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!
I’m about to attemt this on two, yes.. Two.. 13lb turkeys. This is my first thanksgiving dinner- EVER, and I’m terrified. I’ve never hosted thanksgiving before, and I’m about to cook for 40 people on my first attempt at hosting a holiday. Wish me luck!!
Any sage advice for a first-time Holiday host?
I’ve decided to go with your dry-brine turkeys, cranberries, pork sausage and apple stuffing and make-ahead mashed potatoes. (Thank you for making these things sooo much easier on me!)
Thanks!
This year, I’m thankful for Nagi!! 🙂
Don’t stress Jen! OK so here’s my advice – if you have 2 turkeys, I assume you have 2 ovens to cook them in. In which case there’e no major adjustments to make. They key is to CHECK THE INTERNAL TEMP! Check every 30 minutes if it’s quite different to the required temp then more frequently as it gets closer. That’s the only tip I have, because honestly, if you have a meat thermometer, it will be a breeze. The turkey will stay juicy and warm for a long while after you take them out of the oven so don’t stress about that. 🙂 Just make sure you take them out when the internal temp is right! N xx
It turned out amazing and you are my hero! Sooooo yummy and moist- and i failed at estimating time for 2-13lb birds to thaw, and brined only 2 and 1/2 days: it was amazeballs!
That’s so terrific to hear Jen Se!!!! Thanks for taking the time to let me know – N x ❤️
FYI, 1/4 of the recipe works great for roast chicken lol! Did that last week.
Definitely doing this again but only buying one turkey!
Great tip Jen, thank you!! N x
Can I use this recipe for a 8lb Turkey Breast?
Yes! Just hover your cursor over the servings and slide the scaler until the weight of the turkey becomes the breast you are using. Then start checking the internal temperature at 1 hr 15 minutes 🙂 N x
Thanks
Hi Karen – yes you absolutely can! Start checking the internal temperature at around 1.5 hours, which is probably when you’ll need to cover with foil to stop growing too much. 🙂
Hi Nagi – I’m going to try your recipe this year for Thanksgiving. Does the salt need to be wiped off before you brush the butter on? I’m planning on having a 25 lb turkey and it seems like a lot of salt that will be used. Should I use less?
Hi Jane! I think for a 25 lb turkey, I would reduce it down to 4 tablespoons. Thanks for the question – we don’t get turkey that large here in Australia, I’ll add a note. My logic is that the surface area and meat thickness of turkey doesn’t increase proportionally to the weight 🙂 The salt melts and excess salt will drip off, then there should not be any visible salt on the turkey skin. If the skin is wet, pat dry and in doing this excess salt will come off. Hope that helps!
Thank you Nagi for your quick response. I can’t wait to try it!!
Hi Nagi! Just wondering if you have any words of wisdom – I find that both this recipe and your beautiful brined roast chicken smoke like crazy in my oven. I’m guessing that it’s probably due to the butter? Is there anyway to fix this that you know of? I love the results of this process, but not the bit where all my guests think I’ve burned dinner! Thanks in advance, Beck
Hi Beck! It sounds like there is fat on the heating element 🙂 I’d do a bit of a google about that. I had the same problem when I had fat splatters on the grill / broiler heating elements. Crazy smoke everywhere!!
Thanks heaps, I’ll look into that!
I tried this recipe and it was the BEST turkey EV-ER!! We use to eat turkey once in a blue moon (due to dryness), but now that might change because of this recipe!
Fantastic to hear you enjoyed it Judy, thanks for letting me know! N xx
Best turkey I have ever eaten! I followed your incredibly helpful timeline to serve for Christmas lunch and ate an alarming amount of it. I probably could have taken mine out of the oven 20-30 minutes earlier (I have a crazy hot oven), but it was still juicy and tender and tasted amazing. Served with your cranberry sauce and your quickly reheated mini potato gratin stacks, sweet potato and rocket salad and a couple of other sides. The only thing I didn’t make was the gravy, as I decided to do Jamie Oliver’s Get Ahead Gravy so that I didn’t have to worry about actually cooking anything else on the day! This was the most relaxed Christmas cooking period I’ve ever had thanks to your wonderful blog – thank you so much and I wish you all the best and happy cooking in 2017! x
WOO HOO!!! HIGH FIVE Beck! I’m so thrilled to hear that!! Oooh, and thank you for the tip for a Get Ahead Gravy, I will do one next year! 😉 N xx
P.S. I clicked 5 stars, not 4!!!!!! Sorry. I’d give it 6 if I could.
Hi Nagi,
I cooked this recipe today and it was perfection!! I have tried several different ways of cooking turkey over the years, but this was hands down the best method I have ever come across. I have to be honest, I was scared that it wouldn’t be cooked all the way through, however, I decided to be brave and follow the recipe exactly. It was utterly delicious. I will only ever use this method. Thank you for such clear and concise directions and especially for providing cooking inspiration!! What a wonderful site this is and what a giving person you are.
YES YES YES!!! I am SO THRILLED that you enjoyed this Lisa! It’s definitely my favourite way of making whole roast turkey 🙂 Thank you so much for letting me know 🙂 I’m honoured to have been a small part of your Christmas! N xx
Hi Nagi,
Oh my! I cooked my first ever roast turkey using your recipe for Xmas eve family lunch yesterday and it was amazing. So easy, delicious and looked spectacular too. We all loved it. Thank you so much and have a wonderful Xmas and new year.
WOO HOO!!!! I’m SO HAPPY to hear that Justine! Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and let me know. 🙂 Merry Christmas to you too!! N xx
Does it make a difference what kind of roasting pan I use?
Hi Theresa! No really, just use one that is large enough!
Hi Nagi.
I have a 4.1 kg self basting turkey. Will this method still work & if so, do I need to adjust the salt & cooking times?
Thanks so much ?
Hi Jo! I’m guessing you are in Australia because I’ve seen them everywhere! Seems to be the latest thing 🙂 So I checked the ingredients of the ones at Harris Farms, Coles and Woolies. They’ve all been pre-brined probably in salted water given that they are all saying around 94% turkey i.e. the rest is water, salt etc. Which means it’s already brined. Effectively a wet version of this. So nope, you don’t need to do anything to it, this recipe is for plain turkey. 🙂 N x
my turkey is salted, so do I use this recipe without salt, and follow the rest of the directions?
I think I have the answer, I need to get an unsalted turkey, as per another chat. So thank you anyway. I’ll have to try it another time.
Hi Mary Jo! Yes, Note 2 🙂 N x
Sure am Nagi & it’s from Woolies. Darn I really wanted to give your recipe a try, looks delish (as with all your food). There is always next year! Merry Xmas ?
I promise it’s worth it!! Big difference in flavour between home dry brining and store bought wet brine 🙂 I added notes in the recipe for making gravy with the Self Basting Turkey if you’re after it. Merry Christmas! N xx
Hi Nagi..
So, I made this turkey last night… long story short, the only leftovers were the carcass and the wings! ??? Thanks for a GREAT recipe! ??
WOO HOO! I’m so thrilled to hear that, THANK YOU for letting me know! N xx
Hi Nagi
I’m cooking this for Christmas day, I can’t wait for my once a year treat and I’m excited to try your delicious looking dry brining recipe! I just wanted to check with you to get the brining times right. If Xmas is on a Sunday, do you start the brining process on Thursday 22 to give it a full 72hours?
thanks!
Hi Chrissy! Thanks for the question, I’ve added a Note 9 to the recipe with the timeline! I hope it helps 🙂 One for Christmas Day lunch and one for dinner, one starting on Thursday evening and another for Friday morning. Take your pick! And don’t stress too much, this recipe is forgiving with brining times. I’ve provided the optimal brining times but it still works great a day on either side! 🙂
I would like to thank you for the great recipe! My turkey turned out great! We had 2 turkeys at our supper and mine was the only one that got eaten up. A couple of people who hate turkey said this was the best turkey they have ever had. For some reason it took 2 hrs 45 min for it to cook though. I have an electric oven though and only could brine it for 2 days. Thanks!
Woo hoo! I’m so thrilled to hear that, thanks for letting me know Belinda! Or should I say – Turkey Queen? 😉
Hi Nagi, I have a question about the roasting time instructions. You say to add 15 minutes for each additional pound/2 kg. It is supposed to be for each 2 pounds/1 kg instead?
The 10lb one is 2 hours; the 12 lb once is 2 hours 15 min; looks like you’ve only added 15 minutes even though there is an extra 2 pounds.
Total roasting time (including initial 30 minutes at high temperature) by weight:
10lb/5kg – 2 hrs, 12lb/6kg – 2 hrs 15 min,14lb/7kg – 2 hrs 30 min, 16lb/8kg – 2 hrs 45min. Add an extra 15 minutes for each pound / 2 kg.
Yikes, typo. 🙂 The “2” should be in front of the “pound”!! It’s 15 minutes for each extra 2 pounds. Thanks for picking that up!!
I’ve never dry brined before but I couldn’t find my stock pot and randomly found this method. What I like about it is that I didn’t have to go out and buy any spices. I had my 10Lb turkey thawed already and so this worked out well. I finally got it brining today at 2pm so that means it will only brine for 2 days. Will it still work?
Hi Belinda! 3 days is ideal but even 2 days is going to be GREAT. 🙂 So it will definitely work, just not quite to the extent of 3 days. But I’ve made this brining for only 2 days and it was FAB!
Hi Nagi-
Thank you for maintaining this wonderful site. Please let me know if this technique is going to be too salty if i use 5 tsp table salt and 11 tsp kosher salter for a 11lb bird. I misread your recipe 🙁
Oh no oh no! I would wipe off most of the salt right now 🙂 I am confident you can salvage this if you do it now!!! Just estimate wiping off roughly half the salt. Don’t worry! We can DO THIS! <3 N xx
It’s been about 12 hrs now. I think I’ve ruined it. There isn’t much salt to wipe off. I soaked a towel and wiped it down.
12 hours isn’t too long for a turkey, I think you might be ok 🙂 When you wiped the moisture off you would have gotten most of the melted salt off. 🙂 Don’t stress! I am honestly pretty confident you’ll be fine. My only tip is to be careful making the gravy, the drippings in the pan may be a bit too salty for the gravy. Take a taste test, if it is super salty, make the gravy from scratch without using the drippings. Grab the recipe from my Cajun Turkey recipe, the gravy recipe made from scratch using butter, not drippings, is in the notes 🙂
Hi Nagi! I so love your site. I have made many of your recipes and they have all been wonderful. Going to try this dry brine turkey this year. Just moved to italy and have a forced fan oven now. Still learning how to work it and it has so many controls like grill or just fan or conventional. What control would be best for this turkey?
Hi Misty! Fan is what I use, I find the heat circulates nice and evenly. I’m so glad you’re enjoying my recipes, thanks for letting me know! N x
Nagi, I would like to find a way to add stuffing to this-maybe as dressing, like with the Cajun recipe? What do you think? Can that be worked out?
Hi Rebecca! Because this is roasted uncovered, I would add the dressing with about 1 hour to go. Just pack it around the turkey like with the Cajun recipe. Quite handy actually because you can make the dressing while the turkey starts roasting. You could absolutely stuff it inside too, though I must admit it’s been a long time since I did that!
I’m thinking of making your crock pot turkey breast but I also have dark meat lovers so will have to do whole turkey as well. I usually buy Trader Joe’s brined fresh turkey…can I still do this recipe???? Also for 15 adults (including 3 young children ages 3-7)..If using 5lb breast….how many pounds whole turkey???? I like leftovers….Thanks
On second thought maybe I’ll buy Kosher Turkey not previously brined….other may be over kill Brine????? Your thoughts???
Hi Lyn! I really prefer using un-brined turkey because I’ve been scarred by frozen turkey that is over brined to the point that the texture is more like HAM than turkey! But this can be made with brined turkey, though I would cut the salt in half. 🙂 And I would totally trust Trader Joe’s brined turkey! I personally prefer to roast whole turkey’s, slow cooker just isn’t the same, have a look at my easy Dry Brined Whole turkey. 🙂 I really recommend using this for breast. N x
Maybe we didn’t understand each other. I am planning to cook your DRY BRINED WHOLE TURKEY Plus slow cooker turkey breast…Are you suggesting NOT to bother with slow cooker turkey breast at all???? Thanks
Hi Lyn! So for 15 adults (you said including 3 kids, or did you mean in addition to?), I budget around 8 – 10 oz / 250 – 300g uncooked turkey per head (this is generous). This shrinks by about 15 – 20% after cooking. So for 15 adults, I would err on the side of caution and get around 10lb / 5kg of turkey. You’ll probably have leftovers, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. 🙂