To stuff or not to stuff?

Stuffing is evil. Cook the turkey and stuffing separate and add the stuffing after the bird is done for presentation.

Because your turkey is so big, I would do the stuffing on the side. You have to cook the turkey longer when stuffed, so the turkey will dry out. Make sure you add plenty of liquid to the stuffing(if making it on the side), when cooked inside the turkey the dressing absorbs lots of the turkey juices, which makes it so moist and delicious. Instead of stuffing you can stuff the bird with orange wedges, onion, celery and fresh herbs, make sure you season the inside as well as the outside!!

first 34lbs is way too big. you should go for two turkeys at 17 lbs each. Be much better tasting.

Anyway, don't stuff. It causing cooking times to vary and if you don't cook it EXACTLY right you are running the risk of an under cooked turkey in areas and infecting the stuffing with raw juices from the turkey before its cooked. Many cases of food poisoning comes from infected stuffing. Cook the stuffing separate from the turkey.../

You can safely stuff a bird just fine, but to reduce the risk of contamination you should temperature test the stuffing as well as the bird to figure out doneness (I believe it's 160 degrees for stuffing).

That said, based on the size of the bird, I would recommend NOT stuffing it because to make sure that stuffing is cooked properly adds cooking time. Your bird is humongous and will take a good long time anyway even without cooking the stuffing inside to boot.

Make yourself a nice little stuffing loaf to cook along with the turkey, and if you want something nice to help flavor the bird from the inside out, smear the insides with a little salt and your favorite herbs (and a little butter if your bird is pretty lean)!

As you already know it tastes better then not in the bird. The reason is that the juices from the bird get into the stuffing.

You can cook stuffing out of the bird and then add the drippings from the bottom of the pan that the bird was cooked in.

The link to the recipe below you can set for any serving you want.

instead of the chicken broth you can use the drippings from the turkey.

Stuffing a turkey will increase the cooking time, which may result in a dryer turkey. That's the main reason a lot of people say not to stuff.

You are NOT supposed to stuff the turkey before cooking; cooking the stuffing inside the turkey can increase your chances of bacterial contamination. Cook the stuffing and turkey separately.

The prevailing wisdom these days is not to stuff the turkey for fear of bacterial contamination. Instead, put the stuffing into a casserole dish and bake in the oven while the the turkey is resting.

Boil some lemons, just after you have taken them off the boil, stuff them into the turkey (and then poke with a knife to release theor juices). This will keep the meat moist whilst roasting.

Make your stuffing, but instead of stuffing it inside the birds cavity, stuff it under the birds skin over the breast meat. This will flavour the meat.

Happy Christmas!

I like to stuff mine! The dressing comes out tasting so much better over cooking it on the side. If you do stuff it will add cooking time to your bird so give yourself plenty of time. If you choose not to stuff then simply make the dressing and put in a casserole dish and bake on the side. If you choose this method then do yourself a favor and use some of the liquid from the turkey drippings in your dressing for flavor. Good Luck! Hope this helps!