How to Dry Brine a Turkey for the Juiciest Bird

Thanksgiving planning often starts with the turkey. There are questions that immediately emerge: How much turkey should I buy? What’s the best way to cook a turkey? And should I brine the bird? If so, wet brine or dry brine? Our opinion: You should always dry brine your roast turkey. It’s the key to making sure your bird is super flavorful and moist. Even ig you’re hosting Thanksgiving for the first time, fear not! This recipe teaches you how to dry-brine a turkey like a pro, so that you can serve an impeccably juicy and crispy bird without any stress.

Dry brining, or pre-salting, is simply rubbing salt, seasonings, and/or sugar directly onto the meat and skin, and then letting the meat rest in the refrigerator for a period of time before cooking. Unlike a wet brine, this method does not involve any water.

Salt pulls out meat juices through osmosis. Then, the salt dissolves into the juices, essentially turning into a “natural” brine even though there isn’t any added liquid. In time, the seasoned juices are reabsorbed into the meat and starts breaking down tough muscle proteins, resulting in juicy, tender, seasoned meat. The larger the piece of meat, the more time is needed for the brine to be effective.

A whole turkey needs one to three days of brining time, so the dry-brining can be done in the quiet days before Thanksgiving Day madness sets in.

Dry brined turkey sits uncovered in the fridge to dry out the skin for incredibly crispy, golden-brown skin on the roasted bird. If you’re worried that space in your fridge will be tight and other foods might bump up against the turkey, cover loosely with plastic wrap or foil and just pat the skin dry right before you cook it.

With a dry brine, just mix the salt and spices, rub it on the meat, throw it in the fridge, and you’re done! You can basically forget about it until you’re ready to cook the turkey. A wet brine adds a moisture but can be impractical since it requires a container big enough to hold a submerged turkey and space in your fridge to store it.

Dry-brining can be done on anything big enough to hold the turkey, such as a roasting pan or sheet pan.

• Pick the right turkey. Avoid “kosher,” “self-basting,” and “enhanced” turkeys which already contain added salt. If your turkey’s label does not list any pretreatment or added salt, then you’re in the clear to dry brine.
• Thawed is best. Start with a thawed turkey so that you can separate the meat from the skin and apply the dry brine directly to the meat. (Try this recipe for roasting a frozen turkey if your bird is still frozen on Thanksgiving Day.)
• Whole or cut-up turkeys can be brined. The brining process is the same for whole turkeys, bone-in turkey breasts and a spatchcocked (or butterflied) turkeys. In our photos below, we’re showing how we dry brine a spatchcocked turkey.
• It matters where the brine goes. Separate the skin from the meat so that you can rub the brine directly into the meat and onto the skin. Turkey breasts are thicker than the legs, so make sure to put extra dry brine there.
• Plan for brining time. Give the brine time to work its way into the meat. Although you can cook a dry-brined turkey after one day, giving it three days yields a much more tasty bird.
• Use any cooking method. Once your turkey is brined, you can choose whatever method you like for cooking it: traditional oven-roasting, deep-frying, or even grilling.