# Dressing or Stuffing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 20, 2013, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/674365 "2013-11-20T18:14:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/674365/1 "2013-11-20T18:14:31Z")
I think this is, for the most part, a one or the other, no middle ground kind of question. Where do you stand? I’m a dressing aficianado, myself. Stuffing is a barely acceptable substitute and a definite downgrade. Poll to follow. ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/674365/2 "2013-11-20T18:15:58Z")
Popcorn. Put raw popcorn in the turkey and when its ass gets blown off, you know the turkey it cooked well enough. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/674365/3 "2013-11-20T18:16:17Z")
You might want to define how you mean the two terms. I know that some people use them interchangeably while others maintain there is a clear distinction. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/674365/4 "2013-11-20T18:17:28Z")
How do you define the terms? In my mind, one is cooked in the bird and the other in a casserole. I can think of disadvantages to both, but I can’t think of any reason why the same product cooked inside a turkey would be a “definite downgrade”. I prefer dressing, but only because I don’t want to cook a stuffed bird, and it’s easier. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/674365/5 "2013-11-20T18:19:31Z")
Cornbread dressing. We never really had stuffing growing up. I think it might be a regional thing. ETA: Cornbread dressing cooked and served separately, not inside a turkey. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/674365/6 "2013-11-20T18:24:50Z")
No. At a big dinner there isn’t room in my stomach for all the good food and cooked, wet flavored bread goosh. Just, no. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/674365/7 "2013-11-20T18:25:34Z")
Both. We stuff the turkey, but also prepare at least one other pan of dressing. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/674365/8 "2013-11-20T18:27:23Z")
I’ll also chime in that I thought they were the same thing. 😕 [Wiki seems to agree](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuffing). ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/674365/9 "2013-11-20T18:33:01Z")
They pretty much are. We call ours “stuffing”, even though we cook it in a separate dish. Some people use them differently to cut down on confusion, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/674365/10 "2013-11-20T18:35:06Z")
I guess I’m wishy-washy? In my family if there’s a distinction, dressing is cooked by itself and stuffing is cooked in the bird but they’re the same thing and mostly just referred to as stuffing. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/674365/11 "2013-11-20T18:35:10Z")
I use the terms interchangeably. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/674365/12 "2013-11-20T18:35:44Z")
It’s neither dressing nor stuffing! It’s **wadding**! ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/674365/13 "2013-11-20T18:39:47Z")
Dressing and stuffing are different. This is dressing: > **[This Southern-Style Cornbread Dressing Is All About the Butter](https://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-southern-style-cornbread-dressing-recipes-from-the-kitchn-180474)** > > It's been passed down for three generations. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/674365/14 "2013-11-20T18:40:45Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > This is dressing: > [http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-southern-style-cornbread-dressing-recipes-from-the-kitchn-180474](http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-southern-style-cornbread-dressing-recipes-from-the-kitchn-180474) Yep, stuffing. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/674365/15 "2013-11-20T18:42:05Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Yep, stuffing. Not where I’m from. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/674365/16 "2013-11-20T18:47:34Z")
My family calls it stuffing, even if it’s cooked separately from the bird, but it seems to be the same thing as what other families call dressing. Or is this meant to just be a poll about what it’s called? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/674365/17 "2013-11-20T18:47:39Z")
Where you’re from dressing is stuffing+ stuff that’s usually considered part of stuffing anyway? Curious. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/674365/18 "2013-11-20T18:50:26Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > Dressing and stuffing are different. This is dressing: > [http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-southern-style-cornbread-dressing-recipes-from-the-kitchn-180474](http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-southern-style-cornbread-dressing-recipes-from-the-kitchn-180474) Boxed stuffing mix and sugar in the cornbread? Not in any part of the South I’m familiar with. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/674365/19 "2013-11-20T18:51:44Z")
I have always thought of dressing and stuffing as interchangeable and I’ll use stuffing to refer to it whether it spent any time in the bird or not. I cook it in a separate pan, though. The turkey just cooks better when not stuffed full of bread, and I like the crunchy bits on the top and edges. However, I start the stuffing only after the turkey has cooked enough to give me some juice that I can put in, so I’m getting pretty much the same benefit. As for whether I’m serving it… If you gave me only one dish at Thanksgiving, it would be stuffing. I would miss not having all of the dishes, but it would not be a difficult choice. I am not a fan of cornbread stuffing, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/674365/20 "2013-11-20T19:00:33Z")
Stuffing. But I’ll be danged if I eat anything that gets shoved into a bird’s ass. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/674365.md?page=2)