[Sca-cooks] Stuffing

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Nov 21, 2006, at 11:34 AM, Michael Gunter wrote:

>
>> Your best bet is probably a
>> fully thawed bird (if it was ever frozen), and stuffing that is at
>> least partially cooled, if not cold.
>
> This is pretty much my thought. Hot stuffing, cold bird, bacteria
> playground. Bringing it all up together will reduce the chance of
> several differnent temp zones.

Of course, the cold bird cools the stuffing and the hot stuffing  
warms the bird. Probably the really big no-no would be putting hot  
stuffing into a raw bird and refrigerating it overnight, before  
roasting it in the morning. That, and roasting the bird till done  
without checking the stuffing temperature.

>> I'd be interested in seeing inside and
>> outside temperature differentials... my theory is that they might not
>> be as great as some people suppose.
>
> That shouldn't be hard to check. Just two probe thermometers.
> I agree that it would be interesting to see. I would think that it
> would cook much as a roast would. From the outside in, as a
> solid mass.

My feeling, too. It shouldn't be hard; it would just be a matter of  
doing it in my copious free time.

> That's why I prefer to just stuff my bird with aromatics and then
> make the dressing seperately with the pan juices.

That's certainly a viable approach. I'd rather use stock for the  
stuffing and save the pan juices for gravy, but still...

I've sort of gotten back into the stuffed-bird-as-solid-roast thing,  
especially when using the stuffing to help _control_ the moistness  
that allegedly and magically leaves the bird when you roast it that way.

But then, Saturday is the scheduled haggis-making extravaganza, so  
perhaps my judgement is suspect.

>> I think on Friday we'll be truly disgusting and try an honest-to-Gosh
>> larded bird, with a pound or so of fresh pork fatback and a larding
>> needle...
>
> Very cool. I'd like to get hold of a larding needle at some point and
> play with it. Mainly with pork loin and venison. But the turkey idea
> has merit. I usually just rub butter and garlic under the skin.

In Heaven, all the turkeys are free-range, are larded in neat little  
rows, and have truffle slices under the skin...

>> I'm sure in a few years this is going to be the in thing; the new  
>> brine.
>
> Yeah. Trendiness, sigh.
> I think Jack In The Box gets the prize for the most buzz-worded  
> product:
> The Ciabatta Chipotle Chicken Sandwich.
> They just need the words "Tuscan" and "Extreme" to cover all the  
> bases.
>
> But I don't care if it's trendy, brining is good.

I love brining; I've been doing it for years and years before it  
became all the rage. Sometimes I have trouble with turkey skin color  
being just a little unpredictable when there's a lot of sugar or  
honey involved, but this is a minor thing I'd only be concerned about  
if the thing were being photographed or something.

But in general, I don't mind trendiness if it's an otherwise good  
thing that happens to be popular. It's the things that basically  
suck, but which people do anyway because they're all the rage, that  
bother me.

> I can see the whole
> "fried turkey" craze someday being looked at with embarassed  
> nostalgia.

Heh ;-). The fryers will start turning up at garage sales as "the new  
fondue pots".

Adamantius



"S'ils n'ont pas de pain, vous fait-on dire, qu'ils  mangent de la  
brioche!" / "If there's no bread to be had, one has to say, let them  
eat cake!"
     -- attributed to an unnamed noblewoman by Jean-Jacques Rousseau,  
"Confessions", 1782

"Why don't they get new jobs if they're unhappy -- or go on Prozac?"
     -- Susan Sheybani, assistant to Bush campaign spokesman Terry  
Holt, 07/29/04