Christmas stuffing *****THIS THREAD IS NOT FOR MILLSY*****

I make a pork, sage, dried cranberry and caramelised onion stuffing. Grate and finely chop some lemon rind to sprinkle over it before roasting to use the citrus to help offset the mountain of rich flavours on an Xmas dinner plate. It’s a fucking dece stuffing.

seanc80 V traditional. Good sausagemeat, onions, sage, breadcrumbs, bit of smoked streaky bacon and chestnuts.

Personally not a fan of fruity stuffings (oo-er) with turkey.

Most of it up the turkey’s jacksie, but some reserved to roll into stuffing balls - largely to accompany bubble and squeak on Boxing day.

seanc80 I went non traditional a couple of years ago, and that’s also worth considering.

Butcher boned and roller the legs for me. Stuffed those instead (similar stuffing recipe) and cooked the turkey crown separately. Much easier to get a good result as the legs/crown don’t cook at the same pace if you cook the whole bird, and the thick slices of the leg ballotine were fucking lovely.

vinnyt77 Most of it up the turkey’s jacksie, but some reserved to roll into stuffing balls - largely to accompany bubble and squeak on Boxing day.

I don’t put any in the cavity, normally in a loaf tin to get the shape then slice it. Balls sound good lol. Have put some under the skin a couple of years, the combination of the fat in the sausage meat and some butter helps keep the bird moist. I appreciate most of my post sounds like a carry on movie script but you get the idea.

-si- I appreciate most of my post sounds like a carry on movie script but you get the idea.

Impossible not to when talking about Christmas dinner IMO.

Butter under the skin, and bacon across the back for me. According to a Michelin starred chef friend of mine, this has absolutely no impact on how moist the breast stays, but the butter helps with flavour, and the bacon’s a fucking marvellous snack for the Xmas day chef about half way through cooking.

vinnyt77 According to a Michelin starred chef friend of mine, this has absolutely no impact on how moist the breast stays

Really? Even with a big bird?

-si- Yeah. According to him, if you roast your bird at 170/180 degrees, whatever you do to the skin/under the skin, you’re gonna risk drying it out, as moisture in the breast will just boil away.

His reccos are twofold:

1) Brine it
2) Cook at as low a temperature as you can

To be fair, a couple of years ago, I had some turkey he’d cooked in his restaurant kitchen for 18 hours at 70C, then finished with an industrial blowtorch to crisp the skin. It was mind-blowingly good.

vinnyt77
Bang on. The bacon on top is a delightful pre lunch snack. To much butter under the skin and you end up with to much oil to make the gravy with. Unless you skim it off.

vinnyt77

Bain of my Xmas existence. A dry bird.

Cankles-McJeggings I think we can all agree a dry bird is a year round bain…

vinnyt77
I just bend a spoon 90° to remove the fat. As we both know a meat thermometer is what you really need to stop it over cooking and drying out plus letting it rest for at least an hour before carving

All this advice is pointless. This year, Sean will be getting drunk on Cider vinegar and Castrol GTX before filling a kettle and making PAXO balls in his Matty Holland shorts, just like every year before it.

vinnyt77

Veru interesting, vin. I would do mine at 170, it’s never been dry once rested and carved.

I would love to give a long and low temp cook a go, could then brown the top once it’s ready as you say.

vinnyt77 To be fair, a couple of years ago, I had some turkey he’d cooked in his restaurant kitchen for 18 hours at 70C, then finished with an industrial blowtorch to crisp the skin. It was mind-blowingly good.

Sounds immense that. The polar opposite of deep frying it in a barrel of fuel left over from Hank’s speed boat.

Millsy

Gravy and melted butter spilled all over his silver adidas big ben boots…

So far we know we need to use plenty of butter to stick it in the cavity and keep the big bird moist as you wait for the juices to run out.

Think i have the dvd of this…

-si-
All I’ve eaten whilst here Si. Like to embrace local culture as you know