Stuffing Food Safety Issues

• The main food safety concern in the handling of stuffing is making sure it's thoroughly heated. Basted with meat broth in a casserole or stuffed into raw meat or poultry, the bread or other carbohydrates in stuffing can provide an excellent medium for the growth of bacteria that cause food poisoning. These pathogens can be destroyed only if stuffing is heated to 165 degrees Fahrenheit, advises U.S. Department of Agriculture. The implications of this safety requirement are several: thaw stuffing prepared in advance thoroughly before cooking or reheating, chill leftovers promptly and thaw leftovers completely before reheating. Use a thermometer, not cooking time or appearance, to determine the internal temperature.

Freezing in Advance

• Especially for stuffings with many ingredients, cooking and freezing in advance can save time on dinner day. Bread, vegetables and other ingredients can be chopped, sauteed and seasoned, then frozen. Nutrition service director Mary Kimbrough told " The Dallas Morning News" that the flavors of onion, celery and herbs can intensify with freezing, so you may need to reduce quantities. Meats, sausage or shellfish should be cooked thoroughly before being added to the mixture. A stuffing that has eggs may or may not freeze well, so you may have to experiment or add the eggs after the mixture has thawed. Alternatively, add eggs and bake stuffing in a casserole, then freeze it to be thawed for reheating. Allow 12 to 24 hours in the refrigerator for complete thawing, then bake your casserole. Because cooking stuffing in the cavity of a turkey or chicken can be risky, it's doubly important to check the internal temperature of the stuffing before you serve it.

Freezing Leftovers

• Wrapped airtight, leftover stuffing can be frozen for a month. Like other protein-based leftovers, stuffing should be frozen as soon as it has cooled. Foodborne pathogens multiply most rapidly in the "danger zone" between 40 and 140 F, so keep foods either hotter or colder than this. Freezing of already contaminated stuffing will slow but not stop bacteria growth, so safe handling before freezing is essential. Spoon the stuffing into a freezer-safe container or freezer bag. Squeeze the air out of the bag. Date the package and use it within a month.

Freezable Stuffing Alternatives

• Although stuffings made with bread and vegetables freeze well if correctly handled, it's possible you will have lumpy or doughy results after freezing. Exposure to poultry or meat juices can make leftover stuffing overly moist or gluey. The problem is not in the handling but in the choice of stuffing. If you plan to make enough stuffing to freeze after a meal, better choices are all-vegetable or fruit- and grain-based stuffing recipes. A turnip, apple, quinoa or barley mixture can return stuffing to a gluten-free diet and bring new textures and tastes to traditional poultry and meat dishes.