How to Brine a Turkey (Wet or Dry)

What brining does

Salt loosens the tightly wound proteins in muscle, and loosened proteins hold on to more of their own juice when they heat up. That's the whole trick. Given enough time, the salt also travels deep into the meat, so the middle of the breast is seasoned, not just the skin.

A wet brine soaks the bird in salty water. The meat takes on some of that water, which makes it plump and very forgiving, but it can taste a little watery and the skin comes out soft unless you dry it well. A dry brine is just salt rubbed on the outside. The salt draws out a little moisture, dissolves in it, and the meat pulls that seasoned liquid back in. Nothing is added but salt, so the turkey tastes more like turkey, and the skin dries in the fridge and roasts up crisp.

Wet brine or dry brine

How much salt

Kosher salt isn't one thing. The light, flaky kind weighs about 8 grams per tablespoon, the dense, coarse kind about 15, and table salt about 18. Swap one for another by the spoon and you can double the salt by accident. If your box doesn't say, weigh a level tablespoon. Better yet, weigh the salt itself: about 3 grams per pound of bird for a dry brine and about 210 grams per gallon of water for a wet one.

Table salt works if it's all you have. Use less, as below, and know that the iodine in some brands can leave a faint metallic taste after a long soak.

Salt amounts by type

How long, by bird

How to dry brine

1. Make sure the turkey is fully thawed, pull out the neck and giblets, and pat it dry with paper towels, inside and out.
2. Measure the salt for the bird's weight. Add black pepper, dried herbs or grated citrus zest if you like, and a teaspoon of baking powder for even crisper skin.
3. Sprinkle it from about a foot above the bird so it lands evenly. Put the most on the breast and thighs, a little on the back and wings, and a pinch in the cavity. Loosen the breast skin with your fingers and rub some right on the meat.
4. Set the turkey breast up on a rack over a rimmed sheet pan and refrigerate it uncovered for 1 to 3 days. The salt will look wet at first, then disappear, and the skin will turn dry and a little translucent.
5. Don't rinse it. Roast it straight from the fridge (an hour on the counter is fine) and don't add more salt. Follow dry-brined roast turkey from here.

How to wet brine

1. Check the label first. A turkey marked kosher, self-basting or enhanced is already salted, and brining it makes it taste like ham. Skip straight to drying it in the fridge overnight.
2. Heat 2 quarts of the water with the salt (and sugar or aromatics if you're using them) just until the salt dissolves. Add the rest of the water as ice and cold water, and check that it's 40°F or colder before the turkey goes anywhere near it.
3. Put the turkey in a brining bag inside a pot, bucket or cooler, pour in the brine to cover, press out the air and tie it shut.
4. Keep it at 40°F or below the whole time. In the fridge is easiest. In a cooler, pack frozen water bottles around the bag and check the brine with a thermometer every few hours.
5. Lift it out, let it drain, and pat it very dry. Pour the brine down the drain and wipe the sink. Set the bird uncovered on a rack in the fridge for 8 to 24 hours so the skin dries out, then roast without adding salt. Our wet turkey brine with brown sugar and orange has the full recipe.

Safety, fridge space and common mistakes

• Letting it warm up. Raw poultry can't sit above 40°F for hours, brine or no brine. A garage or porch only counts if it stays reliably cold, which most of November doesn't. Use a thermometer, not a guess.
• Brining a pre-salted bird. Read the label every year; brands and wording change.
• Going too long. Past about 24 hours in a wet brine, the meat turns soft and hammy. A dry brine is far more forgiving.
• Rinsing the turkey. It sprays raw juices around the sink and barely touches the salt. Pat it dry instead.
• Salting the gravy like usual. Drippings from a brined bird are already salty. Make the make-ahead turkey gravy with unsalted stock and taste before seasoning.
• Not clearing a shelf. A turkey on a sheet pan takes a whole shelf for days. Clear it before you go shopping, not after.