Why You Need to Stop Stuffing Your Thanksgiving Turkey
Photo: Jill Chen/Stocksy
To stuff or not to stuff? It’s a perennial debate around Thanksgiving. Stuffing inside the bird may be tradition for many, but it’s not a delicious one for some.
“It’s a tradition we’ve noticed is changing a little bit,” says Carol Miller, a supervisor at the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line. Miller, along with a team of 50 Talk-Line experts, answers more than 10,000 call on Thanksgiving Day to help people with their turkey inquiries. “I cannot quote you exactly, but early on in the process the rate was 60 percent stuffed, 40 percent didn’t. Within the last five years, it’s changed to 40 percent stuffed and 60 percent didn’t.”
If you’re cooking stuffing inside your bird, the stuffing is ready when its temperature hits 165 degrees. Stuffing, which soaks in turkey juices as the bird cooks, needs to reach that temperature to kill off harmful bacteria. If it doesn’t, bacteria can still thrive and your dinner guests could get ill.
However, cooking the stuffing to the proper temperature means you must cook your turkey longer, which can leave you with dry or overcooked meat.
The bottom line — stuffing your bird is safe, so long as you cook the stuffing until it reaches 165 degrees. Stuff the bird loosely — don’t pack it in — and only stuff the bird when it’s ready to go into the oven. “Do not stuff the night before,” Miller says. Use a thermometer to gauge when the temperature reaches the right temp.
At Yahoo Food, we prefer to cook our stuffing outside of the bird. As an alternative to traditional stuffing, try these combinations of vegetables, fruit and herbs to stuff your turkey as demonstrated in this Yahoo Food “Tipline” video below. These will add flavor and seasoning to your turkey while it’s roasting.
When your turkey’s ready, slice as usual, and enjoy with a heaping scoop of dressing baked separately a standalone dish.
For more on stuffing, check out these stories:
Classic Sage and Sausage Stuffing from ‘The Food Lab’
How to Get a Flavorful Turkey Without Cooking Stuffing Inside the Bird
