Thanksgiving turkey
- Thread starter booboo
- Start date
TentHunter
Moderator
booboo said:
My advice is simple. Break the bad habit and don't stuff!
You're already fighting a battle with a huge bird trying to get it cooked before the outside dries out. A stuffed bird will only compound the problem.
Cook your dressing separately in a baking dish in your smoker and it will taste even better than stuffed inside the bird!
Pappymn
New member
I will be trying some stuffing in individual muffin cups to get the all around crispy action. My mom used to always stuff the turkey. After she got done cooking the turkey until it was the texture and moisture content of jerky. We would have this wet slop called "dressing." Never understood the reason to stuff, except tradition.
Big Poppa
Administrator
Scooter...The reverse sear has been around classic cooking for a long time....Finney popularized it in the bbq quarters....Before minion there was gravity feed and so on...
I have not been brave enough to stuff and smoke a turkey...I think as long as you are sure that your stuffing is way past the danger zone you very well could be fine...I believe that it became legend when people were smoking turkey at near cold smoking temps....
I have not been brave enough to stuff and smoke a turkey...I think as long as you are sure that your stuffing is way past the danger zone you very well could be fine...I believe that it became legend when people were smoking turkey at near cold smoking temps....
TentHunter
Moderator
Scooter,
What we were suggesting to booboo was to break from tradition and try a newer method. Cooking the stuffing & bird separately is new to many of us. I tried it for the first time just a few years ago with great results because of a willingness "to step out and experiment."
Scooter makes a couple of good points:
165° is the new minimum temperature recommended by the USDA for poultry.
HOWEVER... they also now say,
"For optimum safety, stuffing a turkey is not recommended. For more even cooking, it is recommended you cook your stuffing outside the bird in a casserole.... If you choose to stuff your turkey, ...make sure the center of the stuffing reaches a safe minimum internal temperature of 165 °F."
USDA: Let's Talk Turkey - A Consumer Guide to Safely Roasting a Turkey
Consider this: How can the stuffing, deep inside the bird, safely reach 165° if you pull the bird at that temp? To get the stuffing done, you'd be hard pressed not have to cook the turkey longer, and to a higher temp. Ergo, possibly overcooked and dryer turkey.
So, what some of us are suggesting is to break with the tradition of stuffing the bird, which has been handed down for eons and try a newer method of cooking the stuffing separately.
Another good point Scooter brings up is about turkey flavor being infused into the stuffing. I missed that too the first time I did stuffing outside the turkey. So, here's what we started doing: We make seasoned turkey stock using the giblets & neckbone (and backbone because we spatchcock). That stock gives a great turkey flavor to the stuffing!
Now, scooter, about your idea of putting the stuffing under the skin. We have done that several times and it works well. The stuffing and chicken are both being exposed to heat so they both seem to cook evenly. Let us know how that works for you!
What we were suggesting to booboo was to break from tradition and try a newer method. Cooking the stuffing & bird separately is new to many of us. I tried it for the first time just a few years ago with great results because of a willingness "to step out and experiment."
Scooter makes a couple of good points:
165° is the new minimum temperature recommended by the USDA for poultry.
HOWEVER... they also now say,
"For optimum safety, stuffing a turkey is not recommended. For more even cooking, it is recommended you cook your stuffing outside the bird in a casserole.... If you choose to stuff your turkey, ...make sure the center of the stuffing reaches a safe minimum internal temperature of 165 °F."
USDA: Let's Talk Turkey - A Consumer Guide to Safely Roasting a Turkey
Consider this: How can the stuffing, deep inside the bird, safely reach 165° if you pull the bird at that temp? To get the stuffing done, you'd be hard pressed not have to cook the turkey longer, and to a higher temp. Ergo, possibly overcooked and dryer turkey.
So, what some of us are suggesting is to break with the tradition of stuffing the bird, which has been handed down for eons and try a newer method of cooking the stuffing separately.
Another good point Scooter brings up is about turkey flavor being infused into the stuffing. I missed that too the first time I did stuffing outside the turkey. So, here's what we started doing: We make seasoned turkey stock using the giblets & neckbone (and backbone because we spatchcock). That stock gives a great turkey flavor to the stuffing!
Now, scooter, about your idea of putting the stuffing under the skin. We have done that several times and it works well. The stuffing and chicken are both being exposed to heat so they both seem to cook evenly. Let us know how that works for you!
scooter
Moderator
I hear ya tent. I thought of the turkey stock in with the stuffing. Maybe take the neck and backbone and roast them then place them into the stuffing while cooking separately from the bird would help. Or buy several turkey wings and roast them then throw them in with the stuffing?
Sheesh I can get up on a high horse from time to time!
Sheesh I can get up on a high horse from time to time!
TentHunter
Moderator
Hey, it's all good. We love ya Bro!
Oh man, now your talking! I made some chicken stock recently from bones that were roasted on the smoker first and, no joke, it was some of the best stock I'd ever made. Plus there's plenty of meat to pick off the back to throw into the stuffing so I may just give that a try!
Oh man, now your talking! I made some chicken stock recently from bones that were roasted on the smoker first and, no joke, it was some of the best stock I'd ever made. Plus there's plenty of meat to pick off the back to throw into the stuffing so I may just give that a try!
scooter
Moderator
My apologies to any who I offended with my rant. We may be cooking hotter but we are cooking to lower IT which brings the middle of a whole turkey if stuffed with stuffing down closer to the danger zone. Or like BP said the outside breastmeat IT back to the past where we were adviced to cook our turkeys to an overdone temp of 180IT. The reason yesteryears stuffed turkeys were safer when stuffed is because we did indeed cook them to 180IT.
We should focus like tent did on ways to acheive the same effect but in safe ways. The optimal way of cooking a turkey safely, and the optimal way to cook stuffing safely!
We should focus like tent did on ways to acheive the same effect but in safe ways. The optimal way of cooking a turkey safely, and the optimal way to cook stuffing safely!
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I brined two 13 lbers for 8 hours, spatchcocked them, then cooked at 275 till the breast hit 165. The skin was a very nice golden color, and the meat turned out fantastic. My Father in law commented that it was the juiciest turkey he'd ever had.
The bird doesn't look like a Norman Rockwell painting spatchcocked, but it cooks faster and more even between dark and white meat.
As far as stuffing the bird, it's just a good way to get food poisoning.
The bird doesn't look like a Norman Rockwell painting spatchcocked, but it cooks faster and more even between dark and white meat.
As far as stuffing the bird, it's just a good way to get food poisoning.