Page 65 - Turkey Book from Meathead

1. If you stu the bird, the temp in the center of the stung must be at least 160°F to be safe because juices from the bird get into the stung. By the time the heat penetrates that far, the breast will be overcooked and void of moisture.
2. An empty cavity allows heat and smoke and flavor to enter the meat from the inside as well as the outside.
3. If you don't stu you can put herbs in the cavity to amp up the flavor. Stung does little for flavor.
4. Stung sticks to the ribs of the turkey. If you use the carcass to make stock the next day, which you absolutely should do, the bread in the stung will make the stock unappetizingly cloudy and the gluten will make it thick.
5. If you cook stung outside the bird, you can spread it in a baking pan and get more crispy brown bits on the surface. Those are the bits everybody wants.
6. Now here's an outside the bird concept: Mix a little egg into the stung and cook it in well buttered mun pans so each individual “mung” will brown all around making lots more crunchy bits! The recipe is later in this book.
If you absolutely positively must have the stung in the cavity, then make it very moist, heat the stung up to 160°F before inserting it, and stu the bird with hot stung. Then the meat won't overcook while waiting for the stung to heat up. But you still must get the center of the stung back up to 160°F before you take it o the heat because juices from the bird will get into the stung.