Why you should never stuff a turkey
Whether you love the holidays due to the time with family, a break from the office or the delicious food, one thing is certain – most people are bound to eat at least one turkey dinner this holiday season.
While there are various ways to enjoy the festive bird – encased in bacon, slow roasted over several hours, or deep fried – more often than not the meal features a tried, test and true side: stuffing.
If you’re part the stuffing fan club, you may be surprised to learn that how you prepare it could be drying out your turkey.
ALSO SEE: These holiday cooking mistakes could make you sick
According to the experts, to ensure the most moist turkey meat, you should be cooking your dressing on the stove top rather than roasting inside the turkey itself. Say what?
Paxo, a stuffing company in the United Kingdom, produces 5,000 tonnes of stuffing every year – and they suggest preparing the dish separately from the bird.
“We don’t recommend stuffing the inside of bird with stuffing. What we found with a medium-sized bird using the manufacturer’s cooking instructions, is that the bird took 40 minutes longer to cook because the cavity is so dense,” technical Manager Nick Moulds told Channel 4′s Food Unwrapped.
“What we’re finding is that the bird is a lot drier than the bird where there’s nothing inside the cavity.”
If you prepare your side dish and then stuff it inside the bird, it could take an extra 40 minutes to fully cook the turkey, meaning the meat will be dehydrated – and as a result, dry.
ALSO SEE: The trick to cooking the perfect Christmas turkey, according to one celebrity chef
So this year, if you want a more enjoyable turkey dinner, you may want to try Moulds’s method of preparing the popular dish on its own.
“We find [the stuffing] makes a better product outside of the bird,” he said.
Whether you’re the first to rush to the stuffing at turkey dinner or prefer to stick to less-hearty sides, this new tip could help ensure that your holiday dinner doesn’t disappoint.
Let us know what you think by commenting below and tweeting @YahooStyleCA!
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.
