Am I REALLY not allowed to stuff the turkey?!?!?!

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Joined
May 12, 2011
Messages
53
Ok, here's the deal. I am 37, and I have been gifted Thanksgiving by my mother. I was pretty sure that I would have to pry the turkey from her cold, dead hands, but I digress. I am doing the main cooking this year, and serving at my house. I am a pretty decent cook, and I have a good grasp of flavors and I am a pro at asking Google to answer any questions that I may have. I am confident in my sides, but this will be my first time roasting an entire turkey. My roasted chicken is slappin, but this is literally a different bird! There are a few things that I am unsure of, and I would like to ask some of you more experienced cooks/chefs for some guidance.

My mom cooks her turkey in a bag. I know, don't stone her. It is relatively juicy, but not exceptionally flavorful, and depending on the year the label of 'juicy' could be a bit of a stretch! I am pretty sure that I have settled on a recipe, as well as a brine to ensure the flavor and moisture retention. However, I am having a serious, and I mean serious, problem with the fact that every online resource tells me that I can not stuff the bird! That is absolutely, positively, my favorite part of Thanksgiving, the yummy dressing infused with turkey juice goodness that comes from inside the bird. My siblings and I fight over it every year. If I put some bird stuffing in a leftover bowl with oven dressing, I can tell the difference by sight and will pick it out until it is gone. Everything I read/hear says that the bacterial risk is too high, and to cook the stuffing to correct temperature will dry out the bird.

So I guess my question is two-fold:

1. Is it truly, really possible to make an obnoxiously succulent, juicy bird without the dreaded "bag"?

2. Please can I stuff my bird and still have it positively moist and mom-worthy? Pretty please?

This is serious business people. If there is so much and the SLIGHTEST fault in my bird, my mother will find it and take out a front page ad in the local paper. I am actually making a test bird in the next week or two, and maybe one more if I don't get it right. By the time I make it to Thanksgiving I won't even want turkey! Yes, it is that serious. Any guidance would be appreciated!!!! Thanks all!
 
By all means stuff the bird. After dinner, remove any stuffing (if any) from the bird and go ahead and strip the meat and save the carcass for making stock/soup.

Don't deprive yourself of in the bird stuffing. Extra stuffing on the side is delicious, but the stuffing from the bird is heaven!
 
I don't stuff.

But the brine will buy you some insurance. I would make sure to use a thermometer to take the temperature of the stuffing inside the bird when the bird is done. You will likely have to get the bird above 180 degrees in order to get the stuffing to a safe 165. Your bird will likely be less juicy cooking above 180, but the brine will help.

I grew up eating stuffing out of a bird, but my mom's bird sounded a lot like your moms, kind of hit or miss from year to year when it comes to juiciness.

I used the Pioneer Woman's brine last year on a turkey breast and it was amazing, I have used Alton Brown's and it was great as well.

I don't see any reason why you would need to roast in a bag, I don't see the point other than speeding up the process. I just use an uncovered roaster, and cover with foil for most of the roast and let it brown for the last hour or so,
 
I have had the best luck stuffing the 'head end' of the turkey but not the main cavity. Here's the reasoning... Stuffing the head end slows down the cooking of the breast which is prone to be dry when over cooked. Stuff the main cavity loosely with some thow-away flavor enhancers. Some onion and apple wedges, some celery pieces, a few garlic cloves, etc. If you want to present a big beautiful turkey at the table stuff the opening of the main cavity with a bunch of fresh parsley.

Good luck....
 
Butterball hotline is your friend! No bag needed!

Stuff away. As Zhizara said, dig it out before you store the bird. We survived many years with turkey butt stuffing. Though I admit, I preferred the separately baked stuffing as there were (perceived) gross things in the other.

It obviously takes longer to cook a stuffed turkey. The directions on the package will give you a good reference.

My BIL worked for Butterball for many years. His turkey was always wonderful, though he has taken to cooking only the breasts for the last couple of years.
 
Last edited:
I used the Pioneer Woman's brine last year on a turkey breast and it was amazing, I have used Alton Brown's and it was great as well.

Funny, Alton Brown's recipe is exactly the one that I am looking at, it has almost 4k reviews, almost all 5 stars. Skipping the crystallized ginger though, I am personally not a fan of most forms of ginger.


Thanks to all of you for the feedback! I really, and I mean really, wanna stuff the bird, but I also don't want to miss the opportunity to flavor the meat from the inside with such yumminess as garlic, apple, onions, fresh herbs and the like. Ugh, dilemmas!
 
Funny, Alton Brown's recipe is exactly the one that I am looking at, it has almost 4k reviews, almost all 5 stars. Skipping the crystallized ginger though, I am personally not a fan of most forms of ginger.


Thanks to all of you for the feedback! I really, and I mean really, wanna stuff the bird, but I also don't want to miss the opportunity to flavor the meat from the inside with such yumminess as garlic, apple, onions, fresh herbs and the like. Ugh, dilemmas!

You won't really taste the ginger, I think it just kind of rounds out the flavor. In all honesty you might not miss it if you skip it.

If you have a Trader Joe's nearby they have a decent price on vegetable stock, since you will need quite a lot of it!
 
Am I REALLY not allowed to stuff the turkey?!?!?!

Stuff your turkey if you want. People have been doing it for years. No one I know has ever gotten sick or died. "The Food Police"will not come arrest you if you do.
View attachment 12238
 
Last edited:
I follow the Good Eats Thanksgiving turkey recipe. Last year's turkey was the best I've ever eaten (and I'm collecting Social Security). It was juicy and delicious.

I don't stuff the turkey, but I do make stuffing. I cook the stuffing in a roasting pan separate from the turkey. I moisten it with turkey stock I have made. If you really like the turkey juices in the stuffing, spoon them out of the turkey pan and add them to the stuffing so they can cook together. If you want a crust on the stuffing, don't cover the pan. If you want soft stuffing, cover the pan. No one will taste a difference.

That's what I prefer. However, if you can't be happy unless you can scoop stuffing out of the cooked bird, stuff the turkey. Sounds like you're going to be cooking a very big bird. That's going to make it even harder to get it right. There will be a soccer ball-sized wad of stuffing in the middle of the bird that has to cook through while the breast meat gets drier and drier.

Brining offers you your best chance by far of turkey success.
 
Stuffing the turkey will slow down the cooking....if you like the soft, moist stuffing that usually comes from the bird, try putting it in a slow cooker on low, and tie a towel around the lid to keep the moisture from dripping into the dressing. I do this every year, and its the way to go. Also, you get a lot more stuffing!
 
There will be a soccer ball-sized wad of stuffing in the middle of the bird that has to cook through while the breast meat gets drier and drier.

I have to ask. I will probably smack my forehead when I get a reply. But, What about Bread, Celery, onions, broth and spices needs to cook through?
 
lisaluvs2cook: Of course you can stuff the turkey if you want to, but it will take you several extra hours to roast it. I hope you have a convection feature on your oven.

I have NEVER brined my turkey nor cooked it in a bag, and it ALWAYS comes out moist and flavorful.

PM me and I will gladly send you my recipes. They're awfully long to paste into a post.
 
If you are going to cook the stuffing inside the turkey, don't brine it! The stuffing will be very salty.

When cooking a stuffed turkey, you really will require two probe thermometers; one for the thigh of the turkey (180F), and one for the stuffing (165F). Do not rely on the little plastic plug-in that comes with the turkey. Sometimes they pop early, and sometimes they never pop at all.

I used to cook all my turkeys in a Reynolds cooking bag, and they always came out moist and flavourful, but two years ago I invested in a Rival 18 quart electric turkey roaster and I've never looked back. Not only does it do a wonderful job of cooking the turkey, but it frees up the oven for the potatoes, casseroles, and pies!

I usually pick up at least three extra turkeys just before Thanksgiving when the grocery stores are practically giving them away free fer nuthin, toss them into the deep freeze, and cook them periodically during the rest of the year. I like turkey!
 
Last edited:
I always stuff the turkey. While it's true that it could cause problems for people with compromised immune systems, I've eaten stuffed turkeys every year for well over three decades with no problems. My advice is to stuff the bird with hot stuffing. That will help shave a bit of cooking time off.

I also give a big thumbs up to brining the turkey. True, you may want to cut back on the salt in the stuffing but brining will really help keep your bird juicy. I like to brine mine in a 5 gallon bucket- you can fit a big bird in there and the shape allows a small amount of liquid to brine a very large turkey.

While I mostly hate winter, the cold at least allows me to use my front entry way as a walk in cooler!:mrgreen: Last Thanksgiving I chilled the brine on my front steps, then put the bird in the brine along with a thermometer probe and left them in the entry. At no point did the temp deviate from 34 degrees! Ended up being the moistest, juiciest turkey I've ever had.:chef:
 
For lack of a better term, I'm a bit of a food safety nazi. So personally, I always say no to stuffing the turkey. But if it's really means a lot to you, maybe you can have the best of both worlds. I've never tried this, truthfully I just thought of it. Why not cook both the turkey and the stuffing separately at first. Cut down on the salt for the stuffing and, if you like it very moist, cut down on a bit of the liquid. Once both the turkey and the stuffing are cooked, put the stuffing in the turkey while it rests. It's got about 15 minutes to suck in that extra turkey flavor. (That's another thing, always let the turkey rest before you carve it! If you cover it with tin foil it will stay piping hot for at least 20 minutes.) Anywho, like I said, I have no idea if it will work, but you could always try it on one of your testers. Trust me, your turkey and stuffing could be the best in the whole world, but if everyone gets food poisoning from it...well your mom my just invest in the full newspaper. Good luck!
 
I was raised on dried out American Mom style turkey and I prefer it.

I cook the celery and onion in butter until it is soft and then add it to my stuffing so the only cooking required is for the eggs I add to bind the stuffing. I stuff both ends of the bird and make a casserole of dressing with the surplus.

The only thing I must have is Bell's poultry seasoning!

If I have time I make the bread used in the stuffing and add a couple of tablespoons of Bell's to the flour. If not I add it to the butter,onion and celery mixture that I add to fresh bread crumbs and cubes.

Please, pass the gravy:pig:
 
I have to ask. I will probably smack my forehead when I get a reply. But, What about Bread, Celery, onions, broth and spices needs to cook through?

If it is put into a raw turkey, it will have to come up to 160 degrees to be safe to eat.


PF is right. The juices from the turkey drip into and are absorbed by the stuffing. As a result, it has to be cooked like a raw turkey.
 
I wouldn't worry too much about the brine making the stuffing too salty, I make gravy from the droppings of the bribed bird and they are fine, not salty at all.
 
Back
Top Bottom