mudbug
Chef Extraordinaire
Don't those look good! How many people did you feed, Rainee?
To Stuff or Not to Stuff?
- Thread starter Ruth
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We smoke turkeys for others around the holidays. Have smoked anywhere from 20-40 turkeys at a time.
We may have any where from 8-14 or 15 people at Thanksgiving & Christmas.
Our turkeys and chickens almost require a bib when eating. That's how moist and juicey they are.
We may have any where from 8-14 or 15 people at Thanksgiving & Christmas.
Our turkeys and chickens almost require a bib when eating. That's how moist and juicey they are.
mudbug
Chef Extraordinaire
Hey, as long as the fire's in the hole, why not?
I believe it about the bib. Handy Husband smoked a turkey for us a few years ago (I was totally uninvolved so have no tips) that turned out just great. We gave the little smoker to sister and BIL, whose house we will be going to this year, so maybe we can talk them into smoking another one.
I believe it about the bib. Handy Husband smoked a turkey for us a few years ago (I was totally uninvolved so have no tips) that turned out just great. We gave the little smoker to sister and BIL, whose house we will be going to this year, so maybe we can talk them into smoking another one.
jennyema
Chef Extraordinaire
Rainee -- your birds look awesome. 
GB -- you have never made a turkey?? Wazzup with that?? 
T-giving turkey is my favorite thing to cook!
GB -- you have never made a turkey?? Wazzup with that??
T-giving turkey is my favorite thing to cook!
GB
Chief Eating Officer
My favorite meal is T-day. Every year my brother and I have a fight. He wants to have T-day in a restaurant. I say over my dead body. So far I have yet to lose that fight.
Yeah I have never cooked a turkey. I have made a turkey breast, but not the whole bird. For the most part I am usually only cooking for my wife and myself. Occasionally we have another couple over, but I have always made other things than turkey. Don't worry though Jenny. I will make one soon enough I am sure. Maybe I will volunteer for next year T-day
Yeah I have never cooked a turkey. I have made a turkey breast, but not the whole bird. For the most part I am usually only cooking for my wife and myself. Occasionally we have another couple over, but I have always made other things than turkey. Don't worry though Jenny. I will make one soon enough I am sure. Maybe I will volunteer for next year T-day
marmalady
Executive Chef
Bucky Alert!
Bucky, you can make 'out of the bird' stuffing and not use a lot of fat - just use chicken broth to moisten, and add just a little melted butter or oil. Makes me sad to think you won't do stuffing!
Bucky, you can make 'out of the bird' stuffing and not use a lot of fat - just use chicken broth to moisten, and add just a little melted butter or oil. Makes me sad to think you won't do stuffing!
buckytom
Chef Extraordinaire
oh no, marmalady. we do the stuffing outside of the boid, just like you suggested. thanks for the concern tho. whaddya think we are, communists? lol. ya gotta have stuffing on thanksgiving.
we do an italian sausage, apple, and a mix of cornbread and whole wheat bread stuffing, with fat free chicken stock and some herbs.
boy do i have a lot to be thankful for this year. i just wish my mil was with us. i had a whole thing ready to say during grace. i'll have to modify it now. don't want anyone crying in their stuffing...
we do an italian sausage, apple, and a mix of cornbread and whole wheat bread stuffing, with fat free chicken stock and some herbs.
boy do i have a lot to be thankful for this year. i just wish my mil was with us. i had a whole thing ready to say during grace. i'll have to modify it now. don't want anyone crying in their stuffing...
Geez, Rainee! I sure wished I lived close enough to you to place an early order! Those birds are BEAUTIFUL!!! You certainly have that art well defined!
As a not-so-subtle sidenote, I would also like to back up jennyema. Besides the validity of her information, I can attest in that I personally see a distinct increase in salmonella-related admissions right after two major holidays. Would you care to guess which two? In my locale, we can reasonably expect about ten diagnoses of salmonella by the day after Thanksgiving. Multiply that ten by the fifteen or so major hospitals in this area and you still have a low number per capita. But it's a really ugly illness. And it sure does happen.
Bucky, I really like your recipe for stuffing! Heck, even Sen. McCarthy would have liked it!
As a not-so-subtle sidenote, I would also like to back up jennyema. Besides the validity of her information, I can attest in that I personally see a distinct increase in salmonella-related admissions right after two major holidays. Would you care to guess which two? In my locale, we can reasonably expect about ten diagnoses of salmonella by the day after Thanksgiving. Multiply that ten by the fifteen or so major hospitals in this area and you still have a low number per capita. But it's a really ugly illness. And it sure does happen.
Bucky, I really like your recipe for stuffing! Heck, even Sen. McCarthy would have liked it!
debthecook
Senior Cook
I stuff. Never used egg in stuffing. Always made it the night before, so it goes in the bird Thanksgiving morning just as cold as the bird is. I pour 2 cups of Cognac all over the bird in and out before stuffing.
Jenny facts are right, can't argue about it!!!
Jenny facts are right, can't argue about it!!!
OP
OP
Ruth
Cook
jennyema said:Here's the recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_8389,00.html
For the science of it (including his take on stuffing
Thank you so much for the links. Here is the rundown according to AB:
"Little Zerlina: Hi, Alton. I remember you saying in a previous chat that stuffing is evil. Why is it evil? I think it's the best part of the turkey!
Alton Brown: Okay, here I go again. Stuffing increases mass. Mass extends cooking time. By the time enough heat gets into the stuffing to cook it and render it safe, the turkey, or a good portion of it, will be overcooked. You want to cook a turkey as fast as you can to minimize juice loss, and the fastest way is without stuffing it. So make stuffing, save your drippings, and stuff it in something else to cook it. Just don't cook it in the turkey. You could cook the stuffing separately and put it in the turkey after the turkey is cooked, or you can definitely take the bird out of the oven and put the stuffing in then. ... So take the turkey out of the roasting pan, toss your dressing in the drippings, stuff it in the turkey while it rests, and then take it to the table. Stuffing is only evil when it's stuffing. If it's dressing, it's fine."
However, while looking around on the food TV website link, I found some info on a new episode of Good Eats to be aired on Nov. 14th. This is what the episode is about:
"Stuff It
AB’s gone on record as saying the stuff is evil and yet, hundreds of protest letters have him rethinking his position. Can a stuffing be designed that’s good for diner and bird alike? Maybe? if a proper model can be found. "
I can't wait to see what he has to add to the argument...
There was a time when everybody stuffed their turkeys, but back then, we were ignorant. Now that we know better, we make dressing because we don't like overcooked turkeys which is what you get when the stuffing is heated in the bird to a safe temperature.
Besides, the last few years, we've been deep frying our turkeys.
Besides, the last few years, we've been deep frying our turkeys.
choclatechef
Washing Up
Psiguyy said:
Why is it that when some people do something, or like something that becomes "the norm", those who don't become ignorant? Why can't we just like different things?
I do not know any black people who like turkey any other way except well done [not saying there isn't any]. I am sure that is true for some white people also.
Let us not be so judgmental and lofty. Different strokes for different folks --not good, not bad....just different.
Chief Longwind Of The North
Certified/Certifiable
Me no black. Me no white. Me no Native American. Me just people, a child of my creator.
And I like my turkey very juicy and tender. But then again, I love good dressing. Just can't seem to get the hang of making the stuff. The dressing is more important to me than is the turkey. But I have to admit, left-overs of open faced turkey and dressing sandwiches, drowned in a corn-starch thickened turkey gravy and a side of sweet spuds is something I could scarecly live without.
Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North
And I like my turkey very juicy and tender. But then again, I love good dressing. Just can't seem to get the hang of making the stuff. The dressing is more important to me than is the turkey. But I have to admit, left-overs of open faced turkey and dressing sandwiches, drowned in a corn-starch thickened turkey gravy and a side of sweet spuds is something I could scarecly live without.
Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North
OP
OP
Ruth
Cook
Ok, here is a radical thought....
What if you heat up your stuffing first, making sure it gets up to the required 150-160 degrees (sorry can't remember the exact number off the top of my head) and THEN put it in the bird already hot. While it might take too long to bring cold or room temperature stuffing up to the right temperature to be safe and not have the bird be overdone, already heated up stuffing should make it to the right temperature while the bird is still moist, right? As a result, your stuffing should end up moist, mushy and with all the yummy flavors you get from cooking it in the bird.
Now, this is just a theory, I haven't tested it out yet, so don't anyone go and try this a blame me if they get sick. But can any of the more medically or scientifically knowledgeable cooks among us weigh in on my theory and let me know if it holds water?
What if you heat up your stuffing first, making sure it gets up to the required 150-160 degrees (sorry can't remember the exact number off the top of my head) and THEN put it in the bird already hot. While it might take too long to bring cold or room temperature stuffing up to the right temperature to be safe and not have the bird be overdone, already heated up stuffing should make it to the right temperature while the bird is still moist, right? As a result, your stuffing should end up moist, mushy and with all the yummy flavors you get from cooking it in the bird.
Now, this is just a theory, I haven't tested it out yet, so don't anyone go and try this a blame me if they get sick. But can any of the more medically or scientifically knowledgeable cooks among us weigh in on my theory and let me know if it holds water?
Chief Longwind Of The North
Certified/Certifiable
I would suspect you are correct. In fact, the hot stuffing may even shorten the turkey cooking time.
However, this is jsut conjecture on my part. I would recomend using two thermometers, one in the thickest part of the bird, and the other inserted to the stuffing center. This will tell you everything you need to know.
Seeeeya; Goodweed of the North
However, this is jsut conjecture on my part. I would recomend using two thermometers, one in the thickest part of the bird, and the other inserted to the stuffing center. This will tell you everything you need to know.
Seeeeya; Goodweed of the North
choclatechef said:
I guess my humor tends to fly over other people's heads. The point I was trying to make that until we're told something is wrong, we keep doing it for years and years with little harm. Fact is, in years past, food handling was done differently, so salmonella wasn't spread so easily.
Looking at it another way, we are blissfully ignorant until we're told different. At that point, we suddenly imagine seeing kids walking around with one eye because the other got poked by some pointed toy. In the case of food, we suddenly imagine seeing hordes of people going to the emergency room with a case of liquids coming out both ends. Take the case of seatbelts. All of us older folks should be dead because as a child, we rode in the front seats without seatbelts.
choclatechef
Washing Up
I am sorry. I guess I did misunderstand. I can be so Literal!
choclatechef
Washing Up
Andy M.
Certified Pretend Chef
Ruth:
Sorry I didn't get back to post the Alton Brown link, I missed this post on later visits.
Jennyema:
Thanks for posting that link in my absence.
If you like stuffing in the bird, try deboning the turkey then stuffing and and rolling it. It cooks quickly so there is much less chance it will dry out and it's a breeze to carve - er, slice.
Sorry I didn't get back to post the Alton Brown link, I missed this post on later visits.
Jennyema:
Thanks for posting that link in my absence.
If you like stuffing in the bird, try deboning the turkey then stuffing and and rolling it. It cooks quickly so there is much less chance it will dry out and it's a breeze to carve - er, slice.
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