Personally, I much prefer the stuffing cooked outside the turkey. But, I am shocked, and having trouble believing that any offspring of yours Linda, would toss the turkey fat away. Shocked!!!

Ann

Ach, you know better! Turkey needs stuffing, otherwise the bread stuff is just toast with some flavoring that is a wanna be. And the gravy needs the drippings, plus osme of the fat from the bird.

Ann, sorry, but stuffing outside the bird is not stuffing, it is dressing.

Now stay strong and do it your way.

Psst... I have frozen turkey fat.

Another one here who has to have the bird stuffed. We always have to make extra in a casserole dish but we fight over the stuffing out of the bird. I always hide a little in the back of the fridge for my sandwich the next day...LOL.

My family voted for prime rib again this year and it was great. The winning new addition was Alexa's brandy shrooms...they were wonderful and received raved reviews.

Hold your ground next year and stuff that bird next year Linda!

David

I usually cook my dressing outside of the bird, although this year, I didn't make any at all. I get some turkey taste into it by moistening my breadcrumbs with stock made from the giblets, and grinding up the liver and tossing that in as well. This year's bird must have been a mutant, because he had a neck and liver, but no heart or gizzard...

I always make gravy starting with a roux using roast drippings for the fat. I briefly contemplated doing a different sort of gravy this year, skimming away the fat in the drippings and just thickening them after reducing them a bit, but when it looked like this would produce a BLOND gravy, I reverted to tradition and made a nice BROWN gravy.

IMO the main reason for roasting a turkey is for the stuffing, at least that's what my favorite part of the whole dinner is. The only times I make dressing outside the turkey is when I want more than what will fit in it.

I have made dressing at other times, with other meats, but that a whole other thing.... and is never quite as good either.

Don't get me started on the gravy subject. I'm very traditional when it comes to turkey dinner and I also realize it's all about how one get's used to it when growing up. My DM made great turkey dinners and never fooled around with experiments and I learned from her.

Ill fool around with just about any other cooking, just not a Holiday Turkey!

Nancy

Stand firm, Linda, that stuffing goes INSIDE the bird. Or so says my family.

Personally I don't like stuffing or dressing, inside the bird or outside, it's just greasy bread to me. Other family members love it though, and so I stuff it instead of telling them to stuff it, LOL.

Gravy, though, that's a different matter altogether. I seldom eat gravy but I want good gravy when I do, not vegetable oil and gumbo gravy. Put your foot down next time, Linda, and insist on that turkey fat!

Annie

That's all right Peppi. Different strokes for different folks. But, if you season your "dressing/stuffing" well and use butter and turkey broth, it is very moist and not toast like at all.

Ann

Mine was seasoned well.....lots and lots of butter and turkey broth....and extra marjoram....and it's not the same with out that turkey flavor that cooks into the bird!
And...Annie.....what, pray tell, is the matter with greasy bread?? As long as that grease is butter and turkey grease????
And I have to argue about putting apple sauce in the stuffing.....and milk in the gravy...yuck!
I just may have to invite them all back just to cook a turkey my way!!

It's gotta be stuffed and I want the crusty part!

I thickened my gravy this year with...a can of turkey gravy! LOL

Not only does stuffing glean flavor from cooking inside the turkey, but the stuffing imparts some flavors to the turkey! Neither one tastes quite right without the other, and the gravy needs both of them, also. Sounds like the next turkey will be back to basics (and goodness) time. Right on!

Yes it has to go inside the bird. This year I was late getting started so put the bird in the oven and did the dressing separately while the bird started to cook. I used my usual recipe which tastes just wonderful, and cooked it outside in the toaster oven but the stuffing didn't hold a candle to what it normally tastes like.

My leftover stuffing also went to the birds! LOL.

SharonCb

Yep - Another one here that wants the STUFFING to be INSIDE the turkey. I don't care how much turkey stock and butter one uses, if it is made as dressing it isn't going to hold a candle to REAL stuffing!

I think you should make them all come back in a week or two for a real turkey dinner too! LOL!

Alexa

Oh I LOVE the stuffing and I want it inside the bird!!! It's my favorite part of the dinner. I do bake the extra if it doesn't all fit inside. I also like the traditional gravy made from the turkey fat and made in the pan the turkey roasts in. I do pour off most of the fat but always save enough to make the gravy!

I did all my stuffing outside the turkey this year. It tasted fine but I had turkey stock and frozen fat to add. It was the unstuffed turkey that suffered. Dry and so-so in spite of my herb sachets.

LindaC, I love butter on warm bread, but I dislike other "types" of grease. I seldom eat sausage unless I make it myself because it's too greasy. I hate the layer of tallow I get in my mouth when I eat beef short ribs. I always peel the skin off chicken, even if it's fried, LOL.

Gravy, now, that's a different beast altogether, LOL. I can even eat stuffing if there's enough gravy.....

Annie

Eileen, I don't believe that stuffing makes for a more moist turkey. Sometimes you can do everything right, stuffed and perfectly cooked and a turkey can still be dry or flavourless. All turkeys are not created equally. Pre-salting or brining helps.

And as for stuffing adding flavour to the bird...it isn't the bread that adds flavour to the bird, it is the onions, celery, fresh sage, parsley...etc... and you can achieve that by stuffing the cavity with just those ingredients. You can also shove in a lemon or rosemary, or thyme or another favourite herb.

Ann

I was raised with dressing, not stuffing, and that's the only way I've ever tried it. My sage this year was yuk so dressing took a green tinge from having to add so much sage to get the flavor I was looking for, so that could have been better. Note to self: find new brand of sage. Any recommendations?

We have drifted away from the giblet gravy and prefer just the pan juices, as the reisling, oranges, lemon, and spices makes a great sauce as such. Brined turkey again, but forgot to add the fresh oranges and I could tell a difference and prefer the fresh oranges included, but it was still very moist and good flavor.

Cornbread "dressing" down here!!! Add stock, browned bulk sausage, onions, celery and a couple of eggs to cornbread/homemade bread and it is good in OR out of the bird.... so good that there is really no point in stuffing the bird because it won't be nearly enough and I'd need a big 9x13 pan anyway.

I mix up chopped onion, apple, celery, carrot, rosemary and salt and pepper to stuff in the bird for flavoring.

But hey, different tastes is "what makes the world go round"!!! If I had to guess everybody's stuffing/dressing here is probably delicious in it's own way!!

Grace

Brenda, I use fresh sage in my stuffing/dressing. If I was going to use dried sage though I would use rubbed sage, not ground.

Grace, I love cornbread stuffing/dressing.

Ann

I have to say that I do not stuff (ducking LOL) my turkeys, chickens ect...
Believe me I have tried it many time and just don't like it.

My mom was a stuffer but even then I never cared for the taste or mouth feel-yes its got a greasy quality to it.

This past Thanksgiving I opted for cornbread dressing and it was a hit.

That being said....Linda its your house and your bird-I say stuff it!!

Cheers!
Susie

This thanksgiving I vowed to bar everybody from the kitchen while I fixed the dinner. I had so much advice pushing itself around the room that it bumped into itself and dinner was over an hour late. If I didn't enjoy the people and the help so much I might actually follow thru.

If I couldn't stuff the turkey I wouldn't bother fixing it but I do always make enough to have a couple of casseroles too.

Linda, Linda, Linda! Where did you go wrong in raising those children of yours?! Who have they been hanging around with? Time for some tough love. You always stuff the turkey for the best tasting stuffing and the extra goes into a casserole dish and baked. The parts that get crusty by the openings are always fought over. Throwing away turkey fat...quick someone get me a chair, I think I'm feeling faint. How do they expect the gravy to have any flavor? Lord women next year ban them from the kitchen and do it the right way...your way. Oh, and Happy New Year to all! NancyLouise

I just loved reading this post. My Mother's stuffing was made out of homemade bread, no other bread allowed. I don't know how old I was when I found out you could buy bread in a store. Now my daughter runs a family style restaurant. She stuffs a couple of turkeys for the family, and the customers get dressing. All made the same, but the stuffing always tastes better.

Yeah, I with the others. Since when can LindaC be coerced into caving when it comes to traditional cooking?

I mentioned in another post that DD MIL cooked Christmas dinner. She THEW AWAY the pan drippings from the turkey and made instant (envelope) gravy. Sacrilege! She did stuff the turkey but the stuffing was mushy and the turkey was so dry you could hardly swallow.

Well...I have always believed in letting kids ( even kids in their 40's!) experiment in the kitchen, that's how they learn. I believe there will never be another attempt to use a vegatable oil roux as thickening in the turkey gravy by either of my children nor their children. And I suspect that certain of those present will never allow the "styffing" to be cooked in a dish!
I have a 6 pound free range chicken in the freezer....I may have to find some appreciative people and stuff that birdy and make proper gravy!
Linda C

I used the bagged bread crumbs w/ packet seasoning & it was gross. I thought it would be good because atleast it was in a bag instead of a box & I was cooking it in an oven. I was wrong. Stovetop turns out better than that. Hopefully, next year I'll be a more seasoned cook. My New Years resolution, Cook more & eat less!

I love stuffing in the bird. I have tried and tried to make it outside the bird - the dressing is never as good. Sure its...good....its edible....its probably healthier...but its not AS good, not near.