I used to be a briner, but I've found a better way. (and I emailed it in to Cook's Illustrated about a year ago - so I think they took my idea!) But you don't have to bother with the complicated things they would have you do (like trying to get the salt and spices under the skin) - forget that.
Dry aging the turkey with salt, sugar and herbs gives you all the benefits of brining plus the crispy skin everyone wants. Deep frying is still the tops for taste, but this one is a close second and a whole lot easier.
Just do the following:
Tuesday before T-Day pick-up Turkey, unwrap, removed giblets and pat dry. If you are using a frozen turkey make sure it is completely thawed by the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.
Mix up 1 Tablespoon table salt, 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar, and 1 Tablespoon herbs of choice (I use a Williams-Sonoma blend of Sage and Marjoram but you could use whatever you like). Mix that all up and then
Sprinkle the inside of the cavity - liberally - with the salt mixture. Then rub the rest of the salt mixture all over the outside of the turkey - on top of the skin is just fine.
Put the turkey on a rack set into a roasting pan (so that air can circulate all around it) and put it in the fridge - just like that - uncovered. On Wednesday turn the turkey over.
On Thursday take the turkey out of the fridge about 1 to 2 hours before you want to put it in the oven so that it can come to room temp.
That's it. Pretty easy - and you'll be amazed - it will be the most moist, delicious, falling off the bone turkey you'll ever have eaten with the crispy skin.
Really
One important note, in order to Brine or Dry Age with salt (as I've described above) you need to use a turkey (or chicken or roast) that hasn't been injected with salty water - you can either read the packaging on a frozen bird or ask the butcher behind the counter at the market.
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2 comments:
This is timely - I've spent the last week debating whether to brine the bird or not and I'd decided to brine; I had an email from Sara's dad that mentioned her blog so I came to check it out. Dry aging looks much easier so I'm going to give it a try. BUT do these quantities of salt, sugar, and herbs apply to all sizes of turkey? I'm getting a 22- 24-pounder.
You probably should not get overly worried about quantities with this technique, but you don't really want to run out of the salt mixture half way through a giant bird and need to mix up some more so here's a general guide.
For a 3-4 pound chicken I use 1 tsp. each salt, sugar, herbs
For a 12-16 pound turkey I use 1 Tbl. each salt, sugar, herbs.
I think you may want to double the amounts for your 24 pounder just to make sure you don't run out... on the other hand don't be surprised if you have some leftover... you can always use it for a roast chicken in a week or two.
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