SC - Dressing/stuffing OOP

[Lilinah biti-Anat]

>On this topic I heard something interesting on the Food channel the other
>day.  According to one of their hosts, if you stuff the bird with bread
>crumbs it can harbor bacteria and it absorbs the juice from the bird and can
>cause it to dry out.  Any opinions (as if I need ask) about this?
>
>Murkial

As i understand it, the problem is stuffing the bird ahead of time 
which gives the bacteria time to grow in the stuffing. I've always 
heard that the bird should stay in the fridge while one makes the 
stuffing, then the bird is stuffed just before putting it in the oven.

As for stuffed turkey drying out, well, i think that depends on how 
you cook the bird, not because of the addition of stuffing. My mom's 
turkey and stuffing were never dry, but, then, she used *major* 
amounts of butter in the stuffing (and i think she "basted" the bird 
with butter), so it didn't seem to be soaking the juice out of the 
bird.

I've heard it recommended to cook the turkey breast down. The white 
meat has less fat than the dark meat so it's naturally drier, and 
cooking breast down keeps the juice from running down into the pan or 
evaporating into the oven. At the same time, i've heard it 
recommended to "tent" the turkey with aluminum foil while it cooks to 
keep the moisture from evaporating and the legs and thighs from 
cooking too fast. When the turkey is not too far from done, you turn 
the breast up and remove the foil, cooking long enough for the skin 
to brown. It's been a *long* time since i cooked a turkey, so i don't 
remember how long this needs to be.

Anahita

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