I was sure dry brining turkey was overrated hype but now I'm converted

For years I thought salting a bird and leaving it uncovered in the fridge was just extra work that did nothing, so I stuck with wet brines on Thanksgiving. Then last November I tried it on a 14 pound bird and the skin actually got crispy and the meat stayed juicy without being soggy. Anyone else flip flopped on a baking technique they swore was nonsense?

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the_claire2mo ago

Oh come on, you didn't "dry brine" it then. Dry brining is when you salt the bird and leave it uncovered in the fridge for at least 24 hours, sometimes up to 3 days. You basically described a salt rub with a short rest, which is just normal seasoning. A real dry brine changes the texture of the meat because the salt has time to penetrate deep and break down proteins. You got crispy skin because the fridge air dried out the surface, not because you left it overnight. Next time give it a full 48 hours and you'll see the difference.

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brooke_taylor442mo ago

The whole "normal seasoning" callout hit me right in the ego lol. I swear my chicken came out great but you're probably right that I'm just out here doing fancy salt rubs and calling them dry brines. Next time I'll try the full 48 hours but let's be real, I'll probably forget it's in the fridge and panic-check it every hour like a maniac.

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