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Dry Brine Roasted Turkey

Dry brining a turkey days in advance and perfecting the roasting process will bring you a most and flavorful bird.
Prep Time3 days
Cook Time2 hours 30 minutes
Total Time3 days 2 hours 30 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keywords: dry brine, turkey
Servings: 0

Ingredients

Dry Brine

  • 4 tbsp coarse kosher salt
  • 1 tbsp coarse black pepper
  • 1 tbsp fresh thyme finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp fresh rosemary finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp lemon zest
  • 15-18 lb turkey

Roasting Turkey

  • 2 red onions quartered
  • 2 lemons halved
  • 2 heads of garlic halved horizontally
  • 3 celery stalks cut in halves or thirds
  • 2-3 sprigs of fresh rosemary
  • 2-3 sprigs of thyme
  • 1 cup water
  • canola oil

Instructions

Dry Brining the Turkey

  • Remove wrapping, plastic thermometers, and any caging from a fully defrosted turkey. Take the giblets and neck from inside the cavity and save for another use.
  • The USDA does not recommend rinsing a turkey. However, if you do, rinse using cold water. Pat dry inside and out with paper towels. Make sure to thoroughly clean and sanitize all areas exposed during the rinsing process.
  • Combine all of the dry brine ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
  • Using your hands, gently separate the skin from the meat over the breast area of the turkey. Make sure not to puncture the skin and keep it intact.
  • Take the brine mixture and rub into the cavity, on the breast meat under the skin, and all over the skin (breasts, legs, wings).
  • Place in a large sealable plastic bag removing as much air as possible. Refrigerate for 48-72 hours. When about 12 hours or brining time remain, remove from plastic and let sit, uncovered, in a roasting pan in the fridge.

Roasting the Turkey

  • Remove turkey from the fridge and let sit at room temperature for an hour.
  • Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.
  • Place onions, garlic, lemon and 1 cup of water in the bottom of the roasting pan.
  • Place turkey on the roasting rack in the pan. Make sure it is breast side up and to tuck the wings underneath the body. Coat the skin with canola oil. Stuff cavity with celery, thyme and rosemary.
  • Roast the turkey on the bottom half of the oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and reduce heat to 350 degrees F. Cover the turkey breasts with a triangular piece of aluminum foil (just the breasts!) and return to the oven. Cook until the turkey breasts reach 161 degrees F (2-2.5 hours roasting time).
  • Loosely cover in foil and let rest at least 15 minutes before carving.