I have become obsessed with dry-brining my turkey this year. They say this method became popular due to the Zuni Cafe’s super-tasty dry-brined chicken. I have been scouring the interwebs to make sure I know everything I can about this process. Plus, I’m lazy. There’s a certain amount of work involved with wrestling a wet, hairless bird in and out of a tub of water.
Also, there was the year that Jack let go of the edge of the turkey brining bag and then 4 gallons of salty, raw turkey juice tsunami covered my kitchen floor, the cabinets, the dog, the cat, me and the outer ring of Saturn. So I’m intrigued with the notion of idly patting some salt on the old bird with one hand and a drink in the other. I hear that dry-brining will produce as tasty a turkey as wet-brining, but with a more firm and meaty texture.
The molecular process of a brine works in the same way whether it’s a liquid or a dry rub. Remember osmosis? The turkey juice flows out toward the liquid or dry rub, and the seasonings then flow back into the turkey. Dig?
The very popular LA Times Recipe:
The Buzz surrounding the very popular LA Times Recipe:
In true Internet fashion, there is great debate over the length of time you need to dry-brine your turkey for it to be effective. I have read as little as four hours, to as much as four days. I started mine at 10:00 pm on Tuesday night.
I will flip it breast side down around noon today and then flip it back up and leave it uncovered in a pan from Wednesday night until Thursday morning. This allows the skin to dry out and it will supposedly be more brown. Here is a link to the short method.
Mine is sort of a hybrid of long and short. Also, there is some debate over whether you should rinse the turkey before you roast it. If you do it correctly, there should be no salt left on the turkey, because it got sucked back in. I will get back to you this weekend with a full report on my bird. Gobble.
I just love this picture. Thanksgiving turkey fungus amongus.
Photo Credit: Vik Nanda
