Roasted Dry-Brined Turkey

I hope all of you who celebrated Thanksgiving had a wonderful holiday!  

This year, I decided to try a new recipe for my family's Thanksgiving turkey. In the past, I've brined turkey in seasoned, salted water but I didn't like having to find enough refrigerator space to keep a bucket large enough to hold the turkey and brine liquid. I found this recipe for dry-brining and the reviews were very good. The reviewers mentioned how crispy and good the skin was. That was enough to hook me!

They were right!  The recipe produced a tender and delicious bird with amazing, crispy skin.  During the first part of the roasting process, the turkey is placed breast down in the roasting pan, which helps keep the breast juicy and tender.  The tricky part is flipping the turkey onto it's back again - but since the recipe calls for a 10-12 turkey, it wasn't too difficult.  If you need a larger amount of turkey for your gathering, I suggest making two birds - one the day before and then another one the day you plan on serving it for that crispy skin. 

The high heat during the roasting process makes this turkey finish much faster than other recipes - unless you decide to stuff your turkey as I did - then it takes somewhat longer to finish. Let your meat thermometer by your guide.

Roasted Dry-Brined Turkey

Adapted from Fine Cooking

Printable Recipe

You will find my notes for a stuffed turkey in italics and underlined throughout the recipe.

Serves ten.

One 10- to 12-lb. turkey
1/4 cup kosher salt (I used slightly more than half that amount with good results)

2 medium to large yellow onions, unpeeled and cut into eighths*
2 medium carrots, unpeeled and cut into 1-inch chunks*
2 medium ribs celery, cut into 1-inch chunks*

*Note:  I did not use the onions, carrots and celery as I made my usual stuffing

The night before: Remove the giblets from the turkey, cut off the tail, if attached, and reserve them for your gravy or another use. Rinse the turkey thoroughly and dry with paper toweling inside and out. Sprinkle the salt all over it, starting on the back side, then the cavity, and finally the breast. Put the turkey on a wire rack set over a rimmed pan or platter and refrigerate uncovered overnight. My discovery - If you tuck the wings under the back before you put it into the refrigerator overnight, then the wings will remain neatly tucked when roasting the next day. 

One hour before roasting: Remove the turkey from the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature. Place stuffing in turkey cavities, if using.  Fifteen to 20 minutes before roasting, position a rack in the lowest part of the oven and heat the oven to 400°F. Put half of the onions, carrots, and celery in the turkey cavity (eliminate this step if you have stuffed your turkey). Tie the legs together with kitchen twine. Tuck the wings behind the neck and under the turkey. Scatter the remaining onions, carrots, and celery in a large roasting pan fitted with a V rack (again, eliminate this step if you have stuffed your turkey). Set the turkey, breast side down, on the V rack.

Roast for 30 minutes. Pour 1 cup of water into the roasting pan and roast for another 30 minutes. Remove the turkey from the oven and close the oven door. With two wads of paper towels (or clean oven mitts) carefully turn the turkey over so that it's breast side up. Add another 1/2 cup water to the roasting pan. Return the turkey to the oven and continue to roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thigh registers 170°F, about another 45 minutes for a turkey in the 10-lb. range, or about another 1 hour for a 12-lb. turkey. Here again, as my turkey was stuffed, it took longer to roast - perhaps an additional hour.  (Keep a close eye on the vegetables and pan drippings throughout the cooking process. They should be kept dry enough to brown and produce the rich brown drippings to make gravy, but moist enough to keep from burning, so add water as needed throughout.) Transfer the turkey to a carving board or platter, tent with foil, and let rest for at least 45 minutes and up to 1 hour before carving and serving.  If your turkey was stuffed, remove stuffing to a separate bowl as soon as you can handle the turkey.