How to Dry Brine Turkey | Steps & Recipe

What is Dry Brine?

Also known as dry curing, dry brining is when you put salt and spices directly onto the skin of the turkey before letting it chill. It seems counterintuitive at first to think that salting a turkey could make it moister rather than drier. And it’s true that putting salt directly on the skin does draw water out. But over time, much of that liquid is absorbed again, bringing salt and spices with it. Traditional wet brining has a similar effect, but it tends to give the meat a spongy texture. The dry brine turkey method performs another service, as well: It also changes the meat’s structure so that it exudes less water during cooking. Thus you get a well-seasoned, deeply flavored, juicy — but not too juicy — turkey. You might be wondering, doesn’t this make the turkey too salty? Do you need to rinse the bird when it’s done? The answer to both is no. In reality, you’re salting the meat only a little more than you would if you were simply seasoning for flavor, and the salt is so well distributed in the meat that there aren’t any “hot spots.”

How Long Does It Take to Dry Brine?

You should plan for about three days in the refrigerator.

How to Dry Brine Turkey:

Step 1: Three days beforehand, sprinkle turkey with salt-and-spice mixture. We like a combination of rosemary, thyme, sage, mustard seeds, and pepper. In New England, Bell’s Seasoning is also something akin to spice royalty.

Step 2: Right before roasting, rub butter directly onto the breast meat under the skin.

Step 3: Brush skin all over with melted butter.

Step 4: Roast and enjoy. For details and roasting instructions, see our Dry-Brined Turkey recipe (pictured here). These dry brine turkey steps and recipe first appeared in the Nov/Dec 2012 issue of Yankee.