Stuffing a Turkey on the BGE

specmat

What are the pro's and con's for stuffing a turkey when cooked on the BGE - is it safe ??????

nolaegghead

No different than cooking a turkey in an oven.  You want to make sure the internal temperature - the coolest part of the entire dish, is above 140 F.  Stuffing can get a little gnarly if too much smoke gets in it.  I don't see the point other than SWMBO or HWMBO demands it.  Cook it externally and pour gravy on it to get the same juices that it would get stuffed in a turkey carcass.  That's what would happen if it was stuffed inside.  You can always stuff the turkey post cook. 

NecessaryIndulg

nolaegghead.  If your guest want a stuffed turkey, add it at the end of your cook. If you add it at the beginning, you risk overcooking/drying out the turkey while getting the stuffing up to temp.  

Eggcelsior

NPR had Alton Brown on All Things Considered this past Tuesday. He stated that he never stuffs a turkey due to Salmonella risk and the fact that you need to cook it to 165 to eliminate this risk, which in turn can dry the turkey out. Instead, he cooks it separately and stuffs the bird when the turkey is resting. He uses and old coffee can(no top or bottom) that he perforated and filled with aromatics. He then stuffs the can and slides it from around the stuffing(like a funnel). Lastly, he blow torches the outer part to make it "oven crispy". Pretty interesting.

nolaegghead

131F for 90 minutes or 140 for 12 minutes also kills the salmonella to safe levels.  FDA recommends 165 because it's the 1 minute temp and they don't care how dry and overcooked your food is.

Skiddymarker

I would never stuff a turkey to cook in the egg again, not only because the stuffing tasted like bad smoke, but the turkey even had an off taste. Live and learn....

Now it is a spatched turkey and we do the stuffing, wether out of a box or from scratch, in the oven (given the glass top piece of furniture in our kitchen, the ovens are the only things you can cook with). 

Even a large turkey, done in the oven rather than in my MBGE, goes in the oven unstuffed. It is impossible for me to get the stuffing up to 165F without ruining the breast meat. We now put two pans of stuffing into the oven, one covered for those who like soft moist dressing and one uncovered for those who like it drier and crispy.  

nolaegghead

@skiddymarker - good point about the smoke.  Smoked and stuffing don't go together well for the general population.  I've seen people stitch up the cavity or put some foil or something to cover up the exposed stuffing. 

My recommendation stands - and that's to cook the stuffing separately.

DMurf

I have spatched a turkey and then added the fully cooked stuffing between the skin and meat of the turkey. Cooked indirect, it was delicious!

NecessaryIndulg

DMurf said:

I have spatched a turkey and then added the fully cooked stuffing between the skin and meat of the turkey. Cooked indirect, it was delicious!

Great idea! 

Eggcelsior

nolaegghead said:

131F for 90 minutes or 140 for 12 minutes also kills the salmonella to safe levels.  FDA recommends 165 because it's the 1 minute temp and they don't care how dry and overcooked your food is.

Indeed. To bad we don't all have Poly Science toys!

nolaegghead

Eggcelsior said:

nolaegghead said:

131F for 90 minutes or 140 for 12 minutes also kills the salmonella to safe levels.  FDA recommends 165 because it's the 1 minute temp and they don't care how dry and overcooked your food is.

Indeed. To bad we don't all have Poly Science toys!

I've done old-school methods - pot o water on stove and a thermometer.

I would LOVE to have this.  Partly because it looks so cool.

http://cuisinetechnology.com/rotary-vacuum-evaporator.php