When it comes to turkey stuffing, I’m glad to reveal one more chef secret that I’ve been keeping all these years.
Most home cooks fear that their Thanksgiving Turkey will turn out dry, yet everything they do in preparing the bird ASSURES that it WILL dry out.
Roasting your turkey in the oven means you are using dry indirect convective heat. The heating element in the bottom of your oven heats the air. This dry air cooks the turkey.
Cooking with dry air assures that your turkey will lose moisture. Some moisture loss is desired in cooking turkey because you won’t get that brown crispy skin without shedding some water.
You can’t PREVENT moisture loss in cooking Thanksgiving turkey, but you can CONTROL it to assure you get the most moist bird ever, and this can start with your turkey stuffing.
This is why I’ve never understood stuffing the CAVITY of the bird. This method makes it harder to cook the turkey, and increases food safety issues.
You’ll see a new way to use turkey stuffing this year, under the skin!
Placing your holiday dressing under the skin and above the breast meat will retain moisture of the meat by insulating it from direct heat, and will allow hot air to fill the cavity, cooking the turkey more quickly.
It’s a radical concept for those whose Grandmothers insisted that stuffing the cavity made your Thanksgiving turkey better. It doesn’t.
Grandma also said it makes the stuffing more flavorful. It doesn’t.
Brining your turkey makes it more flavorful and adds moisture. Putting turkey stuffing under the skin helps retain moisture. THIS is the way to prevent a dry Thanksgiving turkey.
Hopefully, it will inspire you to think of tradition-breaking ways to present your holiday turkey this year.
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Very moist
Does anyone like to bake the turkey in a browning bag? I have heard that they are very and perfectly browned.
I to, like Albert above use the Showtime Rotisserie….50 mins and the bird is the word. My fiance’s brother-in-law (the so called Chef of her family) was so shocked as I asked him to carve the cooked delight, that when he first cut into the skin to the meat, the juices blasted him all over his shirt. He was so impressed with the juices flowing out of the bird he actually asked to take the leftovers home. He still raves about that turkey!! I am going to try your stuffing under the skin and rotisserie this years bird….keep you posted!
I’m doing just a small turkey breast (butterball) how would I fix that to make it moist?
Hi Charlotte!
The first thing you can do to keep your turkey moist is not over-cook it. Use a thermometer to gauge final internal cooking temperature of 165F/74C. From there, you could brine the turkey and/or stuff it under the skin like this video demonstrates.
I brown turkey wing on top of the stove then place them over the casserole of Dressing cover and bake in 350 oven for 60 to 70 minutes. Makes the dressing taste like it has been stuffed in the turkey. This was a trick I learned On cooks illustrated website. Honestly delicious. Forgot to mention this, you need to poke the turkey wings all over and then brown them
I’ve been putting the dressing under the skin for years. A lady Jean Hoare ran a very successful restaurant called the Flying Inn in Claresholm, AB for 30+ years taught me this. So the idea is not new it does make a delicious moist turkey and when sliced you also get some dressing. Great presentation.
So can you dig it out from under the skin and serve in a bowl?
Hi Marilyn!
No, the idea is to slice the turkey breast and get some of the stuffing too.
I stuff the turkey with Pineapple, apples and garlic and I rotisserie it in a Ronco Rotisserie. I first inject it with melted butter and as it is spinning, I brush it with more melted butter and to say it is moist is an understatement!
I would like too give a great tip. Cook the turkey upside down. It come’s out so moist and juicey. I don’t stuff my turkey.
Oh. Great idea. Bags is again for your help Todd