With my family, definitely in the bird. Of course, there's always something, so Elery wants to cook the bird in the electric "oilless" fryer. Whatever, it makes no difference to me except that I have to buy some "parts" to place on top of the stuffing so it tastes like turkey. The gluten free cornbread/sausage stuffing is just baked in a dish, the sausage gives it enough flavor and moisture that it doesn't need the extra turkey parts for the flavor.

Annie

In the bird....but the extra goes into a baking pan.

Ditto, lindac.....that's why it's called stuffing ; ) Outside the bird , dressing

chase, my bad. I guess I should have said, "the cubed/shredded bread mixture we eat with turkey", to be technically clear. :)

Out - I like the crispy, buttery edges.

In a pan. Safer, turkey takes far less time to bake, and the dressing is less soggy - just delicious.

definitely an "innie" for stuffing. one year my dad made a deconstructed turkey. two whole breasts, some wings, some thighs/drumsticks. no carcass to deal with. it cost more but very little waste. we made big double layers foil packets of stuffing. kind like a bowl - open on top. we sat the breasts on top and roasted that way. you could still baste without stuffing getting too wet cuz opening was under the bird.

I like it either way but we always have it out of the bird, we have dressing.

Sue

Out of the bird, because it's safer.

Between my mom and I, we collectively have around 70 years of cooking a stuffed turkey. No one has ever gotten sick. I don't personally know of anyone who's gotten sick. But I respect those who wish to avoid a potential illness. :)

I have to admit that I wasn't really sorry when they started recommending dressing vs stuffing for optimum safety. You can fit way more dressing into a dish than stuffing into a bird! ;) I also like the crispy bits from the oven.

We used to have both because the bird didn't hold enough. It's the one of the things my mother did superbly that I just can't. Not having to stuff the bird, since I gave it up, has been a revelation. The bird cooks faster, comes out just as well (I usually put a lemon and a few feet of fresh tarragon in the cavity). When my mother made "stuffing" (never called dressing in our house no matter where it was cooked) in a casserole, it was almost the same as in the bird. Always moistened with stock. I'm determined to eventually get this right....

Apparently I am in good company on erroneously calling dressing stuffing. I just watched Giada make her root vegetable stuffing, and then put it in a casserole dish. lol

Outside of the bird. Typical bread, celery,onion, butter stock and some poultry seasoning. Yum. My family all love this stuff so I make 2 big pans the day before, store in frig and reheat next day. I cook the entire meal myself so I have to do what prep work I can the day before.

It's dressing outside the bird for us these days, since The Kid is gluten free and doesn't care if we do GF stuffing for her. I like stuffing, but I always have condensed down broth from the last turkey. That makes a pretty good dressing, which I divide in two, because some of us like nuts and dried cranberries or apples and some of us are plain herb dressing purists.

I just figured it out about "dressing". In my speech milieu, it's "dressing" only if it's eaten on the same forkful as the meat. If it's just a turkey infused non-custard savory bread pudding, it's "stuffing' whether in or out of the bird. I'm not big on Thanksgiving leftovers, but my favorite is stuffing in a cereal bowl, with a few morsels of turkey to decarb the balance a little and a big slug of gravy to up the gooey factor, all zapped 'till piping hot but well short of petrification. :) But I don't know if I've actually eaten that since my 20's. ;) And called it "stuffing for breakfast". :)

And called it "stuffing for breakfast". :)

I could eat that. :)

Stuff what I can in the bird the rest in a dish on the side.

There is something nice about a stuffed turkey.

The way I have done a stuffed turkey is to completely remove all the bones from inside out, without making more openings to the whole turkey, every single bone, include wing bones are removed.

There will be more room for stuffing, and the bird cooks better without bones. Of course you will have a ton of bones to make your stock for the stuffing in advance. A boneless turkey slices easy, no more clumsy "carving".

The other major advantage of a boneless turkey is that you can cook it at a lower temperature. The problem with a normal lower temperature (safe temperature) turkey is that some people do not want to see red in meat. Red juice comes from the meat next to the bones.

A lower temperature cooked turkey guarantees a juicy and tender turkey.

dcarch

I like the ritual of carving as does family and friends. Once a year tradition for us. I like the idea of using a piece of cheesecloth when adding a bit of dressing to stuff into the bird. 'Stuffing'. Just enough for that great flavor it absorbs. 70% is in a casserole dish oven cooked. As well as another vegetarian, gluten/dairy free batch.

So much in my dressing that it is good on its own. I combined two classic recipes years ago and having so many ingredients it is easy to make the veg one at the same time. Wild rice, porcini mushroom, chestnut, apple, leek, cornbread...combined with a more traditional sage, bread, celery, lamb sausage, etc.

The advice to not stuff the bird for safety reasons is really just for not-so-confident cooks that do not have the knowledge or cooking skills and might just make some mistakes about temps/cooking safety.

It's stuffing to me if it's in or out of the bird. I always thought dressing was a more Southern US term for the same thing as stuffing.

The best stuffing/dressing is from the turkey cavity or neck cavity. It needs all those drippings to develop a great flavor. Stuff the bird just before you pop it into the oven, and not way ahead of time for safety sake.

sheila, totally agree!

When I roast a turkey, I do both in and out. The "out" portion gets a healthy amount of oysters added. Since my son took over 'turkey duty' several years ago, we no longer have the 'in' type of stuffing. (He fries the turkey, it's delicious!). But I still do 2 types of stuffing. I buy a couple of turkey thighs and a few wings to roast for a good, rich broth. Also an extra package or 2 of giblets, if they have them, to boil for the broth. This broth is used for both the stuffing and the gravy.

As for terminology, I grew up in the Great Lakes area. Up there, it was all called 'stuffing', whether in or out of the bird. In this part of Texas, it seems it's all called 'dressing', regardless of where it is cooked. I try to remember to say dressing when in public, to avoid curious stares, but I have a tendency to revert to my 'native' ("Yankee") speech patterns at home. Or on forum boards. :^)

Rusty

We would much rather have dressing baked in it's own dish, because we do not care for the taste when stuffed into the bird.

I've been thinking about cooking mine in a crockpot this year, too.

As much as possible into the bird. Leftover goes in a casserole pan. My stuffing is for the most part mashed potatoes, so I want them to pick up the flavor of the turkey.

Rusty, I've only had fried turkey from the deli. I'm sure fresh would be better by far, but I do like it.

4rbnglw, could you elaborate on the process for cooking in the crock pot? Do you put extra liquid in, how long to cook, on high or low, etc. I love this idea, thanks!

And thank you to all who have shared your thoughts and experiences with calling it stuffing vs. dressing. I've decided I'm going to keep calling it stuffing, no matter which I'm talking about. ;)

beth09, I have only made the stuffing in the crockpot a few times. I make a simple stuffing with sourdough bread, parsley, onion, butter and seasonings. I do add broth to it until it is moist. I am trying to to remember how long I cook it for, I think I put it on low for around 6-8 hours. If I find a note with more information in my recipes, I will add to my post.

Here's more on the stuffing/ dressing debate:

http://www.butterball.com/how-tos/stuffing-vs-dressing

Mom was from Missouri; she made turkey and dressing, never turkey and stuffing.

Nope, never in the bird. It would be WAY to greasy. And yes, it if is IN the bird, it is stuffing. If it is OUT of the bird it is dressing. It can be the exact same ingredients, but in is stuffing and out is dressing. Mine is a cornbread with a couple piece of bread and a small container of oysters along with seasonings. Mine is never dry, but it is soupy when I put it in the pan!

I always have to skim the juices to get the fat off. Some is okay, but there is WAY too much fat in a turkey.

Thanks 4rb!

ci_lantro, funny. I'm in IL.

I cooked the cornbread dressing in the crock pot last year for the first time. I cooked it in one of the old crock pots. First I sprayed the removal crock with non-stick spray, lightly packed the stuffing mixture in slow cooker. Covered and cooked on high for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Then reduced to low and cooked for 4-8 hours longer. until the instant-read thermometer was 160F. It was beautifully brown and crusty on the bottom and sides. After Thanksgiving, I read about covering the top of the dressing with sliced onions or turkey wings before cooking. I don't know if I will try that this year or not.

Beth that recipe looks good. Even if it's dressing. (I generally refer to it all generically as stuffing, too. Probably because the dish I gravitate towards is the stuffing!)

dcarch - I know you've posted pictures of your hollow-deboned turkey, would be most interested in a video. I checked your YouTube channel just in case I missed something, but nope. Hint hint. :)