Stuffing Cubes

or How You Can Make Your Own Well Ahead of Time, And For A Fraction of The Cost

One of my favorite parts of the Thanksgiving feast is the stuffing.

It includes all of the best parts of the meal in one dish.

We’ll discuss the actual mix in an upcoming article, but first we need to create the cubes that are at the base of the stuffing.

Now stuffing is a rather different dish that each family holds dear to them, and varies from household to household.

But the cubes themselves usually are purchased in a box at the store, but let me tell you, not only is the stuffing better when made from scratch, it is absolutely cheaper and won’t contain any corn, of which most of the stuffing cubes sold in the store actually contain.

Now, this will keep for at least a month when properly dehydrated, which can be done in a couple hours if you have a dehydrator, or an afternoon if you do not.

But it all starts with baking a loaf of bread.

Now the length of time necessary to prepare can be prohibitive, but if you do this a few weeks ahead of time, say on a Sunday afternoon while cooking your Sunday dinner, it can be accomplished with minimal effort.

If you have a bread maker, just make a standard white bread loaf, and add in some Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme (just remember that old Simon and Garfunkle song and you’ll be golden) and walk away, the breadmaker will do the rest.

If, however, you do not have a breadmaker, it’s still relatively easy to make.

Ingredients

1 Cup Warm Water
3 Tablespoons White Sugar
3 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 Cups Bread Flour
5 teaspoons of Live Yeast

1 Tablespoon each of Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme

Combine all into a bowl or a stand mixer with a paddle attachment and mix until the dough comes together (1 on the stand mixer) then kneed for 10 minutes (4 on the mixer).

Transfer the dough into a greased bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a tea towel and allow to rise for 45 minutes.

Punch down and transfer to a greased bread pan (They are going for cheap this time of year if you don’t have one), I use Grapeseed oil, but you can use whatever type you like, including butter and cover with a tea towel and again, allow to rise for about an hour.

Place into a 375 F oven for about 35 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.

I usually do this the day before I turn them into cubes, and the addition of the extra oil into the bread allows for it to remain softer than a normal loaf of artisan bread will be the next day.

If you would like to omit the oil, you can, but realize that more than likely you will need to do all steps on the same day.

Now, once the bread is cool, at least an hour and a half to two hours, slice the bread into normal sliced bread widths, about 1/2 inch wide and place into the dehydrator at 135 F or your oven on the lowest setting with the door cracked to allow for steam to escape.

If you’re using a dehydrator, give it about 30 minutes or until the top of the bread is dry to the touch, if you’re using the oven, it takes at least an hour to 90 minutes to achieve the same consistency.

Now slice the slices into strips, and then turn the strips 90 degrees and cut the strips into cubes.

By the way this is the messiest step, and you WILL find yourself with the urge to clean up the crumbs along the way, don’t do that!

Allow the crumbs to gather, then when you are finished cutting the cubes, gather them and brush them into a bowl, or if you’re using the oven, dump them onto the cookie sheet and allow them to ride along for the rest of the dehydration.

If you’re using a dehydrator it should only take another hour to hour and a half to get the cubes fully dried out, if you’re doing it in the oven, then stir the cubes every 30 minutes or so until they are fully dried out.

When they are dry, put them into gallon sized Ziplock bags, and store anywhere.

Remember, this is something you can do a month ahead of time, I’ve even done it as early as two months, but you might not want to do it that far in advance.

Now, you’re ready for when the big day is just around the corner.