# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/21 "2018-11-16T17:46:26Z")
The stuffing you put in the bird is called stuffing. The stuffing you cook outside of the bird because there is never enough stuffing is called stuffing. I acknowledge that some people chose to call stuffing “dressing.” ---
**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, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/22 "2018-11-16T18:03:23Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > 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. This year, I’m going to spatchcock the birds and make the stuffing separate. I use turkey stock that I’ve prepared ahead of time from a couple of turkey legs for the added liquid, as well as the liquid for the gravy. ---
**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, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/23 "2018-11-16T18:14:08Z")
Slightly off topic, sometimes I add the giblets to the stuffing, usually chicken giblets and what comes with the turkey. A few years ago I added the livers and it destroyed my dressing it was such a small fraction of the dish I had no idea it would have such a strong affect. ---
**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, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/24 "2018-11-16T18:35:02Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > Slightly off topic, sometimes I add the giblets to the stuffing, usually chicken giblets and what comes with the turkey. A few years ago I added the livers and it destroyed my dressing it was such a small fraction of the dish I had no idea it would have such a strong affect. Was it Ranch or Thousand Island dressing? ---
**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, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/25 "2018-11-16T18:36:59Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > The stuffing you put in the bird is called stuffing. > > The stuffing you cook outside of the bird because there is never enough stuffing is called stuffing. > > I acknowledge that some people chose to call stuffing “dressing.” You can’t put uncooked cornbread dressing in a bird. It’s like a thick soup before it’s baked. Here it is before baking [https://goo.gl/images/s7CPpH](https://goo.gl/images/s7CPpH) ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/26 "2018-11-16T18:41:23Z")
Well, since it’s the “stuff” that you actually “stuff” a turkey with, I always call it “stuffing”. The word “dressing” seems to have no practical connection whatsoever. ---
**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 16, 2018, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/27 "2018-11-16T18:54:52Z")
It’s properly called “wadding”. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/28 "2018-11-16T18:55:05Z")
In my world, it’s all stuffing. Cooked inside the bird = stuffing. Cooked outside the bird = stuffing. Yeast-bread based = stuffing. Cornbread based = stuffing. Straight up celery & onion inclusions = stuffing. Fruit, nut, oyster, etc inclusions = stuffing. ---
**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, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/29 "2018-11-16T19:42:09Z")
> [@Motorgirl](#): > > In my world, it’s all stuffing. > > Cooked inside the bird = stuffing. > Cooked outside the bird = stuffing. > Yeast-bread based = stuffing. > Cornbread based = stuffing. > Straight up celery & onion inclusions = stuffing. > Fruit, nut, oyster, etc inclusions = stuffing. In my world, stuffing with oysters is called “landfill”. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/30 "2018-11-16T20:25:21Z")
**Moderator Note** Thread relocated from IMHO to Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/31 "2018-11-16T20:39:15Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Stuffing is dry, dressing is yummy and moist. At least in my childhood Thanksgiving experience, just the opposite. My dad doesn’t like turkey, so his mother stuffed the bird for the rest of us and made a separate pan of dressing for him. After the stuffing was gone, there was always some dressing left over, and it really suffered from not having been in the bird, even though the ingredients were otherwise identical. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/32 "2018-11-16T21:04:54Z")
I like both, and prefer the stuffing from the bird over the dressing from the casserole dish, but it’s a photo-finish either way. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/33 "2018-11-16T21:08:44Z")
Count me as another who uses the word “stuffing” whether or not it gets stuffed anywhere (aside from my mouth, of course). ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/34 "2018-11-16T21:31:42Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > 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. “All the good juices” is the grease from the country sausage that goes in my dressing. Diluting it with turkey fat isn’t necessary. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/35 "2018-11-16T22:22:53Z")
> [@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. I don’t care about that, I care about the fact that inside the bird, it can’t get all that crispy browned flavor it can get cooked in a pan by itself in the oven. It just turns into a soggy mass. You want “juice” on it, make some gravy and pour it on the stuffing, like everyone else does. Nevertheless, I do call them both the same thing. “Stuffing” normally, “dressing” sometimes, both referring to the same food item, which I personally don’t actually stuff inside anything but a pan (and later my face). ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/36 "2018-11-16T22:24:55Z")
Stuffing is cooked inside the turkey. Dressing is cooked in a casserole. Our family does both, then combines the two into one perfectly moist dish. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2018, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/37 "2018-11-17T00:02:24Z")
I vote no to both. You’re welcome to my shares. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2018, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/38 "2018-11-17T01:08:15Z")
I grew up calling it all “stuffing” (well, maybe not the cornbread dressing, but we didn’t have cornbread dressing growing up. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever eaten cornbread dressing, somehow.) But for the bread-based stuff, inside the bird or outside the bird, it don’t matter. Last year I went all lowbrow and decided to try that White Castle stuffing recipe (which I cooked in a casserole.) It was surprisingly good, but I love White Castle, so I’m not surprised. It was also the only stuffing to get completely eaten at dinner. ---
**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 17, 2018, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/39 "2018-11-17T01:18:44Z")
No matter whether it’s cooked inside the bird or out, it’s stuffing. Dressing is what you put on a salad. ---
**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 17, 2018, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618/40 "2018-11-17T01:26:47Z")
> [@peedin](#): > > Stuffing is cooked inside the turkey. Dressing is cooked in a casserole. Our family does both, then combines the two into one perfectly moist dish. What do you call that mixture? “Dressing” + “Stuffing” uh…“Dressing”? “Stuffing”? “StuffDress”? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dressing-or-stuffing/824618.md?page=3)