the stuffing (shrimp, pepper, whatever it might be) and safely assume the meat is also done if the stuffing reads 160F or higher?

Now, I've made Ol-Blue's foiled chicken and stuffing several times, but it's easy to tell when the probe is in the chicken breast and not just in the stuffing. How so you tell on something rolled and stuffed for presentation?

 

[Andy M.]

Basically, every part of the chicken and stuffing has to be at least 160 F. Use a probe thermometer in more than one location to be sure. Usually the stuffing is the farthest from the heat so if that's done, the meat is too.

 

[pacanis]

Basically, every part of the chicken and stuffing has to be at least 160 F. Use a probe thermometer in more than one location to be sure. Usually the stuffing is the farthest from the heat so if that's done, the meat is too.

That's what I've been going by, but this morning I started thinking that maybe different foods heat up, or retain heat differently, and it might be possible for the inside of a stuffed item to be done, but the outside not.

 

[Alix]

Cooking sort of happens from the outside in. So usually the stuff on the outside is more cooked than the center. Thats why you want to find out what the temp is way inside your stuff.

 

[pacanis]

Yeah, maybe I am giving this too much thought. It stands to reason that the outside would cook first, but I was thinking steaming action and heat retention properties...

So, on a larger scale
Let's say people are still breaking the food police laws and stuffing their chickens and turkeys.... I'm guessing that you would not want to assume that because the stuffing reads 165 (for instance) that the rest of the bird is also cooked? Or would it be?

 

[GotGarlic]

I put the thermometer in the deepest part of the thigh, as well as in the stuffing, to make sure it's all done.






(I stuff my turkey, always have and always will!)

 

[JoeV]

I tired of waiting for a bird to get done because the stuffing takes longer than the flessh of the bird. i now bake all of my stuffing in loaf pans, and not only does it present nicely on the table, but I can bake it with other items in the oven at the same time.

Not sure about the food police, but it just woks better for me, especially when it come to a 20-22# turkey. i also think (IMO) that the white meat is not as dry, since it does not overcook. My DW thinks I'm crazy, but what else is new?

 

[pacanis]

I put the thermometer in the deepest part of the thigh, as well as in the stuffing, to make sure it's all done.
(I stuff my turkey, always have and always will!)

Heh, heh, heh..... almost didn't see that last part That's how Mom always did it.

Just for curiosity, how do the readings compare? When one is done, is the other?

 

[Andy M.]

The only way for heat to get to the center of an item is to travel through the exterior so if the center is done, the rest of the rool is done too.

A whole chicken or turley is a different story. While you can say if the stuffing is done the breast is done, the are between the body and the thigh is a different story as that's extra thick and dark meat, being denser, takes longer to cook.

 

[homecook]

I put the thermometer in the deepest part of the thigh, as well as in the stuffing, to make sure it's all done.






(I stuff my turkey, always have and always will!)

I do the same thing. lol I will ALWAYS stuff my turkey. It's the only way to go as far as my family is concerned.

Barb

 

[GotGarlic]

Heh, heh, heh..... almost didn't see that last part That's how Mom always did it.

Just for curiosity, how do the readings compare? When one is done, is the other?

heh, my mom, too, so I've been eating it that way for over 40 years, since I use her recipe.

When the thigh is done, the stuffing is usually 180* or more and steaming when I take it out.

 

[pacanis]

At what temp do you consider the thigh done, GG?
Like Andy was saying, it wouldn't work the same on a whole bird as a rolled piece of meat with stuffing inside, but I don't see why it wouldn't be proportional. The cavity of a turkey or chicken is so large, wouldn't it take a while for the heat to travel through to the center....

 

[Robo410]

Used to always stuff my birds. Never had a problem. But now I prefer to put aromatics in the cavity and make a casserole of dressing...possibly because I have more oven space now, gives me more pan juices for gravy etc...

 

[AllenOK]

I refuse to stuff a bird. Sorry, I don't like overcooked sawdust, just to make sure the stuffing is done. I do mine as a dressing in a separate pan.

Unfortunately, my MIL sees it as blasphemy if the bird is not stuffed. She is not willing to budge, and neither am I. So, they usually stuff the bird, and I refuse to eat the stuffing. I will make my own cornbread dressing and bake it on the side. Since I'm the only one that eats the stuff, and I usually get cornbread dressing at work, I don't even bother anymore.

I think the only time you have to concern yourself with meats cooking faster inside than out is if there is a large bone that can conduct heat into the deeper part of the item. This is why it's always recommended that when you temp meat, put the probe into the deepest part, but not "touching" bone.

It's been my experience that in something like a roulladen or rollade, where the meat is laid out flat and a stuffing spread onto it, then rolled up jelly-roll fashion, that is still behaves like a typical roast; that is, the outside cookes faster than the inside. The inner layers of meat do not conduct the heat faster than the stuffing.

For poultry products, 165 degrees F is the minimum "safe" temp, although the Health Department recommends cooking to 180 degrees F. Pork, if I remember right, is 155 degrees F. Beef doesn't have a minimum temperature, as it's usually considered "safe" to eat at any temp.

 

[pacanis]

Thanks Allen.