I bake mine in a casserole dish, but all my mother did was stuff the bird and put it all in the oven. I think it's delicious ANY WAY you make it!

I'm not cooking this year, but usually both. A standard sage type dressing in the bird, second of another type out.

In! Moist & flavorful, not crisp. If it isn't "in" I don't want to eat it.

In is stuffing. Out is dressing. Stuffing all the way here!!!

Same as arcy - stuffing is what's in the bird and the rest is dressing. I make both because the recipe I have makes way more than I need to stuff. So we serve both. I always eat the stuffing.

I once read that for food safety concerns that all stuffings should be cooked outside the turkey.. A separate cooking casserole dish for your stuffing would be the wise choice since the possibility exists to have undercooked stuffing ingredients if cooked in the bird.. Play it safe and enjoy Thanksgiving without the threat of illness.

Dressing in a separate pan. A little crispy on the top, moist in the middle. Perfection.

I take the question as being about technique and not terminology. Cooked outside. If you want moisture in the cavity, throw in some citrus slices to also add good flavor.

I always put it in the bird. Any left over goes in a separate pan.

We use a fast high-heat method of cooking our turkey and it's perfect any time. Dressing is cooked outside the bird.

Years ago, I would always put it in the bird, but then warnings about Salmonilla were in popping up in the news. I don’t recall exactly what the issue was, but I think it was something to do with the center of the bird not getting cooked enough to kill the bacteria? After that I started baking it, but I really miss the added flavor the stuffing adds to the bird, so this year, I’m making enough to stuff the bird for seasoning and bake some in the oven for consumption.

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I never do it inside. In the cavity I stuff very loosely smoked sausage pieces, pieces of tasso, hunks of onion and sometimes apple and orange if I have it. Sprigs of herbs too. I add orange juice to the pan.

Out. Did it in most of my life and love the juices dripping over the stuffing. However, bird cooks faster and less chance of drying out if you don't stuff it. Now, I just put orange, lemon, onion and celery in the cavities.

When I was cooking a fresh turkey(these days I herb and smoke) I would stuff the neck cavity as the safest way to get stuffing with that extra flavor. If you stuff the cavity of the bird you need to overcook the turkey in order for the stuffing to meet the safety guidelines. I knew people who would eat green beans canned in a boiling water bath who never died from that unsafe practice. Count up your Karma points and make your decision. There are strains of salmonella that are more virulent than in the past.

Outside only for me. I put it in a big roasting pan or sometimes make it into filling balls and bake them that way. I don't like wet stuffing.

always did it in the bird but this year for the first time we are cooking it in a casserole dish.

my sister heard if u cook the stuffing in the bird, it dries the bird out.

so we are cooking the bird upside down, for the first time, b/c we read that it comes the moistest that way.... we shall see :-}

lots of 'first's' this year!!

As for safe 'stuffing' (as opposed to dressing)....I stuff loosely and check the stuffing temp with an instant read thermometer. If it's 165, its safe, and done.

It's not the temperature of the stuffing that's of concern, it's that putting it inside and filing the cavity or against the inside of the bird, often cold and damp, prevents that portion of the bird from getting hot enough.

Out. I don't ever remember having it inside the turkey. I always bake it in a casserole dish. I always put the stuffing in the oven at the same time as the mac and cheese. The top is crunchy,the bottom is luscious and moist. I cover my portion with gravy. I don't call it dressing because it IS a stuffing recipe. No eggs,which makes stuffing into dressing,imo.

Used to put it in. At some point, we started cooking it out. A couple of years ago, I read about making stuffin' muffins which involves filling muffin tins with mounded stuffing and baking until the tops get crisp. Love them. The stuffing cooks faster, the crunchy tops are wonderful and it's built in portion control.

Stuffing goes in. Dressing is something you make on the side.
I do stuffing, not dressing. I do make a bit extra and put it on the side to be mixed in with the real stuffing.

I don't over cook my turkey and never once in 40 plus years has the stuffing ever come out with any cold spots. In fact it is too hot to handle so I use stuffing bags.

I don't like crusty stuffing and I cannot stand over moist stuffing. My stuffing comes out with a nice moist "crumb" never gloppy or gooey. Simple bread stuffing made from good bread, finely chopped celery and onion, finely chopped gizzard and neck meat, salt and pepper and a bit of milk. It's the technique that is time consuming. I pan fry much of the extra moisture out of it before stuffing. I couldn't tell one how to do it. I just "know" what it should look like before it's ready to go in the bird. Make it the night before.

I find turkey to be very easy once the stuffing mixture is done. I stuff it, put it in the oven in an open roaster and forget about it until time to check if it's done. No upside down cooking, no covering unless it starts getting too brown before inner temps are reached. The only covering when needed is foil loosely laid over the too brown parts.

I fail to see how a bird would dry out because of stuffing.

It dries out because it has to cook longer in order for the stuffing to reach the safe temperature.

I take the bird's temp with an instant read. If you cook by pound and don't open the oven door fussing over the bird timing is generally accurate and close to the charts. Turkey is done, stuffing is steaming hot. Never had to over cook turkey to get the stuffing done. Weird.

"If you cook by pound and don't open the oven door fussing over the bird timing is generally accurate and close to the charts. "

A reason why this often isn't the case is that most ovens aren't well calibrated to the electronic or dial temperature setting and the actual temperature in the oven can be very different. This is why chefs and cooking experts always advise the use of an instant read thermometer - the setting of the oven is an approximation, the temperature of the item being cooked is a very reliable measure of doneness.

Even such things as the temperature of the turkey when put into the oven, the height of the pan lip and the size of the oven (and what else is in it) can change the timing from the "chart".

Always on the side. I cook Thanksgiving and make all of my sides vegetarian. My stepdad brings the turkey.

PS - leaving a turkey in the oven so long that it overcooks, in order to get the stuffing done, is the best reason I ever heard to not put the stuffing into the turkey. I can't imagine anyone is that dumb. Talk about losing sight of what's important.

Turkey is one of those things that my baby boom era mother and so many others of her generation struggled with. Good advice wasn't widely available, bad advice was plentiful. It's really not that hard, and also not that hard to cook it to the right degree of doneness while leaving the meat juicy and tender. Low and slow, high and fast, some combination, with a thermometer in hand and just a little attention, they all work.

One last time. I have made stuffed roast turkey for 44 years. I have been eating it prepared the same exact way as I do to this day for my entire life. If the bird is done the stuffing is hot. No need to check the temperature of the stuffing to see if it's "done". Well maybe if it's made from raw sausage or the like. But traditional bread stuffing is too hot to handle.

I know my oven well enough that I don't have to keep opening the door to "check on the bird". Maybe a fifteen minute window one way or the other since we are dealing with flesh here. But I also know how to calibrate the thermostat on my gas oven. Many modern electric ovens with digital controls are even easier since they have calibration modes in the circuitry. Plus or minus and done. No need to live with a wonky oven.

Anyone who is coming up with cold stuffing is putting it in a slightly frozen bird or something.

Happy Thanksgiving to all however you eat your savory bread.

ALWAYS in the bird. Never understood not using that wonderful vacant spot in the bird, absorbing all that wonderful flavor. I am 59 years old and always have had stuffing in the bird, never been sick yet. :) My dad made the best dressing..... I use his recipe now that he is gone.

Due to the health warnings I quit stuffing the bird. So dressing in a casserole dish. I don't really have problems with it being dry.

Between vegetarians and a Celiac I have stopped stuffing the bird. The person with celiac can't eat the bird if the bread stuffing is cooked in the bird. I've stopped paying particular attention to vegetarians and people who are on this or that latest diet.

My grandfather lived to be 82 and was a smoker all his adult life. That shows smoking doesn't present any health risks.

As I said, take your chances. I agree the stuffing is better when cooked in the bird. Oh well. I no longer have skin in this game. I only do the breast and will cover with a salt herb pepper mix over night, rinse, dry then a light cold smoke. Bake. It is wonderful and makes up for the truly bland turkey we get these days. At least I can get turkey that isn't injected with water and salt. GAD.