Is it stuffing or dressing ? In or out of the bird ? Sausage and raisins in it for me either way! Brine or no brine ? I brine ... real lightly nowadays -cause if u overdo it t changes the texture! jelled cranberry or/and a homemade one with orange juice an real berries from the produce section ! both are good ! >but never a mix of turkey a cranberry on the same fork = yuk ! green bean casserole made off the durke onion can ! yams or sweet taters ...either for me > but it has to have golden roasted marshmallows on it! riced taters with smokes pavalone cheese and gravy from scratch...and I don't have any problems mixing the gravy 50/50 with a store bought McCormick pkg top it all with real butter and a "Rhodes" fresh baked bread loaf ... DROOL !!!!!!!! pie !!! oh my !!
Can't stand the critter but it was a staple in my wife's house for the holiday's. I gag at the smell let alone the bite. She does that bit and I do "ours", Dungeness crab, ravioli and mixed lettuce in olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper.
We use a dry brine (different than a rub) for a few days, truss it up and then cook it on the grill using the rotisserie attachment. It cooks faster than the oven and is incredibly moist and tender. Stuffing is outside the bird and usually has some combination of sausage, nuts and dried cranberries. The turkey is always really good, but I could make a meal out of the stuffing alone.
In or out of the bird? Stuffed in the bird with extra on the side.
Sausage and raisins in it for me either way! Sausage .. yes. Raisins ... no, although raisins and apples in stuffed ducks basted with orange sauce is good stuff.
Brine or no brine ? No brine. Just "traditional" oven roasted.
It'll be deep fried turkey where I'm going. Indoors there will be a pork roast cooking. Dirty rice. Green bean casserole with the crusty onions on top.
I seem to do it a little different every year. While I appreciate stuffing in the bird, it soaks up a tremendous amount of grease and stuffing is my favorite part.
I do a dry rub on the bird, slice some onions, carrots and celery for the roaster, add some wine to the pan and into the oven.
Stuffing, saute onions and celery in butter, toss with the bread crumbs and chicken broth, and toss in raisins, walnuts and apples. I've added sausage, and I'd also diced and fried the giblets and added them to the stuffing.
Frozen cranberries, sugar and water boiled (can't do the can thing)
Gravy from drippings
Mashed potatoes
Pumpkin pie
Fresh whipping cream.
If all I had was stuffing with gravy followed by pumpkin pie I'd be content.
Brine or no brine ? No brine. I rub it with melted butter and sprinkle with pepper.
All very traditional like my Maternal Grandmother prepared her turkeys for the holidays.
That's real close to my mom's traditional holiday turkey.
First thing is boil the giblets then make toasted bread cubes in the oven. Half white bread, half wheat bread.
Diced onions and celery lightly sauteed in butter, chopped fresh parsley, S&P, poultry seasoning (or sage), some of the giblets, breakfast sausage (optional), turkey stock from boiling the giblets, and the toasted bread cubes.
Stuff the bird, rub with melted butter, poultry seasoning and S&P. S&P sprinkled on the inside of the bird too.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees, put the turkey breast side down on a rack in roasting pan, stuff it in the oven, and after 15 minutes turn the oven down to 325. Once the bottom is browned turn the bird over and cover with foil. Baste it every so often with pan juices and about 40 minutes before it's done remove the foil to brown the breast side.
Is it stuffing or dressing ? In or out of the bird ? Sausage and raisins in it for me either way! Brine or no brine ? I brine ... real lightly nowadays -cause if u overdo it t changes the texture! jelled cranberry or/and a homemade one with orange juice an real berries from the produce section ! both are good ! >but never a mix of turkey a cranberry on the same fork = yuk ! green bean casserole made off the durke onion can ! yams or sweet taters ...either for me > but it has to have golden roasted marshmallows on it! riced taters with smokes pavalone cheese and gravy from scratch...and I don't have any problems mixing the gravy 50/50 with a store bought McCormick pkg top it all with real butter and a "Rhodes" fresh baked bread loaf ... DROOL !!!!!!!! pie !!! oh my !!
Brine Only if I am the one making the turkey, but that has yet to happen, so I actually prefer HAM
Gotta have the special cranberry sauce in a can shaped jello mold
sweet potatoes, yams, squash it is an orange thing on the plate, but if it has marshmallows....HELL NO
I do make the smashed potatoes... spuds, sour cream, butter, garlic, salt, pepper, milk or cream, and for my own plate a bit of horseradish.
baked corn casserole, (cream of corn, regular canned corn and smashed up crackers, among other things.....I think but I have yet to make it on my own, although it is one of my favorites)
Green bean casserole, one of the few times a year I get to each cream of mushroom soup.
Gravy over everything, and then some more gravy
Some sort of fresh baked bun/dinner roll
pie but it has to be made on a graham cracker crust.
basted salt pepper stuffing in and out-in for me would like to like cranberry, but hate it glazed sweet potatoes corn mashed potatoes gravy pumpkin pie some other desserts cant mess with TRADITION
Parents who say they have good kids..Usually don't!
After doing slaughter inspection on them for a while, well I plain don't stuff them anymore with edibles period!!! Now-a-days I only stuff them with things that I plan on flavoring the bird but not eat, for instance apples, or citrus, or others.
Sage stuff'in made separate, mash taters, rendered turkey milk gravy, corn, sweet taters with brown sugar topped with marshmallows, the ever popular craned berries.......and PIE!!!!
All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.
After doing slaughter inspection on them for a while, well I plain don't stuff them anymore with edibles period!!! Now-a-days I only stuff them with things that I plan on flavoring the bird but not eat, for instance apples, or citrus, or others.
If you do not mind me asking, what exactly could be wrong with a turkey on the inside, that "stuffing them with things you plan to flavour them with", as opposed to "stuffing them with edibles" would make. If there is some kind of bacteria or the like in the bird, the whole bird would be affected, turkey juices/blood runs their course in the cooking process. Drippings that are used to baste the turkey and make gravy, are the by-product of the juices/blood that run through the "whole" turkey. Correct ?
We have a large family meal. We are doing 4 turkeys. 2 will be fried in peanut oil with a Tony's seasoning coated all over it. 1 will be brined. The other will be a plain ole bird in the oven.
The fried birds are 19lbs and 13lbs, the brined bird is 14lbs. Those will all be gone quick, fast, and in a hurry!
we'll brine the bird over night- stuffing is a necessity We saute onion and celery in butter until its soft, add the onion/celery/butter in with pepperidge farm stuffing mix along with a diced granny smith some diced water chestnuts and a raisins. whole cranberry sauce roast garlic mashed potatoes brussel sprouts with a lemon caper sauce- pan dripping gravy-lots and lots of gravy pumpkin pie, pecan pie.
_______________________ Proud deep sea diver for over 25 years, fairly paid and never once needed a union to do it for me. "if you can't do it-you can't stay"
If you do not mind me asking, what exactly could be wrong with a turkey on the inside, that "stuffing them with things you plan to flavour them with", as opposed to "stuffing them with edibles" would make. If there is some kind of bacteria or the like in the bird, the whole bird would be affected, turkey juices/blood runs their course in the cooking process. Drippings that are used to baste the turkey and make gravy, are the by-product of the juices/blood that run through the "whole" turkey. Correct ?
Poultry is the most relaxed regulatory oversight. Fecal contamination can be washed of after something like vacuuming or trimming, but on high speed lines (1 turkey every 2 seconds)they just vacuum. Then a quick rinse with chlorine and there good enough to continue. Other diseases are harder to get to if the contamination is in the cervical air sacs, for this I could say something like cervical Airsacculitis exudate which gets missed a lot because it sits behind the breast up by the neck, and vacuums really have a hard time getting into that area. After they all get thrown into a large water bath together, so if something got through then they all sit in it, well unless they are air chilled of course.
Usually birds go downhill pretty fast when they are sick, mainly because of the conditions they are in. You usually find this in the abdomen and thorax first. Usually the largest issue you see is exudate in the thorax and abdomen, literally right where you stuff. And it gets vacuumed and just rinsed.
So I just choose to stuff my turkey with non edibles, that's all. If you would like to know more then PM me.
All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.
Yeah, and not that pasty beige crap people try to pass off as gravy, that tastes like Elmer's school glue and a few shavings of a chicken flavoured OXO cube scraped into it
There's a couple other things that I do to make sure I don't get poisoned.
1) The bird has to be completely defrosted and I let it sit on the counter to come close to room temp. Cool is OK but no frosty parts.
2) Stuff it as soon as the dressing is cooked and immediately put in the oven.
The above ensures that it will cook evenly and the interior will fully cook and kill all the nasties.
One other thing worth mentioning. The dressing has to be a little dry to account for the extra moisture inside the turkey and don't overstuff it by cramming it in. If you don't leave it a tad dry the stuffing it will turn into a big clump of gooey mess. Tasty mess but gooey.
2) Stuff it as soon as the dressing is cooked and immediately put in the oven.
You cook your stuffing prior to cooking it? Never done that.
Yes.
You got to saute the onions, celery, and walnuts (I forgot that in my earlier post) in butter. Then I mix warm broth and all the rest of the goodies into the bread cubes. That's the "cooking".
I could have used "as soon as (or when) the dressing is prepared".
And there is what I lack, a good stuffing recipe in the first place. I could always add some drips into the mix at the end of the show instead of stuffing the bird.
One thing however, if stuffed too dry then the bird could be dry as well. Then again it depends on what kind of bird that is purchased to start with. Whether, water logged, injected, or air chilled?????? I think this is the real issue on why things don't work out for other people.
Any who, I'll cut and insert garlic cloves into the muscle about a clove worth and separated the skin and paste a butter rub under between and cover. I cook em breast down then flip them for the roasted look and brush with a bit of EVOO if needed to brown. Sometimes I'll even insert a bit of brine into the muscle......Hmmmm the decisions
All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.
You won't run into problems with turkey being dry as long as it's cooked properly. The inside of the birds oozes moisture and fat. You can cook one without stuffing and it won't dry out.
I add broth to the stuffing but just not quite as much as what I bake on the side.
here's a good tip I do ...after I brine /drain /rinse/ dried off ..... the bird....it goes into the fridge uncovered, at 6am the day prior (wed morin) with one of them little clip fans inside the fridge to move the air around. Then out on turkey day to setup/warm up a bit ......it slightly dries and tightens the skin >and when all is said and done I have a very crispy/tasty skin !
2) Stuff it as soon as the dressing is cooked and immediately put in the oven.
You cook your stuffing prior to cooking it? Never done that.
Yes.
You got to saute the onions, celery, and walnuts (I forgot that in my earlier post) in butter. Then I mix warm broth and all the rest of the goodies into the bread cubes. That's the "cooking".
I could have used "as soon as (or when) the dressing is prepared".
Gotcha. Similar when I work my kitchen magic.
If you take the time it takes, it takes less time. --Pat Parelli
American by birth; Alaskan by choice. --ironbender
here's a good tip I do ...after I brine /drain /rinse/ dried off ..... the bird....it goes into the fridge uncovered, at 6am the day prior (wed morin) with one of them little clip fans inside the fridge to move the air around. Then out on turkey day to setup/warm up a bit ......it slightly dries and tightens the skin >and when all is said and done I have a very crispy/tasty skin !
Okay I gave in. The gals brought in the Honey Baked smoked turkeys and hams today and that's some pretty darned good stuff. A little sweet but it works!!!
Although, I do have a smoked pork roast and 4 grilled/smoked duck breasts that I will be sneaking onto the line so all is good!!
Unless of course someone who shall remain nameless until they have to call 911 to pick up the person who has taken them first, and I have had to have a one on one conversation with that person in the hall closet so as not to disturb the holiday cheer in the house, and in that case dark meat please, after of course the ambulance has taken that person off to enjoy a delicious turkey roll dinner in the ER....
Okay I gave in. The gals brought in the Honey Baked smoked turkeys and hams today and that's some pretty darned good stuff. A little sweet but it works!!!
HBH is delicious. The sweet glaze and flavor is very nice. There is no detectable smoke flavor, though. I made my last batch of pea soup with a huge HBH bone, with about two lbs of meat on it.
However, for the next batch will use a local supplier of sausage and ham, that does add smoke to its products. I've heard their hocks have a good smokey punch. But, to start I'll go with the ham bone plus some thick cut smokey bacon from a market near where I deer hunt. The bacon is sublime, and that should give a nice gentle smoke flavor to the soup.
Never tried HB smoked turkey, probably never will.
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