Roasted Turkey (Dry-Brined)

The technique for this beautifully browned, crisp-skinned, succulent and flavorful roast turkey, inspired by the late Judy Rodger's Zuni Cafe roast chicken, was developed for the big bird by Russ Parsons at The Los Angeles Times in 2006, when I was Food Editor there. In the annual effort to come up with something original for a Thanksgiving issue, I had a brainstorm: what if you treated a turkey like Zuni Cafe chicken? I asked Russ to investigate, he nailed the technique and Thanksgiving would never be the same.

The recipe has but two ingredients (turkey and salt). (If you’re looking for a recipe for an 11- to 16-pound that includes sauce, use this one.) What's brilliant about this technique is you don't have to wrestle the bird into a huge pot of brine. Just rub it with salt two or three days before you serve it (depending on the size of the bird) and seal it in a 2 1/2-gallon zipper bag. Take it out of the bag Thanksgiving (or Christmas) morning (or the morning of whatever day you want to serve it), and let the skin dry in the fridge. Into a 425 degree oven it goes for a half hour, then turn down the heat and forget about it – no basting required. It's so much easier than wet-brining a bird – and so much better.  

The best time to get started – by salting the bird – is the morning three days before the event, or two days before, if the bird is 8 pounds or smaller. So if we're talking about Thanksgiving, that means Monday morning (larger bird) or Tuesday morning (smaller bird).

Please note that it’s really important to weigh the turkey — not only to get the right amount of salt on it, but also because it may weigh significantly less than the package tells you, once you remove the neck and the bag of giblets and such. We also wonder if there is sometimes funny business with store’s labeling. We bought a turkey this year that was labeled as 11.36 pounds, but actually weighed only 8 pounds, 3 ounces. The neck, giblet bag and plastic clip weighed 9.6 ounces. That does not add up.

Note: For birds 15 pounds and larger, getting the turkey into a 2 1/2 gallon plastic bag may be tight; if it is, you can also use a clean plastic trash can liner. Squeeze out all the air, and secure the bag with a rubber band.

Serves 8 to 12 or more. You will need a 2 1/2 gallon zipper bag, a roasting pan (with or without a rack), clean oven mitts, and an instant-read thermometer.

Ingredients

One 8- to 16-pound turkey

2 to 4 tablespoons sea salt or Diamond Crystal Kosher salt, depending on the size of the turkey (see instructions)