Dry-Brined Turkey
Dry-brining the Thanksgiving turkey is less messy than wet brining, and yields a fantastic flavor.
Dry-Brined Turkey, alongside Easy Turkey Gravy and Cranberry-Orange Sauce
Photo Credit : Adam DeTour/styling by Catrine KeltyI’m a big fan of dry-brining turkey. It’s less messy than wet brining, and I love the flavor and texture it creates. You’ll need three days to let the turkey cure—and be sure your bird isn’t pre-salted, as some frozen and all kosher turkeys are. Note: You can brine for just two days, but the flavor won’t be as good.
Yield:
10-12 servingsIngredients
3 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons dried thym
2 tablespoons dried sage
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (12-to-14-pound) thawed whole natural turkey, not pre-salted
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
Instructions
Three days before you plan to serve the turkey, prepare the salt mixture: In a small bowl, stir together the salt, thyme, sage, onion powder, coriander, and pepper.
Next, remove the turkey’s giblets and neck and discard (though you could use the neck to make turkey stock, if you’d like). Use paper towels to pat the skin dry. Rub the turkey all over with the salt mixture and set it on a rack in a large roasting pan (a V-shaped rack will maximize air circulation, but a flat rack also works). Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for three days. The night before roasting, remove the plastic wrap—this will result in crisper skin.
An hour before roasting, remove the turkey from the refrigerator and let it rest at room temperature. Preheat your oven to 325°F (a convection oven is not recommended here) and set a rack to the lowest position.
Use paper towels to pat the turkey dry, leaving the majority of the dry rub on the skin. Gently push your hand between the skin and the meat of the turkey breast, then spread about half the butter over the breast and under the skin. Melt the remaining butter and brush it lightly all over the turkey.
Set the turkey on the rack in the roasting pan, breast side down, and cook for 13/4 hours. Turn the bird breast-side up and baste with pan juices. Continue roasting, basting periodically, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast and thighs reaches 160°F (this will take between 45 and 75 minutes for a 12-to-14-pound turkey).
Tip the turkey to drain its juices into the pan and transfer the bird to a platter. Cover loosely with aluminum foil and let stand at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes. Pour the drippings from the pan into a fat separator or measuring cup and set aside to make Easy Turkey Gravy.
Amy Traverso
Amy Traverso is the senior food editor at Yankee magazine and co-host of the public television series Weekends with Yankee, a coproduction with WGBH. Previously, she was food editor at Boston magazine and an associate food editor at Sunset magazine. Her work has also been published in The Boston Globe, Saveur, and Travel & Leisure, and she has appeared on Hallmark Home & Family, The Martha Stewart Show, Throwdown with Bobby Flay, and Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. Amy is the author of The Apple Lover’s Cookbook, which was a finalist for the Julia Child Award for best first-time author and won an IACP Cookbook Award in the “American” category.
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