What's the best part of Thanksgiving? The turkey? No way. It's the stuffing. And to think there was a time when I thought stuffing could only be made from a box! Don't get me wrong—boxed stuffing is good, but premade packages of stuffing are a real damper in the creativity department. (Not to mention they're loaded with sodium and other not-so-wholesome ingredients in the form of preservatives.)
Homemade stuffing is ridiculously easy to make, but there are a few things you can do that would ruin a perfectly good stuffing. Here are a few mistakes to avoid when you're making stuffing from scratch and tips to fix your stuffing.
Mistake to Avoid No. 1: Cooking Your Stuffing in the Turkey
OK, so this tip really applies to any stuffing, but it's worth mentioning because it could destroy the potential to ever allow stuffing to cross your lips again. Don't cook the stuffing in the turkey! What about those iconic images of a turkey brimming with stuffing, you ask? Forget about them. You are looking at either (a) a turkey that has been cooked to oblivion or (b) stuffing that's basted in raw turkey juices, a real food-safety hazard.
Here's why: In the time it takes a stuffed turkey to get up to 165°F in the center of the cavity (the "safe" temperature for poultry), the breast meat and possibly everything else will be overcooked. Even if the stuffing is fully cooked beforehand, if you take the turkey out of the oven with the stuffing just "warmed," you'll run the risk of eating stuffing contaminated with raw turkey juices. Everything, even the stuffing, has to reach the recommended 165°F if it's in the bird, so cook it in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish instead.
The Biggest Thanksgiving Mistakes Everyone Makes at Least Once—and How to Fix Them
When you're creating your own stuffing, the sky is the limit when it comes to ingredients. You can add dried fruit, fresh fruit, vegetables, sausage, nuts, grains, whatever. But you want to make sure there is an element that keeps it all loosely sticking together. That's called a "binder," and bread is really great at this. To work its magic, the bread needs a little liquid. (How much? See below.) Bread that's slightly dry sucks up moisture like a sponge and once it's tossed with other ingredients it starts to break down slightly and acts like the glue for everything else. Any kind of bread will work—wheat bread, sourdough, rye—even cornbread and gluten-free bread. Experiment with different flavors to find the one you like best.
Healthy Stuffing Recipes
Mistake to Avoid No. 3: Soggy or Dry Stuffing
How to make dry stuffing moist? Stuffing needs moisture to prevent it from drying out, but knowing how much liquid to add can be tricky. You want your stuffing moist but not soggy and certainly not dry. The bread in the stuffing absorbs moisture, but if it's dry (as it should be, see above), it takes some time for the liquid to settle in. I suggest adding a little at a time, say 1 cup of broth for every 4 cups of dry mix. Give it a good stir, then let it sit for a minute. The stuffing should be moist but not wet. If there is a puddle of broth at the bottom of the bowl, you've added too much. Add more bread to soak up the excess moisture. If the mix is still dry and crumbly, add more liquid and toss gently until it starts to clump together.
5 Thanksgiving Day Disasters You Can Fix: Here's How
Pictured Recipe: Vegan Cornbread Stuffing
Mistake to Avoid No. 4: Too Much Salt
One of the pitfalls of packaged stuffing is copious amounts of sodium. When you make stuffing from scratch, you can control how much salt you add—to a degree. Unfortunately, common stuffing ingredients like bread, sausage and broth have a good amount of sodium in them. Manage sodium levels by being judicious with "extras" like sausage (just a little goes a long way) and choosing low- or reduced-sodium broth. And you don't necessarily need to add salt to stuffing. Taste it before you bake it (as long as there isn't raw meat involved) to see if you really need to add extra salt.
Mistakes That Ruin Green Bean Casserole (And How to Fix Them)
There's nothing better than soft, fresh bread—except for when it comes to stuffing. If you want your stuffing to hold up and not end up a soupy, soggy mess, make sure your bread is dried out or staled for a few days.
There's nothing better than soft, fresh bread—except for when it comes to stuffing. If you want your stuffing to hold up and not end up a soupy, soggy mess, make sure your bread is dried out or staled for a few days.
If your stuffing is too wet and gummy, turn it out onto a baking pan or cookie sheet.Break it up and spread it in an even layer.Then bake until dried to the desired level.
Heat the oven to 350°F and transfer the stuffing to an oven-safe dish (or, you can keep it in the dish that it was originally cooked in). If it seems dry, you'll want to add a splash of broth. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes, then remove foil and bake again until crisp, 15–20 minutes.
Broth: Chicken broth keeps the stuffing moist without making it soggy. Eggs: Two lightly beaten eggs help hold the dressing together and add moisture. Water: You can add a few tablespoons of water, if you'd like, to achieve your desired consistency.
If you use soft, fresh bread, you'll ultimately wind up with a soggy, mushy stuffing. So, how do you dry bread for stuffing? There are two ways to go about it. If you've planned your Thanksgiving dinner ahead of time, you can cut your bread into cubes and leave them out to become stale overnight.
While you can use almost any bread — cornbread, bagels, or even frozen waffles — to make stuffing, it needs to be dried or “staled” first. Any attempts to make stuffing with soft, fresh baked bread will result in a bread soup with a soggy texture.
Another possible reason could be not cooking the dressing long enough – make sure to follow the recommended cooking time and temperature listed in your recipe. Lastly, adding too much liquid (such as broth) can also result in a gummy texture.
If your dressing doesn't turn out right, don't fret. You can usually fix it. If you find your stuffing is too dry, add additional warmed broth to it, stir well, and return to the oven, checking periodically. If the stuffing is overly wet and too gummy, cook it uncovered for a bit longer, checking periodically.
We recommend adding stock a little at a time--1/2 cup to 1 cup, depending on how much stuffing you're making--and waiting for the bread to absorb the liquid before adding more. Once the bread is moist but not sitting in a pool of stock, it's ready.
For that reason, Eat By Date says to use your nose and take a whiff when you first open the container. "A common trait of bad stuffing is a sour smell, because the meat juices that soaked into the stuffing during cooking will begin to spoil first," the site cautions.
The short answer to whether you can making stuffing ahead of time is yes. "Making stuffing ahead saves time, allows stove and oven space for other things, and making it ahead gives time for the flavor to fully develop," Chef David Tiner, Director at Louisiana Culinary Institute in Baton Rouge, tells Southern Living.
Dressing/stuffing: Like turkey, if stored properly, stuffing or dressing will be safe to eat for three to four days after cooking. It will last for about a month if stored properly in the freezer. Cranberry sauce – homemade and store-bought: Homemade cranberry sauce lasts seven to 10 days.
Do not refrigerate uncooked stuffing. If stuffing is prepared ahead of time, it must be either frozen or cooked immediately. To use cooked stuffing later, cool in shallow containers and refrigerate it within 2 hours. Use it within 3 to 4 days.
Once opened, a stuffing mix's shelf life is reduced, generally lasting only 2 to 3 months. Moisture, air, and contaminants are critical factors here; improper storage can allow these elements to compromise the mix's freshness and flavor.
Start cooking on the high setting for at least 1 hour before reducing the setting to low. Cook until the center of the stuffing reaches 165 °F as measured with a food thermometer.
Also, you'll need a food thermometer for determining when stuffing is safely cooked to a minimum internal temperature of 165°F. Use this temperature as a guide, whether you serve stuffing separately in a casserole dish or stuffed into poultry or meat.
Absolutely. Most Thanksgiving stuffing recipes can be made at least partially in advance since: A) They're easily assembled a day or two ahead of Thanksgiving Day; and B) They're often baked using a two-step process (once covered with foil to cook through, then uncovered to achieve a crispy top).
Introduction: My name is Aron Pacocha, I am a happy, tasty, innocent, proud, talented, courageous, magnificent person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/4027923-b93cb94a813244a988c62d168f0bb207.jpg "4 Mistakes That Ruin Stuffing (And How to Fix Them) (1)")
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/4572937-1ebd2443ad104e7f90c189b22529593c.jpg "4 Mistakes That Ruin Stuffing (And How to Fix Them) (2)")
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/5838050-b425c4854c7f4231a59861c3e0a834f9.jpg "4 Mistakes That Ruin Stuffing (And How to Fix Them) (3)")
