I have dry brined my Thanksgiving turkey for several years with great success. I usually do this for 3 days (start the process Monday AM then air dry in fridge for 24 hours before meal on Thursday). This year I will not get my turkey until Tuesday night. Is 36 hours enough time for the salt to do its reverse osmosis thing? I want to give it enough time to dry on Thursday. Or should I keep it in the salt until as late as possible and then pat it dry?
Dry Brining Turkey
briningthanksgivingturkey
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Best Answer
If you want crispy skin on your bird, you have to make sure that you leave time for the water to come off the skin entirely, so the full drying time is recommended.
If your skin doesn't make much diffrence to you, use the full brining time to create optimium penetration.
That said, your bird should remain nice and moist after as little as ten hours in the brine for a fourteen pound bird. I rarely brine any poultry longer than 12 hours as I find there isn't a noticable diffrence in the moistness as long as I pull it out at the proper temperature.