This is the only way I roast a whole turkey – dry brined with a seasoned salt. The flesh is juicy, the skin is golden, it’s simple, practical and foolproof. You can even start it while the turkey is still frozen – it brines as it thaws. Forget buckets of liquid brine!
2024 Roast Turkey timetable
Sunday 24 November – Thaw: Place frozen turkey in fridge to start thawing.
Tuesday 26 November – Rub: Apply the rub in the morning (or evening, if you’re doing Thanksgiving dinner). Don’t worry if the turkey is still partially frozen inside, it will brine/finish thawing at the same time. Brine 48 hours.
Wednesday 27 November – Flip turkey.
Thursday 28 November (🍁Thanksgiving🍁) – Roast and enjoy!
What you need to know
10 years ago, dry brining was still relatively unknown but these days it’s a pretty broadly known fact that dry brining yields superior results to wet brining as well as being far more practical.
Because I want to arm you with everything you need to make the ultimate perfect roast turkey, this is a fairly long post, covering off on (hopefully!) all your questions. So starting off with a summary:
Summary:
Brining is the path to moist turkey flesh
Dry brining is far more practical and easier than wet brining (ie buckets of salty liquid)
It’s superior in flavour because the flesh doesn’t get bloated with water
Partially thawed turkey can be dry brined – handy!
Brine time:
1 day (bare minimum, emergency situation. Much better than not brining)
2 days (ideal)
3 days – meat is a little more salted
4 days (extra day adds nothing and I worry about food safety)
Works with turkey breast (2 days)
Start turkey roast upside down for extra juicy breast
Roast turkey cook time 12 minutes per 500g / 1 lb (brined turkey cooks faster)
Cooked internal temperature – 75°C / 165°F using a meat thermometer inserted between leg and thigh
Served with turkey gravy or Cranberry Sauce
Juicy Roast Turkey Guide!
This is a long post, to arm those who are new to roasting turkey with all the information they need. For the experienced, you can skip straight to the recipe or the section you are interested in!
- What you Need To Know
- Brining is the path to JUICY Roast Turkey!
- Why Dry Brining is best
- Thawing times & methods
- Cook times
- Internal temperature of cooked turkey (and how to do it)
- How to make dry brined Juicy Roast Turkey
- How I Style the Turkey Platter
- How to Carve Turkey
- To Stuff or Not to Stuff?
- Cranberry Sauce or Gravy?
- Jump to Recipe
Brining = JUICY Roast Turkey
I think we can all agree that there is nothing more devastating than labouring for hours over the Thanksgiving or Christmas table centrepiece only to find that it’s dry – especially the breast meat. Even drowning it in gravy can’t completely compensate.
And in this day and age, there’s pretty much full consensus amongst all the greatest food authorities of the world that brining is the path to Juicy Roast Turkey. It doesn’t matter how much butter you use, whether you roast upside down, spin it around, baste 50 times – if you don’t brine, your turkey won’t be as moist.
Full stop. End of story!!
Take a close look at the turkey slice below – look how juicy it is!!!
What is brining?
Brining is the method whereby meat (turkey, in this case) is soaked in a salty water mixed with aromatics like bay leaves, peppercorns and garlic for a couple of days. This has the effect of trapping moisture in the flesh while it roasts, yielding super juicy turkey.
The method of soaking turkey in a giant bucket of salty water is called wet brining. Dry brining has the same effect, but is done by rubbing the turkey with a seasoned salt then left to “marinate” for a couple of days before roasting.
Dry brining is easier, more effective and tastier than wet brining!
Why dry brining is best
Wet Brining is more well known than Dry Brining. While both methods will yield a juicy roast turkey, there are a number of very important advantages of dry brining:
1. No mopping – I guarantee if you’re manhandling a bucket large enough for a 6 kg / 12 lb turkey AND bringing solution, there will be mopping involved at some stage…. Not to mention the question of whether your fridge has space for said bucket!! (Note: If you’re determined to wet brine, use your vegetable crisper! Genius idea from TheKitchn.)
2. The turkey tastes like turkey. Not water. One of the grievances of wet brining is that while the turkey is moist, the moisture tastes bland – not like turkey. Which makes sense, right? The turkey sucks in the brine and unless it is heavily flavoured with broth, the turkey is sucking in largely flavourless liquid. Whereas with dry brining, the turkey releases its own juices then sucks its own juices back in. Turkey on turkey flavour!
3. The roasting juices aren’t too salty to use for gravy. Another problem many people have with wet brined turkey is that the roasting juices can be too salty to use for gravy. You can compensate by plonking in raw potatoes into the gravy to suck out the salt, but….it’s just one more thing you can avoid by using dry brining!
4. You can start brining while the turkey is still partially frozen. It takes 3 days – yes, 3 WHOLE days – to defrost a 10 pound / 5kg turkey in the fridge. Whereas with this recipe I’m sharing, I accelerate the partial defrosting of the turkey in cold water then it finishes defrosting WHILE it is brining.
5. It roasts faster. It takes 1 hour 45 minutes to roast a 5.5 kg / 10 lb turkey. Compared to 2 1/2 hours for un-brined turkey.
Before we roast, we brine. And before we brine, we must thaw!
Turkey THAWING
A frozen turkey is a formidable block of ice that takes days to thaw. So you must factor this into your turkey-feasting timeline!
Thaw in fridge (long thaw) – allow 24 hours for every 1.5 – 2 kg / 3 – 4 lb of turkey (my 5.5 kg/11 lb turkey took 3 days)
Fast thaw in water – 30 minutes per 500g / 1 lb. Turkey needs to be in a leak proof bag / wrapping. Submerge in large sink of water, keep it submerged. Change water every 30 minutes.
Partially frozen turkey can be brined!
DRY BRINE CAN BE APPLIED WITH PARTIALLY THAWED TURKEY. You just need the turkey skin to be thawed enough to rub the salt in. Then brining + thawing will occur at the same time.
Cook times for turkey in the oven
How long to cook turkey in the oven:
- 5kg / 10 lb: 1 hr 45 min – 2 hrs
- 6 kg / 12 lb: 2 hrs 15 min
- 7kg / 14 lb: 2 hrs 30 min
- 8 kg / 16 lb: 2 hrs 45min
These are the cook times for a dry brined turkey (loosely stuffed with herbs and garlic) which cooks faster than un-brined turkey. Add an extra 15 – 20 minutes if your turkey is stuffed.
This is the total roasting time, including initial 30 minutes at high temperature. It works out at around 12 minutes per 500g / 1 lb.
Internal temperature of cooked turkey
75C / 165F using a meat thermometer inserted between the leg and the breast (see photo below for point to insert). This is the USDA recommended internal cooked temperature of turkey.
How to take the internal temperature?
Take the temperature of the turkey straight out of the oven. Insert the thermometer between the leg and the breast. Insert straight down until you hit bone, then pull back a bit. Hold still until the temperature registers on your thermometer and stays at the internal temperatures specified above.
How to make juicy roast turkey
I promised you easy, and easy you shall have! Here’s a rundown on the recipe:
Rub with a simple seasoned salt mixture – salt, thyme, paprika, garlic powder and pepper;
Wrap like a mummy in cling wrap (holds in all those juices!) and refrigerate for 2 days;
Stuff with herbs, garlic and pour in a good slosh of butter;
Slather with butter then roast upside down for 30 minutes (get those juices pooling in the breast);
Roast right side up for 45 minutes;
Baste with Garlic Herb Butter then roast for a further 30 minutes. (I do this at this stage to avoid burnt garlic-herb bits on the turkey)
When the internal temperature is reached (see section above), the most important thing to do is to rest the turkey for 30 minutes. This gives the turkey a chance to relax the fibres (ie more tender meat) and even more importantly, the juices get sucked back into the flesh (equals even juicier meat!).
Styling the turkey platter
Even if the turkey is only on the platter for a fleeting moment before being whisked away to be carved, I still feel like it’s worth making a wee bit of an effort so the turkey can have it’s moment spotlight.
While many opt for herb garnishes, I have a thing about making everything on a platter edible. So I create a bed of green leafage – watercress in this case (cheap, right shape, nice to “fan out” around edges) – with pops of colour from orange wedges (also for those creatures who like fruit with meat) and cranberries (thawed frozen ones).
How to Carve Turkey
I had ambitions to include a video of how to carve turkey, but doing such a video by yourself proved to be somewhat of a challenge. Turkey juice squirting everywhere, greasy hands, the challenge of new cameras and most frustrating, the hot breath of a fur ball under the table panting with excitement at the mere experience of being so close to such a giant hunk of meat.
Said video was a total fail. Will attempt again next year. In the meantime – this video is a good tutorial. 🙂
To Stuff or Not to Stuff?
Stuffed turkey = overcooked turkey because in order for the stuffing inside the turkey to reach a safe eating internal temperature of 75C / 165F, the turkey meat around it needs to go to a higher temperature, meaning it is overcooked and dry.
This turkey is not stuffed with stuffing, just with garlic, herbs and a good slosh of melted butter (which does all sorts of good things to the breast when roasted upside down).
No thanks! Besides, stuffing baked separately SO much more delicious – here’s my all time favourite Stuffing recipe!
Cranberry Sauce or Gravy?
Why choose? Serve BOTH! Cranberry Sauce keeps for ages – make it well in advance.
As for gravy…. it’s not an option around these parts. My view is that it’s criminal to to waste those pan juices and NOT make a gravy! So this roast turkey recipe includes gravy!
What to serve with Turkey
A classic centrepiece for holiday occasions like Thanksgiving and Christmas, here are my favourite sides to serve with turkey!
Thanksgiving sides for Turkey
Christmas sides for Turkey
So here’s my recipe for the Juicy Roast Turkey made by dry brining. It is based on this recipe from the LA Times which has a cult following – with good reason! I’ve added extra tips and tricks to help make this a breeze for you.
I have a feeling this Thanksgiving is going to be your BEST EVER!!! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
Here’s the recipe video for the Juicy Roast Turkey. See below for gravy!
And here’s the video for the turkey gravy:
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Juicy Roast Turkey
Ingredients
- 10 lb / 5kg whole turkey , thawed (plain not pre brined) (Note 1)
Dry Brine Salt Rub:
- 2 1/2 tbsp kosher salt / cooking salt (Note 2)
- 2 tsp dried thyme , or other herb of choice
- 1 tsp paprika , sweet or ordinary
- 1 tsp garlic powder (optional)
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
For Roasting
- 2 heads of garlic , halved horizontally (ie 4 halves)
- 1 onion , halved – skin on is fine (brown, yellow, white)
- 2 small bunch mixed herbs , sage, rosemary, thyme, parsley (optional, Note 3)
- 10 tbsp (150g) unsalted butter , melted
- 1 tbsp (in total) sage, rosemary and thyme , finely chopped – equal amounts of each (Note 3)
- 3 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 1/2 cups dry white wine , or water (Note 4)
- Salt & pepper
Gravy (~ 4 cups/1L)
- 4 cups chicken broth / stock , low sodium
- 5 tbsp flour , plain / all purpose
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
RECIPE SUMMARY:
- Rub turkey with the Salt Rub, wrap mummy-like in cling wrap. Fridge 48 hrs, flipping halfway. Stuff, roast upside down 30min in hot 220°C/425°F (200°C fan) oven, flip, garlic-herb-butter baste, finish roasting in lower oven 165°C/325°F (150°C fan).
FULL RECIPE
Dry Brining Preparation
- Salt Rub: Mix together the Rub ingredients.
- Prep Turkey: Pat the turkey dry with paper towels, inside and out. Remove giblets or anything else inside the turkey. (Note 5)
- Sprinkle: Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of the Salt Rub inside the turkey and use you hand to spread it (roughly is fine). Turn the turkey upside down, then rub 1 teaspoon of the Salt Rub on the underside.
- Turn the turkey upright and rub the remaining Salt Rub on the turkey, using most on the breast – even some under the skin if you can.
- Wrap turkey mummy-like in lots of cling wrap (works best, I find) or place the turkey in a sealable plastic bag (Note 6).
Brining (Note 7):
- Place turkey upside down in baking pan. Refrigerate 2 days (minimum) up to 3 days (4 days adds nothing, I find).
- 24 hours later: Flip turkey so it's right side up.
- 24 (to 48 hours) later: unwrap turkey. The skin should be moist but not wet. If wet, pat dry. Leave out for 30 min before roasting.
Prepare for roasting:
- Preheat oven to 220°C/425°F (200°C fan-forced)
- Prep for roasting: Place the onions and garlic in a roasting pan. Place a roasting rack on top – if you have one (Note 8 for sub).
- Stuff bunch of herbs + 2 garlic halves + 3 tbsp butter (45g) inside the turkey. Tie drumsticks together with kitchen twine (optional).
- Place turkey UPSIDE DOWN on the rack. Twist the wings so they are on top – see video. Brush with a bit of melted butter. Sprinkle with a tiny bit of salt and pepper.
- Wine – Pour wine in roasting pan.
Roasting:
- Roast for 30 minutes.
- Flip & brush – Use a tea towel to turn the turkey over so it's right side up. Brush with butter, sprinkle with a tiny bit of salt and pepper.
- Turn oven down to 165°C/325°F (150°C fan).
- Roast turkey 45 minutes.
- Garlic herb butter: Mix remaining butter with garlic and herbs. Brush turkey generously with butter.
- Roast turkey for a further 30 minutes or until a) the thermometer that comes with the turkey pops up; or b) a thermometer inserted between the breast and leg reads 165°F/75°C. (Notes 9, 10). Cover loosely with foil if browning too much.
- Rest: Remove turkey onto serving plate, cover loosely with foil and rest for 30 minutes before transferring to platter for presentation and carving (see in post for styling idea).
- Serve turkey with gravy and/or Cranberry Sauce.
Turkey Gravy
- Place roasting pan (with garlic, onion etc still in it) on the stove over medium high heat. Add flour and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add broth and use a potato masher to mash the onion and garlic into the mixture. Use a wooden spoon to scrap the bottom of the pan. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until thickened.
- Strain into a bowl, pressing down to extract all the flavour out of the onion and garlic. Transfer to gravy boat.
Recipe Notes:
* Fast thaw in water – 30 minutes per 500g / 1 lb. Turkey needs to be in a leak proof bag / wrapping. Submerge in large sink of water, keep it submerged. Change water every 30 minutes. Rub can be applied to partially thawed turkey as long as skin is pliable enough to rub salt in. I usually apply the rub after the turkey has been thawing in the fridge for 24 hours. Expect lots of juices from the thaw/brining process – ensure turkey is patted dry before roasting. As it brines, liquid may be red from blood from the inside of the turkey thawing – do not worry. Won’t affect end result at all. Do not rinse, just pat dry with paper towels. DO NOT:
* Use this recipe for “self basting” or pre marinated turkeys, will be too salty. Check ingredients or nutrition – if there’s salt or flavourings, the turkey has already been brined. Typically these include boxed and frozen turkeys at the supermarkets in Australia. **See HOW TO COOK PRE-BRINED TURKEY box below recipe.** 2. SALT – Use 1 tbsp salt for every 2 kg / 4 lb turkey. Use kosher / cooking salt. If using fine grain table salt, reduce by 1/4 tsp PER 1 tbsp of salt called for in the recipe. Do not use salt flakes (too hard to measure equivalent). 3. HERBS – I used an equal mix of sage, rosemary and thyme to make up 1 tbsp in total for basting partway through cooking. Can also use dried herbs of choice – use 2 tsp. Doesn’t sound like much but we don’t want to put herbs on the skin until partway though cooking otherwise it just burns. So by the time we baste with the herb butter, there’s not much butter left. Just imparts a subtle fragrance more than anything, could even be skipped. Need one bunch to stuff inside the turkey, the other for the pan. 4. WINE – I use sauvignon blanc, pinot gris (I get discount wine for cooking). Any white wine is fine as long as it’s not too sweet or woody / oaky. 5. Giblets are a parcel of turkey offcuts that are usually stuffed inside the turkey and are used to make the gravy. It usually comprises of: neck, heart and liver. Use the neck and heart for turkey gravy. 6. BAG – you can get resealable bags in America that are big enough for turkey. But I’ve found that cling wrap is the most effective – keeps the brine right up against the turkey skin. 7. BRINE TIME: 48 hours (2 days) is my base recipe, 3 days also great (a bit more seasoned). Even overnight is better than not brining at all! I even did 4 days last year and it not any different to 3 days, from what I could tell. 8. RACK SUB: Need to keep turkey skin elevated out of liquid in pan. Get a long strip of foil, scrunch to make a thick “rope”. Loop to make a circle and secure. Place on top of onion, place turkey on top. Just need something to keep turkey a bit elevated off base of pan and the onion. If skin is in contact with onion when upside down, the skin will brown unevenly once you flip. 9. ROASTING TIME:
- 5kg / 10 lb: 1 hr 45 min – 2 hrs
- 6 kg / 12 lb: 2 hrs 15 min
- 7kg / 14 lb: 2 hrs 30 min
- 8 kg / 16 lb: 2 hrs 45min
How to cook pre-brined turkey
If you went to use this recipe only to realise you have a pre-brined turkey (see Note 1 in recipe), do not use this recipe as the brining will make your turkey too salty. Instead, make this recipe as follows:
- Add better flavour – Make the Herb Garlic Butter in this Roasted Turkey Breast but only use 1/4 of the salt. Scale the recipe to your turkey weight – click on servings and slide until the turkey weight changes to the weight of your turkey. (Yeah, it’ll be a lot of butter! You can scale down if you want 🙂 ). Watch the video to see how I loosen the skin, then slather about 2/3 of the butter under the skin.
- Flip turkey then rub just a bit of butter on the underside sprinkle with salt and pepper,. Roast per this recipe for 30 minutes on higher temp.
- Flip turkey right side up then slather skin with 1/2 of the remaining butter sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast per this recipe for 45 min, then slather with remaining butter. Roast to finish cooking per this recipe. ,Voila!
Life of Dozer
That turkey leg is the size of his head!
Your photos are just beautiful.
Thank you for the compliment Nancy! I find shooting big hunks of meat very challenging, so it means a lot!!! N x
Hi Nagi, I’m always so impressed with the thoroughness of your research into and explanation of recipes. Sometimes I read them just to learn even though I will probably never cook the recipe. I’ve never cooked a whole turkey because I always thought it was too hard. I said that about glazed ham too, but you got me successfully through that one last year! It’s also usually hot in Australia on Christmas Day , as you would know, so we tend to have cooler foods like seafood and salads. I must say, though, I’m tempted to give this a go under your tutelage. Thanks again for your mammoth efforts! You definitely make cooking well easy!
Thank you for the compliment Donna! I find that when I write up my recipes, I’m downloading all the information that I’ve gathered for myself anyway, so I feel like I’m just sharing the information that I wanted to know for myself 🙂 To be honest, I am with you – we only roast a whole turkey if we’re having Christmas somewhere where it’s air conditioned / not expecting crazy hot weather. Otherwise, we opt for slow cooker turkey (if we’re having it!) . Otherwise, we tend to mainly do seafood and HAM!
I’ve never brined a turkey b4 N. When I do, then I will use your recipe.
I always cook my turkey like Deborah does, except I use canola oil cuz I can’t have butter anymore. I put some spices underneath the skin for extra flavor and alittle bourbon with water on the bottom of pan too. Flipping a 20 lb turkey is not fun by yourself! 😂
I also smoke a turkey on my grill a couple of times in the summer too! I buy a few on sale during the holidays and freeze them.
Now my mouth is watering! I have yet to even eat a fried turkey. I heard they are the best! I bought a turkey fryer and then read about people burning their garage or even house down, so it stayed in it’s box!😂 Now they have fryers that don’t use oil, but I paid so much for the other one…will think about it.
Happy Thanksgiving to Dozer, your family and you of course! 🍗
I don’t see a turkey emoji…I need to update it. 😱
OMG you’d need to call the army in to skip a 20 pounder!! 😂 I am yet to do fried turkey too – I would love to, one day!!! Loved reading people’s different roasting methods, I want to give Deborah’s method a go! N x
I’ve used that method for years and it always comes out so juicy and tender! No wonder my parents are so spoiled eating my turkey that they claim everyone else’s is dry…mostly my Dad tells me that. 😂
My Mom can’t have alot of salt and my Dad isn’t suppose to either, so it makes me alittle bit leary of brining a turkey. That’s why I haven’t yet.
As the saying goes,”why fix it, if it’s not broken.” J x
can this dry brine also be used on a turkey breast?
ABSOLUTELY! 2 day brine, don’t go any longer 🙂
I trust you,I will use your recepie for Christmas day.
Thank you very much,you are great!
Thank you for the compliment Elena! Haven’t even started on Christmas yet….. 🙂 N x
What an amazing round-up of Thanksgiving information! Thanks from Utah!
Hello from Sydney!! I was in Utah earlier this year, what a beautiful state. Happy Thanksgiving! N x
Thanks for this video Nagi and thanks for all the work you do so we can see what you do. I for one am a visual person and just reading a recipe doesn’t do it for me so thanks again. I must try this for our next turkey dinner. Being a Canadian (you probably know that) our Thanksgiving is in October so maybe this will get done for Christmas.
Love your pictures of Dozer too. He looks so ‘hard’ done for. hehe
Every year since I started this blog, I keep forgetting Canadian Thanksgiving !! 😩 I’m so sorry! PS I had poutines on Friday 🙂 We had markets and there was a poutine food truck!!
When I saw the question at the top, cranberry sauce or gravy?, I was like BOTH! There is no question. Glad you cleared that up later on😉. I looooove turkey. My mom made it multiple times a year…Christmas. Easter, my birthday and Thanksgiving…so lucky! And all those yummy sandwiches to follow. I’ve only made one a few times, once under my mother’s direct tutelage and then another time on the BBQ. I’ve got one in the freezer right now so must try your method. Poor Dozer, I hope he got that drumstick after the photo and you weren’t just teasing him😉. He’s a very good boy.
I figure there are people in both camps – just do both!!! (OK yes…. I peeled back the garlicky butter skin and gave him plenty of that drumstick!!!)
Nagi, my b/f and I have roasting a turkey down to a science. We have found if you roast the turkey upside down for almost the entire cooking time, and only flip it to brown & crisp up the skin, you will have a turkey that is SO INCREDIBLY JUICY, you wont believe it!
To further aid in getting a juicy bird, I will make an herb butter, slather the turkey with it ( incl under the skin) and will also cover the turkey in bacon (streaky bacon), and let the fat render out over the bird & flavor the pan juices. Once the bacon is crisp, remove from the turkey and being basting with the pan juices. The bacon is now flavored by the herb butter & the turkey, and makes an incredible snack while the turkey continues to roast.
Happy TG Everyone!
OMG Deborah…. OMG!!!! I have a question – does the skin brown / crisp up enough with a shorter cook time?? That was always my concern about the upside down method. I get the logic but I thought that would compromise on the skin too much. PS You might see this turkey on here next year… 😂 I will credit you! N x
Hi Nagi! YES, the skin does brown and crisp up. To aid it along, after I flip the bird right side up, I baste it with the pan drippings again, and let it brown away for 30 to 45 mins.
I’ve never had to do this, BUT if the skin isn’t browning or crisping enough, turn on the broiler and within 5 or so minutes, the skin should crisp up nicely. If you do this, do not walk away or you could end up with burnt turkey!
Funny story to go along with how we found out the turkey should cook upside down almost the entire time. I have been doing Thanksgiving for years, and always cooked the turkey upside down for a portion of the cook time. One year, my boyfriend took over the turkey cooking duties (I did all the prep work) and he had didn’t realize he had the turkey flipped with the breast side down. When he was taking it out of the oven the underside of the turkey was a lovely golden brown. I had to tell him the turkey was upside down. He was SO upset with himself (as he thought he ruined our dinner) he felt like throwing the turkey out our kitchen window and threatened to do so. I stopped him from doing that, and calmly told him, just flip the turkey over, put it back into brown for 30 minutes and check on it. Of course it was beautiful and I have to tell you the best turkey EVER! So juicy and tender – OMG it was GOOD.
For my herb butter, it is similar to yours but I a bit more basic. Rosemary, thyme and sage (I prefer fresh herbs for this), and ground black pepper is my basic. I hate to do this to you, but I don’t measure but I would say about 2 teaspoons or so up to a tablespoon depending on the amount of butter vs the size of the turkey, of each herb – pepper is to taste. I sometimes add finely grated lemon and orange zest. I will use a VERY high quality butter (Kerry Gold or Tillamook) – salted butter, so I don’t need to add salt. The quality of the butter DOES make a difference.
I would LOVE it if I saw this for your recipe next year! I have an entire T.G. set of recipes I routinely use and would be happy to share. They include roasted vegetable stuffing, cranberry sauce, roasted butternut squash with apple cider, and more! Feel free to email me directly – my email address is provided, so you should be able to see it.
Thank you Deborah! I may not be able to resist 🙂 The Roasted Vegetable stuffing definitely interests me! I am going to try your turkey method this Christmas I think!! N xx
Hi, Nagi,
Do you use table salt or kosher salt?
Thanks!
Donna
Hi Donna! Kosher 🙂 Thanks for the question, just updated! N x
A very impressive turkey tutorial. I was amazed how much you covered in your 1:51 minute video, nice one. Now, about brining, I’m with you dry is the only way to go and is exactly what we’ll be doing with our holiday goose.
Man you’d have to be really fast to get that image with our Chloe dog. Dozer looks like, “What’s that Mom?”.
Oh! You just answered a question a reader had about dry brining goose! Do you have a recipe on your site I can share with him??
No I don’t, but perhaps a post on cooking the Swedish goose is in order. I’ll be using the “prick, dip and dry brine method”, using salt and baking powder. Not my genius, it comes from the guys at Serious Eats.
I would LOVE to read that!
Also is this kosher salt or regular table salt
Hi Nagi
I can’t wait to try this for thanksgiving. Do you ever cover with aluminum foil at any point while cooking in the oven?
Thanks
Hi Noorah! I don’t for anything up to 14lb/7kg, but larger turkey’s probably need to be covered if they go too brown. Thanks for the tip, will update the recipe! N c
Sounds great. I will try, but REALLY want to slow roast it for longer at 225. What do you think. It will probably still cook faster instead of the usual 12 hours
Hi Christa! I’m afraid I haven’t tried slow roasting this in an oven but I am 99% confident it will work and in fact, it should yield an ultra juicy turkey. I have slow roasted wet brined turkey breast and it was fantastic so that’s why I’m sure this will work too 🙂
Hi Nagi,
I’m new to your site (thanks to a friend) but I have been loving it. I’m going to do the dry brined Turkey for our Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday. I have always wet brined (a pain, as you’ve stated) and I’m excited to try this new technique. My question is what type of salt do you use? For wet brine I’ve always used Kosher salt, but is table salt fine for the dry brine? I’m really excited to try this.
Hello Nagi!
I made this turkey recipe for one of my family gatherings and we all agreed that this was the best turkey I have made to date. I have been trying to make a moist tasty turkey and always felt like I never got there. I think I had tried an ove bag at the start, then for the past couple of year I have been using a wet brine. I deccided to try your dry brine since I have many other things to make and do and needed the fridge space!
This is the best turkey result I have had ever! The turkey was moist and tasty. I did add finely sliced orange peel to the butter and really loved that added dimension.bmaking the tasty gravy was just so easy as well!
Thank you Nagi for sharing so many of your delicious and straight forward recipes! So many of them have become keepers.
This was our first time ever having and making roast turkey for our Christmas lunch. I followed this recipe and dry brined it. My sister was making turkey for her in laws so she didn’t brine it as we wanted to see if we could notice a difference. The dry brined turkey was more tender, cooked quicker and evenly and looked like yours. We used your herb butter recipe and made gravy from pan juice. I’m not a turkey fan but this was so good. Thank you
Hi Nagi!
I just wanted to stop by and thank you for this awesome and easy recipe that I found through Pinterest!
I had to cook a turkey for the FIRST time for Friendsgiving and since I was hosting it at my home, it was only right that I cooked a turkey (that’s our tradition). I asked my friends their honest options and they thought the turkey was so good! They commented on how it wasn’t dry, and how moist and juicy it was! That made me happy to hear because I was really nervous about my first turkey and I didn’t want to over cook it.
I couldn’t find a frozen turkey that was 10lbs, so I was only able to get a 16lb turkey (in the US 😅) and later found out that my turkey was already seasoned. I read in the recipe to get a turkey that was not already brined. That made me worry more, but I took a risk and I still went ahead and followed the recipe. The only thing I did different was I rinsed the turkey a few times and I added less salt hoping the turkey won’t come out salty. It had just the right amount of salt and the gravy was delicious too!
I will be saving and using this recipe again and again in the future! Thanks again! 🙂
SO HAPPY TO HEAR THAT JEN!!! Thank you so much for letting me know! N xx
I followed your recipe above with my 10 lb. Diestel turkey and IT WAS THE BEST, MOST FLAVORFUL, JUICY turkey I have EVER made!! Usually, the turkey is “okay”, and I don’t really look forward to it because of that – but this year – DIFFERENT STORY! EVERYONE loved it and was raving about it!! Thanks so much for such a great recipe! Oh – i didn’t put mine in a plastic bag or flip it, and it still turned out GREAT!
That’s so terrific to hear Desi!!!! Thank you were sharing your feedback – N x ❤️
I really want to try this recipe! But my family bought a butterball turkey that contains an 8% solution of water salt and spicees, can I still make it can I just cut down on the salt?
Hi Sasha, if there’s salt in the ingredients then it’s already been brined i.e. it’s already done what this recipe does with the salt rub!! So you can skip the salt brining and go straight to the Prepare For Roasting section 🙂