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I've done this for years (although I like to cut through the backbone, using a cleaver and meat mallet). A rich mushroom/ricotta/parmesan mixture goes between the skin and the flesh, and I smoke the turkey at an average grill temperature of 350º.

I was following the great Alton Brown Says No to Stuffing the Turkey debate a little while back. Someone suggested using the above technique, roasting your turkey on a wire rack directly above the pan of stuffing/dressing. That sounds great to me. Perfectly cooked turkey, with turkey-enhanced stuffing. Yes!

http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/11/alton-brown-says-no-to-stuffing-the-turkey-dressing-thanksgiving.html

I confess that I like the sage-based flavor of Stovetop, but I do the following:

2 boxes--made with homemade chicken broth for the liquid (you can use low-salt canned, too)

2 cups diced celery, 2 cups diced onion, 1 lb. sliced mushrooms sauteed in too darn much butter, but it's only once a year!

Mix it all together and bake it at around 300 degrees (F) for an hour or so. You can stir it once or twice if it is too mushy for you, and you really can't bake it too long.

I sometimes add a bit more butter on the top after the last stir just to brown it a bit more. (I already said TOO MUCH BUTTER!) but I like the flavor. I have tried PF, but did not get the strong sage taste that I like. I don't add any seasoning to the veggies as they have a nice flavor and get plenty of salt from the ST.

I agree this is lazy, but I have never been able to get the right herb balance when using fresh-stale bread, and although I like cornbread, and will eat a cornbread stuffing, since I only do this once a year I go with the one I like.

By the way, I like cornbread WITHOUT sugar, so use a recipie I found on Emeril called "Alden's Mother's Cornbread" and use an iron skillet with corn oil for the baking. Good stuff!

Dear Grace: I made this yesterday. I spatch-cocked my turkey saturday morning, after a 12 hour brine, for a friends' thanksgiving saturday afternoon. It turned out SO awesome. I've pretty much hated every other turkey that I've ever had/made except for this one. and it was so fast! I was really worried because after 20 minutes at 400F, there was a 40 deg F temperature difference between my thigh and my breast. (or 22.2 deg C difference). I ended up cooking the breast to a higher temperature than you recommended, yet none of my turkey meat was dry.

The high temperature of 450 I first used when I made this Thomas Keller recipe for simple roast chicken, where he also roasts at 450 deg F. (http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/My-Favorite-Simple-Roast-Chicken-231348)

Interestingly enough, even without brining, Thomas Keller's recipe for cooking chicken at high temperature also avoids dry chicken meat.

his roast chicken recipe is good practice for this recipe in my opinion because of the following reason:

When I made that recipe, I followed the commenters' and my sister's advice, and layered potatoes underneath the roast chicken because otherwise there is quite a bit of smoking.
Why is this important?
The spatchocked turkey also smokes quite a bit when cooking at 450F.
So be prepared for that. I thought it might be butter, but Keller's recipe doesn't call for butter, so it's simply from the poultry.

the smoke is nothing that opening all the windows in my 650 sq. ft apartment didn't fix! But I wonder if you could avoid the smoke by, as many who prepare Keller's chicken do, layering potatoes underneath the bird and throwing those into your gravy or something.

I just want to say that these are what I found to be most key in making your recipe:
Brine overnight
dry with LOTS of paper towels
compound herb butter is a MUST on the breast
prepare for the smoking
and definitely turkey resting is key prior to carving

If anyone else experienced the smoking, or same temperature differential between thigh and breast I would love to hear about it.

everyone loved it!! thank you so much G - you RULE!

Has anyone ever had Bell's Stuffing? (Also available in New England Style.) I saw them both at Hannaford tonight. (Hannaford is based in Maine, so they have a lot of random New England goodies, like Bakewell Cream.)

For years I used the Pepperidge Farm bagged stuffing as the base (it was herb, it was crouton style, it was cornbread), with my mushroom, celery, onion and sausage and a little chicken stock overall. It tasted pretty damn good. Then in some fancy foodie magazine or newspaper article I read about packaged stuffings not cutting it!
For the last few years I have used cubed bread stuffing that you buy in the supermarket which is fresh bread cubed. Works all right except you need a ton more stuff.
So blessings upon you all for making me feel better about going back to Pepperidge Farm again maybe this year.

No dressing has to be soggy - there's no law saying you have to use as much liquid as called for on the package. That's why I like to make my stuffing from scratch - sautée whatever veg I want to use, add bread, and then drizzle stock on while stirring until I get the perfect consistency. This works with either dried or fresh bread.

Why should one be more comfortable calling it "stuffing" only when it is baked in the bird and "dressing" when baked in a casserole pan? I recognize that the term "stuffing" implies "to stuff," as in to stuff the bird with it. But why is "dressing" more appropriate for it when baked in a casserole pan? The term "dressing" could be equally read to imply "to dress," as in it dresses something. In the case of baking it in a casserole pans, is the something that is "dressed" the casserole pan? Of course, not! What is "dressed" is THE BIRD or the plate on which it is presented. Just as the bird is stuffed with it, the bird is dressed (up) with it. I take the position that the terms "stuffing" and "dressing" are equally inapt when referring to what is baked in a casserole pan.

That is brilliant!

We had a Thanksgiving pre-game last weekend and used the spatchcock method. I used Alton Brown's brine recipe, brined for about 8 hours. A 15 lb bird took about an hour and a half to cook. Our guests said again and again that it was the juiciest turkey they have ever had. A few weeks ago I spatchcocked a chicken as a test run and it was the best roast chicken I've ever made. The brine-spatchcock method is definitely the way to go.

I have used the Martin's before last time 2 years ago. I however prefer Wegmans "W" loaf which makes the best stuffing. Also a fave Del Buono's rolls (NJ) I used to go get those the day before hot out of the oven and that was some great bread for stuffing.

Forgot to add-
I mean- can you imagine only eating chicken one way for your whole life? Or any food?

I have read that the pilgrims probably ate eel at the first Thanksgiving....

For years my dad put smoked oysters in the stuffing, it probably adds a similar taste.