Dry Brined Thanksgiving Turkey Recipes

Steps:

• For the turkey: Two days before cooking, combine the salt with the herbes de Provence, sumac and black pepper in a bowl. Rub all over the turkey, inside and out, and under the skin of the breast and legs where accessible, being careful to not tear the skin. Place on a sheet tray fitted with a rack or in a roasting pan fitted with a rack. Place in the refrigerator, uncovered, for 2 days.
• Bring the turkey out of the fridge 1 to 2 hours before cooking to temper.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Combine the butter, minced thyme and lemon zest in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Place the turkey on a work surface. Spread the butter under the skin of the turkey around the legs and breasts, as evenly as possible. Stuff the cavity with the quartered lemons, apple, shallots and sprigs of thyme. Tie the legs closed with kitchen twine. Place the onions, carrots, celery and garlic at the bottom of a roasting pan fitted with a rack. Place the turkey on the rack. Roast, basting every 30 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the leg (do not touch bone) reads 155 to 160 degrees F, 12 to 14 minutes per pound, or 2 to 3 hours. Allow the turkey to rest for 90 minutes.
• For the gravy: Meanwhile, strain the drippings and juices from the roasting pan into a bowl. Discard the vegetables. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk until the raw flavor is cooked off, about 2 minutes. Whisk in the cider vinegar and soy sauce for depth. Slowly whisk the strained drippings into the flour to avoid clumps. Simmer until the gravy just coats the back of a spoon, 5 to 7 minutes. (The gravy will not be a heavy thick gravy, but rather a light gravy.) Season to taste. Carve the turkey and serve with the gravy.

Steps:

• 1. PREP/PREPARE
• 2. Wet Brine: Wet brining has been around for hundreds of years, and moved from Europe to the United States about 75 years ago. The brining process helps the turkey (or whatever you're brining) retain moisture. The process dissolves muscle proteins, and when this happens, the fibers lose their ability to contract during the cooking process. If they can't contract, they can't squeeze out any moisture, which means a juicer bird. In addition, brining helps to season the meat before cooking. Wet brining will increase the water content of your bird, and decrease the amount of moisture due to the cooking process. However, that additional moisture is really nothing but water.
• 3. Adding Additional Spices to a wet brine: Well, in two words... Don't bother. Cell walls are semi permeable. If the pressure on one side of the wall is greater than the other, liquid will pass through to equalize the pressure... that's called osmosis. So, the higher concentration of salt solution in the brine interacts with the liquid on the other side of the cell wall, and since it's of higher concentration, it allows the liquid to pass through. In addition, because salt is a very small molecule some of the salt will also pass through the cell wall (membrane). But most spices are too big to pass through, so they wind up on the outside of the bird. Many brining recipes call for bringing in a number of aromatics-carrots, celery, onions, spices, and herbs. This makes the brine smell really good, but doesn't do much much beyond the skin.
• 4. The Bottom Line: Wet brining will increase the overall moisture of the bird, and will minimize the loss of moisture during the cooking process. It's a win-win situation, right? Well, not exactly. The additional moisture will be in the form of water; which dilutes the flavor of the turkey's original juices, and the breakdown of the fiber structure give the turkey a different mouth feel... almost like ham. If done correctly with exactly the right amount of salt, and the right temperature and time, wet brining can produce wonderful results. But, can we do better...
• 5. The Dry Brine: I will admit that it took me a bit of time to mentally work through the process of dry brining a bird. I was skeptical about the whole process... until I got into the science of the whole thing. Brining is not about a bunch of liquid; it's about concentration of elements, and in this case the primary element is salt... good old salt.
• 6. How Dry Brining Works: When you sprinkle salt on a body of a turkey, it will eventually draw moisture out and will mix with the salt solution. Then, over time the salt causes the muscle proteins to break down, and the moisture will be reabsorbed into the muscle fibers. As opposed to an 8-hour wet brine, dry brining takes up to 3 days. The brine will penetrate deeper, into the bird, and (if you're using them) bring some spices along for the ride. The Bottom Line: So, if you're not adding any additional liquid, how does this help... Good question. The dry brine will do several things: • It will flavor the natural juices of the bird without watering the whole thing down. • Because of the long process (3 days), it will penetrate deeper into the bird, and bring a few well-selected spices along for the ride. • The dry brine will not add more liquid; however, it will prevent most of the natural juices from escaping. I'm doing two birds this Thanksgiving: One with a traditional wet brine, and one with a dry brine... We'll see which one wins on Thursday.
• 7. THE DRY BRINE RECIPE
• 8. 1 tablespoon of kosher salt per 5 pounds turkey, and dry spices; ground up in a spice grinder until fine.
• 9. Chef's Note: The only additional spice that I use is dried oregano; however, you could use smoked paprika, ground bay leaf, some thyme, or rosemary... whatever suits your fancy.
• 10. Sprinkle the salt and spice mixture evenly over the bird.
• 11. Place the turkey in a sealable bag, and squeeze most of the air out, and wait 3 days.
• 12. Twice a day, open the bag and massage the salt mixture into the bird.
• 13. On the third day, remove from the bag and allow to air dry in the refrigerator for 8 hours.
• 14. Cook according to your best traditions, and baste with a bit of butter.
• 15. Chef's Note: A brined bird will cook faster than a non-brined bird by 20 percent or more.
• 16. Keep the faith, and keep cooking.

Steps:

• Two days before serving, rinse turkey and pat dry. Rub all over with kosher salt, slipping salt under skin where possible and rubbing some into cavities. Use about 1 tablespoon per 4 pounds of bird.
• Wrap bird in a large plastic bag and place in refrigerator. On second night, turn turkey over. A couple of hours before cooking, remove turkey from bag and pat dry. (There is no need to rinse it first.) Place in roasting pan and allow to come to room temperature.
• Heat oven to 450 degrees. Sprinkle half the pepper into main cavity of turkey; add thyme, parsley, half the onions and half the apples. Truss legs with kitchen twine. Put remaining apples and onions in neck opening and tuck neck skin under bird.
• Rub butter under breast skin and onto thigh meat. Sprinkle bird with remaining pepper.
• Roast for 30 minutes. Remove turkey from oven, reduce heat to 350 degrees and cover breast of bird and wing tips with foil. Add 1 1/2 cups white wine (or use water) to bottom of roasting pan and roast bird for another two hours, depending on size; figure 12 minutes a pound for an unstuffed bird. Remove foil in last half-hour so breast browns.
• When turkey has roasted for 2 hours, begin to test for doneness by inserting a meat thermometer (digital is best) into two places in thigh, making sure not to touch bone. It should be at about 160 degrees.
• When roasting is done, tip turkey so interior juices run back into pan. Remove turkey to a separate baking sheet or serving platter, cover with foil and then a damp kitchen towel and allow to rest for at least 30 minutes.
• Pour fat and drippings from pan into a measuring cup. Deglaze pan with 1/2 cup white wine (or use broth) and pour that into same measuring cup. Fat and drippings can then be used to make gravy.

Steps:

• Pat turkey dry with paper towels. Season the inside and outside of turkey with kosher salt, focusing on the breast and thighs. Place turkey, breast-side up, in the roasting pan and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate turkey for about 2 days.
• Flip turkey breast-side down, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about 1 more day.
• Remove plastic wrap and place turkey on a rack over a baking sheet the night before you plan to roast. Allow turkey to air-dry in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours.
• Bring turkey to room temperature, 1 to 2 hours; pat dry with paper towels. Season turkey with black pepper and place onion and celery in the cavity.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Place turkey, breast-side down, in a roasting pan.
• Roast in the preheated oven until skin is golden, about 30 minutes. Remove turkey from oven and flip to breast-side up. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C); continue roasting until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 165 degrees F (74 degrees C), about 2 hours.
• Transfer turkey to a large platter and loosely tent with aluminum foil; allow turkey to rest about 30 minutes before carving.

Steps:

• Two days before serving, rinse the turkey and pat dry. Rub all over with the salt, slipping salt under the skin where possible and rubbing some into the cavities; use about 1 tablespoon per every 4 pounds of bird. Put the bird in a large plastic bag and refrigerate.
• On the second night, turn the turkey over.
• A couple of hours before cooking, remove the turkey from the bag and pat dry.
• Put in a roasting pan and allow to come to room temperature.
• Preheat the oven to 450°F.
• Sprinkle half the pepper into the main cavity of the turkey and add the thyme, parsley, half the onions, and half the apples. Tie the legs together with kitchen twine. Put the remaining apples and onions in the neck opening and tuck the neck skin under the bird.
• Rub the butter under the breast skin and over the thigh meat. Sprinkle the bird with the remaining pepper.
• Roast for 30 minutes.
• Remove the turkey from the oven and reduce the heat to 350 degrees. Cover the breast of the bird and the wing tips with foil. Add 1 1/2 cups water (or white wine) to the roasting pan and roast the bird for another 2 hours or so, depending on size; figure on 12 minutes a pound for an unstuffed bird. Remove the foil from the breast in the last half hour so it browns.
• When the turkey has roasted for 2 hours, begin to test for doneness by inserting an instant-read thermometer (digital is best) into two different places in the thigh, making sure not to touch bone; it should be at about 160 degrees.
• When it is done, tip the turkey so the interior juices run into the pan. Remove the turkey to a rimmed baking sheet or a serving platter, cover with foil and then a damp kitchen towel, and allow to rest for at least 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, pour the fat and drippings from the pan into a measuring cup. Add the 1/2 cup white wine (or broth) to the pan, stirring to deglaze it, and pour that into same measuring cup. The fat and drippings can then be used to make gravy.