Dry Brining a Turkey

Dry-brining turkeys is currently the vastly preferred method for prepping a turkey. Here are two methods, J. Kenji López-Alt (Serious Eats) and NYT. J. Kenji López-Alt is a heavy promoter of dry-brining.

SERIOUS EATS

Ingredients

1/2 Cup Diamond Crystal kosher Salt
2 Tbls baking powder

Instructions

1. Combine salt and baking powder. Pat turkey dry with paper towels and generously sprinkle salt mixture on all surfaces. Kenji has somewhat absurdly specific instructions to "sprinkle the salt mixture on all surfaces by picking up the mixture between your thumb and fingers, holding it six to 10 inches above the bird, and letting the mixture shower down over the surface of the turkey for even coverage.". Turkey should be well coated. You may not need all the salt.

2. Place turkey on rack set in rimmed baking sheet and refrigerate uncovered for 12 to 24 hours. Even better, dry-brine longer but in this case loosely cover turkey with plastic wrap or cheesecloth to prevent excess moisture loss.

3. Roast as normal except do not rinse turkey. Kenji is a fan of spatchcocking the turkey but fails to describe where the hell you would find a roasting sheet or pan large enough to hold a spatchcocked turkey.

 

NY TIMES

Here's the NY Times version. This is a recipe for brining and roasting. The brining part is similar to Kenji's, except they omit the baking powder. They recommend brining for two days (as does Kenji), wrapping the bird in a large plastic bag and turning it over on the second night.

NY Times Brining / Roasting Turkey