How long to cook dry brined turkey

The idea of cooking a turkey upside down is that the fat from the fattier bits of the bird (the legs etc) runs down into the breast. As a crown has none of these bits, there's no point in cooking it upside down.

By all means butter and bacon it though - turkey breast is very lean so needs all the fat it can get to keep it moist, so use good fatty bacon.

Take it out of the fridge a good hour before you cook it, preheat the oven to 180C, and cook for 20 mins per pound (454g) + 20 mins. Baste regularly, but be aware that every time you open the oven door the heat drops dramatically, so don't be overzealous - once every 20 minutes should be ok. Then let it rest for half an hour, on a warm plate, under foil. This will help with juiciness.

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.