Thanksgiving Stuffing Tips

How to cook and serve Thanksgiving stuffing.

When prepared just right, Thanksgiving stuffing is everything Americans love about food: it's savory and a little sweet, warm and soft but a little crunchy on the outside. In short, it's the ultimate comfort food. To make sure your stuffing fulfills all your expectations this year, here are a few guidelines:

If you want to play it extra safe with poultry, don't stuff your bird at all. Instead, make a traditional "dressing", which is simply stuffing that's cooked in a buttered casserole or soufflé dish. You won't be sacrificing flavor, especially if you drizzle the dressing with pan drippings from the cooked turkey.

If you do plan on baking the stuffing and turkey together, stuff your turkey just before putting it in the oven and cook it to 180 degrees F. If the turkey is done but the stuffing isn't, remove the turkey, transfer the stuffing to a casserole dish and return the stuffing to the oven to finish cooking.

If stuffing your turkey, estimate one cup of stuffing for each pound of turkey, i.e. a 10-pound turkey will get 10 cups of stuffing. Cook any extra stuffing on the side. Be careful not to overstuff your turkey as this could cause it to become dried out.

To prevent your stuffing from getting too mushy, keep dry and wet ingredients separate until right before stuffing the bird or casserole dish. If you like the stuffing a little drier and cake-like, add an egg or two.

Dress up your stuffing with nuts, fruit, wild rice, sausage or liqueurs and try new spice combinations to reflect regional tastes.

Find the perfect stuffing recipe to complete your Thanksgiving feast: Top Thanksgiving Stuffings and Dressings.

Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe and Video

Thanksgiving Recipe

Plan an unforgettable Thanksgiving feast with the best Turkey Day recipe for every course.

3 Videos | How to Cook the Perfect Turkey (04:16)

Ingredients

1 (14 to 16 pound) frozen young turkey
For the brine:
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 gallon vegetable stock
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 1/2 teaspoons allspice berries
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped candied ginger
1 gallon heavily iced water
For the aromatics:
1 red apple, sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
1 cinnamon stick
1 cup water
4 sprigs rosemary
6 leaves sage
Canola oil



Directions
2 to 3 days before roasting:

Begin thawing the turkey in the refrigerator or in a cooler kept at 38 degrees F.

Combine the vegetable stock, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, allspice berries, and candied ginger in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve solids and bring to a boil. Then remove the brine from the heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate.

Early on the day or the night before you'd like to eat:

Combine the brine, water and ice in the 5-gallon bucket. Place the thawed turkey (with innards removed) breast side down in brine. If necessary, weigh down the bird to ensure it is fully immersed, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area for 8 to 16 hours, turning the bird once half way through brining.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Remove the bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard the brine.

Place the bird on roasting rack inside a half sheet pan and pat dry with paper towels.

Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and 1 cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Add steeped aromatics to the turkey's cavity along with the rosemary and sage. Tuck the wings underneath the bird and coat the skin liberally with canola oil.

Roast the turkey on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F for 30 minutes. Insert a probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Set the thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees F. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let the turkey rest, loosely covered with foil or a large mixing bowl for 15 minutes before carving.

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, also featured in Food Network Magazine