Stuffing in the bird or out?

I'm a first time host and Thanksgiving newbie so bear with me!


I know that lately they say not to cook the stuffing in the bird for food saftey reasons but my mom is insisting that is the only way to do it- she says she has done it that way for years, always does it, and nothing has ever happened.
She's old school!

I don't want to poison everyone on my first year hosting Thanksgiving though... so I'm looking for opinions.

What do you do?

I notice the cooking bags have cooking time options for both stuffed and unstuffed birds... the stuffed bird is about an hour longer... but then wouldn't that dry out the turkey?

I'm so confused...!

Re: Stuffing in the bird or out?

I've always stuffed my turkey to keep it moist, but I also make an extra batch of stuffing that I dont put in the bird to serve with dinner.

Re: Stuffing in the bird or out?

Psst... just between you and me... I wrote up a Thanksgiving cheat sheet, which will be in the newsletter and posted up shortly.

Re: Stuffing in the bird or out?

Posted by LIFWriter

Psst... just between you and me... I wrote up a Thanksgiving cheat sheet, which will be in the newsletter and posted up shortly.

Re: Stuffing in the bird or out?

I always bake the stuffing outside the bird, the crunchy top is my favorite part. The bird gets aromatics inside the cavity to make delicious pan drippings to add to the gravy.

Re: Stuffing in the bird or out?

I do both. I stuff the turkey and I also bake some in a baking dish for those that don't like it from inside the bird. I use the pan drippings from the turkey to add to the stuffing (although my mom calls it dressing when it is not cooked inside the turkey, lol).

Re: Stuffing in the bird or out?

I do both.... my family loves stuffing in the bird cause "its gets the turkey flavor". When we take the bird out tho, we take it out and put it in the oven for a little bit. I prefer it out of the bird, so there is always a separate tray of it!

Re: Stuffing in the bird or out?

I'm old school too. I stuff my bird but I usually make 2 diff types of stuffing. I stuff the bird with sausage stuffing and I make a harvest stuffing on the side and bake it.

My FIL stuffs the bird with stuffing of bread and raw egg. We're all asking for trouble

Re: Stuffing in the bird or out?

I grew up with it in the bird.. but when I do stuffing it is NOT in the bird.. for safety reasons. I DO stuff the bird with aromatics and I flavor the stuffing with pan drippings.. so it gets the flavor.

Re: Stuffing in the bird or out?

Re: Stuffing in the bird or out?

Re: Stuffing in the bird or out?

OK- well it seems that nobody has died yet from it...
I guess I will listen to my mom and cook it in the bird- BUT i do like the idea of taking it out and cooking it a bit longer just in case!