For our American members, US Thanksgiving will be upon us this Thursday. A conversation with my Grandma got me thinking about stuffing. Mmm, one of my favorite foods tbh. But as a southerner, Gma actually called it dressing and not stuffing.
What is actually the difference, between these two entymologies? Two words for the same thing: a delicious savory blend of breadcrumbs, onions, spices, and usually celery (maybe a few other veggies by preferance, and sometimes even sausage or oysters) soaked in chicken broth then cooked. As you can probably guess, stuffing goes inside the bird, and dressing is cooked outside the bird, then added to your plate later.
Although "Stuffing" is the far more common term, what most Americans eat is the latter. On fact, the US department of agriculture warns against cooking stuffing inside the bird. That's because the stuffing goes into the hole left by removing the digestive system- the part of the bird with the highest count of harmful bacteria. Filling this cavity makes it take longer for the center to reach a safe temperature- and for those who poke their meat thermometer into the breast of the animal they may stop cooking too soon before the bacteria that has soaked into the bread has been properly heated and killed.
Keep yourself and your family safe from Salmonella this holiday season, and remember to either cook your stuffing as dressing- or make sure the center of the bread filled cavity reaches at least 165°F.
If you aren't responsible enough to check the temp of the bread during cooking, but you still want the bread to catch all the delicious chicken juice drippings, lay a drip pan under the bird in your oven. Near the end of the bird's cook time, mix the dressing into the juices in the drip pan and finish the job*
*note this method would not work for fried turkey, but neither would frying stuffing inside the bird anyway so yeet.
