Dry Brining Turkey
I have dry brined my Thanksgiving turkey for several years with great success. I usually do this for 3 days (start the process Monday AM then air dry in fridge for 24 hours before meal on Thursday). This year I will not get my turkey until Tuesday night. Is 36 hours enough time for the salt to do its reverse osmosis thing? I want to give it enough time to dry on Thursday. Or should I keep it in the salt until as late as possible and then pat it dry?
Best Answer
If you want crispy skin on your bird, you have to make sure that you leave time for the water to come off the skin entirely, so the full drying time is recommended.
If your skin doesn't make much diffrence to you, use the full brining time to create optimium penetration.
That said, your bird should remain nice and moist after as little as ten hours in the brine for a fourteen pound bird. I rarely brine any poultry longer than 12 hours as I find there isn't a noticable diffrence in the moistness as long as I pull it out at the proper temperature.
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How long do you dry brine a turkey?
How Long to Dry Brine Turkey. I typically dry-brine for 48 hours for a luscious bird. You can, however, brine your turkey for up to 72 hours (and some of our testers actually preferred this!). The skin will look dry and desiccated after all that time in the fridge, but don't worry, it will cook up beautifully.Do you rinse a turkey after dry-brining?
Leaving the turkey uncovered for the last 4 to 6 hours will help dry\u2014and thus crisp up\u2014the skin. Resist any temptation to rinse the turkey after brining. There will be no trace of salt on the surface and rinsing would only make the skin less prone to browning.Is dry brine better for turkey?
Dry-brining has a few more things going for it, though. First, it makes the turkey skin extra crispy. As the turkey rests uncovered in the fridge, the skin dries out, which allows it to crisp beautifully in the oven. Dry-brining also ensures that the turkey meat is penetrated with seasoning throughout.Is 12 hours long enough to dry brine a turkey?
Brining needs adequate time in order to be effective, so the thicker the piece of meat, the more time you want to give it so that the salt has enough time to work its way down from the surface. Although you can cook a dry-brined turkey after one day, giving it three days yields a much more tasty bird.How to Dry Brine a Turkey | Holiday Tips and Recipe Ideas | Whole Foods Market
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