Most folks aren't aware of dry brining, I know when I first heard of it I was wary and skeptical, figuring it was some new cooking fad that wouldn't work out. We tried it on a turkey dinner that was not Thanksgiving just to ensure we didn't botch our Thanksgiving feast and it turned out amazing! Now it's our go to method for cooking turkey for any occasion. It's simple and ensures crispy skin and moist tender meat, and best of all you don't have to deal with a sloppy wet brine.
The brine does many things, it helps pull moisture from the skin, as the salt dissolves it creates a natural brine that goes into the meat and starts to break down the tougher muscle fibers resulting in that juicier, more tender bird.
The basics are rubbing the bird with kosher salt and let it sit. Two days later its ready to cook. There are variations in which you can add dry herbs to the salt to enhance the flavors but we have found just using the salt for the brine and then adding the herbs when we roast turn out the best, but experiment and enjoy!
Dry Brine:
Ingredients:
1 Wild Child Farms Pastured Turkey - thawed
1 tbsp kosher salt per 4 pounds of turkey
Optional: dried herbs of your choosing
Pat dry turkey and loosen skin from meat.
Rub salt (and herbs if using) between skin and meat, inside bird, and on outside of skin.
Place in plastic bag and place in refridgerator.
On the second day, flip the bird.
Third day, pat dry and cook with your preferred method.
