Garlic Brown Sugar Dry Brine Turkey - [VIDEO] The Recipe Rebel (2024)

FAQs

Do you rinse the turkey after dry brine? ›

Pat It Dry

Use paper towels and get the skin "as dry as possible" before doing anything else. And if you're wondering, no—you don't need to rinse the bird, whether it's been dry-brined or wet-brined, before adding more seasoning and roasting.

Mix salt, brown sugar, garlic, and cayenne pepper together in a large bowl. Pour in water; stir until dissolved. Mix in molasses and soy sauce. Let stand until brine comes to room temperature, about 50 minutes.

Some dry-brine recipes call for adding white or brown sugar to the salt. It's not totally necessary, but it will infuse the meat with a little sweetness and help the skin turn golden in the oven. Your sugar measurement should equal about ¼ of your salt measurement; for a 14-lb turkey, that's about 2 Tbsp. sugar.

For a dry brine, a mixture of kosher salt and other herbs/spices is rubbed on the outside of the turkey, then allowed to sit on the skin for 24 to 36 hours.

Transfer the turkey to a rack set in a rimmed baking sheet, and refrigerate, uncovered, for 12 to 24 hours. Without rinsing, roast, omitting any additional salting steps called for in those recipes. Dry-brining for more than 24 hours will produce even juicier and better-seasoned meat.

But a brined turkey that is not rinsed would be too salty to eat. Brining slows down the growth of bacteria but does not kill it, said Linda Harris, a microbiologist at the University of California, Davis. She and other food scientists have been trying to get Americans to stop rinsing poultry since the late 1990's.

For a brine, no it doesn't really matter, except that granulated sugar will dissolve more nicely than raw sugar.

For thick, firm-fleshed white fish fillets, sprinkle them with a mixture of kosher salt and sugar (2:1 salt to sugar by weight), and rest for 45 minutes and up to 90 minutes in the fridge before cooking (resting the fish longer than that will give it a more cured texture).

It's better to cook a turkey at 350°F after preheating the oven to 450°F. This makes the skin crispier and ensures the turkey will get cooked evenly.

Should you add spices to dry brine? ›

Yes! You can choose to use a seasoning blend, make your own, or salt-then-season. Just remember to omit salt from the seasonings you are using after you pre-salt or dry brine. If you choose to add seasoning when you dry brine, start with the salt on your food.

Bring a quart of water, ½ cup kosher salt, and ½ cup brown sugar to a boil, along with any herbs and spices you choose. Simmer to dissolve the salt and sugar and release the aromatic oils from the added flavorings.

Flavor vs.

Your answer may determine whether a dry or wet brine is best for you: A dry brine imparts a richer, more intense flavor directly into the meat because of the close contact between the dry-rub mixture and the turkey meat. A wet brine adds more moisture to your turkey.

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.

So how much salt to brine a turkey? Our general turkey-brining rule of thumb for how much to brine a 12-pound turkey (adjust up or down based on the size of your bird) is 5 quarts hot water + 1½ cups kosher salt or ¾ cup table salt. Mix to combine and add this to the pot or bag.

Do not rinse the foods that you have dry-brined. You just spent all of that time drying the food out for better searing and flavor, you don't want to wet that surface again. Get yourself a sensitive scale to measure the amount of salt in a three-finger pinch a few times to get a sense of “how much” you are using.

What to Do After the Meat Is Brined. After waiting the appropriate amount of time, remove the meat from the brine and pat it dry with a paper towel. You won't need to rinse it with fresh water unless you accidentally brined it for too long. From here, cook the meat according to your favorite recipe.

Wet brines infuse flavor and moisture more quickly than dry brines; however, a larger vessel for the brining process will be needed as well as enough refrigerator space. Turkeys that have been wet brined often yield slightly less brown skin due to more water in the skin.