Delicious roast turkey (or any poultry) prepared using a dry brine with a salt, sugar, and spices rub. Step-by-step directions on how to dry brine a turkey!
Ingredients
⅓cupkosher salt
1tablespoonsugar
1teaspoonground black pepper
½teaspoondried sage
½teaspoondried rosemary
1small lemon, zest only
1teaspoonred pepper flakes, opt.
¼teaspoonground allspice, opt.
Instructions
Stir together dry rub ingredients in a small bowl.
Rub your turkey with the dry brine. I like to separate the skin a bit and rub some of the brine rub under the skin. Most can go on top though. Rub the entire bird or breast. I would say to use 1 teaspoons of rub per pound of turkey. A 12 pound turkey should be rubbed with 1/4-1/3 cup of the dry rub.
Lightly cover the turkey and let it rest in the fridge overnight (at least 12 hours or up to 24 hours).
Before cooking the turkey, you can optionally rinse off any salt on the surface of the bird or just wipe it off with a paper towel. You can just cook it without doing that also and the skin will be saltier. I also recommend adding a sliced lemon and orange to the bird cavity before roasting also.
Roast until the bird is 165 degrees F. in the thick part of the breast or thigh (if you’re cooking the whole bird). Let rest at least 15 minutes before slicing and serving.