It has spent two days in the fridge defrosting, and now it is in cold water in the sink because I’m tired of waiting, it is blizzarding* out, and I want to cook it today since it doesn’t look like I’ll be going out much.
I’m just about to make the stuffing - my bread is nice and dry.
I think those dark grey lumps are stuffing balls. I think it would probably look less diseased if they’d taken the bacon strips off the breast before they took the photo.
If it were me I’d use that dried bread for bread sauce.
Brining is bad advice, these days. Most of the birds sold in the grocery store have been injected with a solution that basically brines the bird. If not, have at it.
Butter soaked cheesecloth on top basted every 30 min until the last hour. Also count on cooking an hour less than the “recommended” time. Check temp then and be ready to pull it out to rest.
I do have one from the last time I baked a turkey (about 10 or so years ago)! And I’m using it! It says two to two and a half hours (for an unstuffed bird) - I did actually stuff mine, and at two hours it isn’t done yet, so back in it goes.
I made cranberry sauce with brown sugar instead of white - it smells weird. Fingers crossed on that one!
So, regarding stuffing a turkey - from what I’m reading online, it looks like people don’t stuff turkeys any longer. Is that really a thing now? Do you just cook your stuffing in a slow cooker or in a different oven pan or something? Is there a reason for stuffing or not stuffing a turkey?
Cook stuffing separately in a pan. Cook the turkey in a baking bag if you have one, you don’t even have to time it, it will fall apart in the bag when it smells ‘done’ after a couple of hours. I never understood all the angst over cooking a turkey, it’s basically a big foul-tasting chicken, and you cook it in the oven much as you would a chicken. No matter what you do to it, it’s still turkey.
I’ve been stuffing turkeys for 45 years and will continue to do so. The paranoia over this is just silly. It takes longer to cook the bird, but so what? If you’re worried about it being hot enough, take it out after the bird is done cooking and nuke it in a serving bowl until it’s hot enough to peel your skin off, if you desire.
Is that the concern over stuffing inside the turkey? That you’ll kill everyone in your family with food poisoning? That doesn’t worry me too much (knocks wood).
Okay, the bird is finished cooking and is resting comfortably now. Next crisis - gravy!
Whew - it turned out good. The stuffing was very tasty - I used the Betty Crocker recipe. There was some discussion about the two tablespoons of salt in the recipe, and I think I would cut that down for next time - it’s tasty stuffing, but a bit salty. I used a savoury gravy recipe that also turned out nicely.
Here’s a great example of the pinheads that comment on recipes -
Well, after you change everything, it’s hardly the same recipe, is it?
