# Dressing or Stuffing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 16, 2018, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618 "2018-11-16T15:07:18Z")\ **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 16, 2018, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/1 "2018-11-16T15:07:18Z")
So, which do you prefer? I’m a southern US boy, and dressing (with giblet gravy!) is my preference. Actually, preference is no a strong enough word. I have to have dressing, I never need to have stuffing. It’s genetic, I think. Et tu? Poll to follow. I’ll even include an option for you no good, sub-human, barely even animal people who like neither. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/2 "2018-11-16T15:11:22Z")
Is there an actual difference between stuffing and dressing, or are they different names for the same thing? (I don’t cook.) ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/3 "2018-11-16T15:13:07Z")
Midwestern American here. I’ve always used the terms “dressing” and “stuffing” interchangeably, referring to a bread-based, spiced … thing, some of which goes into the bird and most of which just goes directly from the pan to the plate. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/4 "2018-11-16T15:16:45Z")
I prefer dressing too, one reason being that stuffing has a much higher risk of foodborne illness due to it sometimes not reaching the required germ-killing temperature inside the turkey. ---
**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 16, 2018, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/5 "2018-11-16T15:17:53Z")
Definitely different. For one thing, dressing is cooked in a pan separately from, though often including bits of, the turkey. It is much like a very moist, turkey flavored corn bread. Stuffing, OTOH, is shoved into the raw turkey ass to be cooked simultaneously and often includes weird stuff like cranberries or nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/6 "2018-11-16T15:17:53Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/7 "2018-11-16T15:20:05Z")
I said I was deranged and prefer stuffing only because that’s what we call it. We don’t actually stuff it in the turkey. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/8 "2018-11-16T15:23:39Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I prefer dressing too, one reason being that stuffing has a much higher risk of foodborne illness due to it sometimes not reaching the required germ-killing temperature inside the turkey. There is zero reason to worry about this if a person has even a modicum of good sense. After I remove the stuffing from the bird, it goes into the microwave until it’s steaming hot. And my mother always stuffed the bird way before microwaves were available. In 70 years of eating stuffing, I’ve never gotten ill from it. ---
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/9 "2018-11-16T15:38:37Z")
I am an animal who likes both equally. Mostly because I use the terms interchangeably. When I make _it_, the bird gets stuffed as God intended, and what won’t fit into the bird(there is always extra) is baked in a casserole dish. If you want to call it by two different names just because of the baking vessel, then go for it. If you get sick because your stuffing isn’t thoroughly cooked(without microwaving it), then you are doing something very, very wrong. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/10 "2018-11-16T15:49:32Z")
I would say … **STUFF IT!!!** 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/11 "2018-11-16T16:01:28Z")
Dressing is what you put on salad. The tasty bread substance eaten on Thanksgiving is Stuffing. “Stove Top Stuffing” - it’s right in the name! ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/12 "2018-11-16T16:03:39Z")
Stuffing is dry, dressing is yummy and moist! In fact, there’s no way you could stuff dressing into a turkey before it’s cooked. It starts out as very soupy in the pan before it’s cooked. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/13 "2018-11-16T16:08:23Z")
“Stuffing” if it’s inside the bird. “Dressing” if it’s made separately. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/14 "2018-11-16T16:18:58Z")
I am not deranged and stuffing is superior because it sops up all of the good juices in there. When I make a turkey I make a lot of stuffing. It doesn’t all fit in the turkey so I have two batches. Everybody wants the stuffed stuffing before the unstuffed stuffing for that reason. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/15 "2018-11-16T16:42:41Z")
Cornbread Dressing please I will eat stuffing but, it’s not something I’d request. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/16 "2018-11-16T16:45:53Z")
I prefer stuffing but the last several years I have not stuffed my turkey just because I think it cooks better without stuffing. I drain the juices from the turkey and add it to the dressing anyway so not much difference. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/17 "2018-11-16T16:46:44Z")
I took the third option, as I like both. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/18 "2018-11-16T16:59:00Z")
Don’t like either. Never have. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/19 "2018-11-16T17:03:29Z")
Well, I put 3 because: I never use the term “dressing” for the soggy bread stuff, it’s stuffing. They don’t call it “Stove Top Dressing”. I’ve never, or, at least to my knowledge, or for a very long time, had the soggy bread stuff actually stuffed in the bird. I’m sure I’d eat it if it was served to me, but that’s it. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/20 "2018-11-16T17:45:45Z")
As far as the name for the dish, dressing and stuffing are interchangeable. However, I don’t care for it myself. I’ve been curious about White Castle stuffed turkey. Buy a turkey’s worth of sliders. Remove the pickles. Quarter the sliders and loosely stuff the bird. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618.md?page=2)