Perfect Dry Brined Turkey and Gravy Recipe

This Dry Brine Recipe for Turkey will result in a beautifully browned, moist and delicious turkey every time. Although it takes a few days, it's easy, inexpensive and full of flavor. You will never have to worry again if your turkey will be moist, flavorful or brown.

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I've made Thanksgiving turkey a few times now and although I continue to get better at the process, I still had not found my favorite way to prepare and cook the bird to get the perfect results. Until now.

Last year, I brined my turkey in a wet brine for a few days. The turkey turned out fine but here is what I did NOT like:

1. I had to find a vessel big enough to hold a turkey and a ton of liquid for 3 days.

2. I had to find space in my fridge for said vessel.

3. I had to wrestle my cold heavy turkey a few times to turn it over in the brine.

4. My turkey was just ok and did not brown as much as I wanted.

Whew. That was exhausting just typing that. So, this year I decided to come up with a dry brine and let me tell you, it was so much easier. And tastier. And browner... which is what I wanted. I looked through a bunch of recipes and ended up coming up with my own mix using all of the things I like. That's the great things about a dry brine, you can basically put whatever you want in it.

Notes: I strongly suggest using FRESH herbs and kosher salt. This mix was enough for a 10 lb. turkey but could probably cover up to about 14 lbs. Lastly, remember this a recipe for a few days of brining and drying so plan ahead! For Thanksgiving, I started with a tawed out turkey on Monday morning and everything was ready to go by Thursday morning.

Dry Brine Ingredients

1 cup kosher salt

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped

1 tablespoon fresh thyme, finely chopped

1 tablespoon fresh sage, finely chopped

Zest of 1 large orange

Zest of 1 large lemon

Ingredients for Roasting Turkey

10-12 lb. turkey, thawed completely

1 lemon, quartered

1 large yellow onion, cut into eighths

A handful of fresh herbs: rosemary, thyme and sage

Salt and Pepper

1/2 stick of unsalted butter, melted

cooking twine to tie legs

Ingredients for Gravy

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 large onion, cut into strips

4-6 garlic cloves, peeled and halved

6 tablespoons flour

4 cups chicken stock

2 tablespoons brandy

10 large, fresh sage leaves

2 bay leaves

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup dry white wine

Brine 3 days ahead:

1. Place all ingredients in a large bowl and combine together.

2. Rinse and dry turkey. Make sure you remove any giblets inside and get any leftover feathers that were missed. I just use paper towels to dry the bird.

Day 1

3. Place your turkey in a roasting pan (you don't need the rack yet), and rub all over with brine mix. Make sure you get all the nooks and crannies and the inside too!

4. Wrap the entire pan with a large roasting bag or cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator. I found roasting bag at the dollar store and it worked perfectly!

Day 2

1. Open the bag or uncover and flip the bird over. Rub any mix that fell off over bird, re-wrap and place back in the refrigerator.

Day 3

1. Take the bag or wrap off the turkey, flip one more time and allow the turkey to dry out in the fridge uncovered.

Day 4

1. Remove the turkey from the fridge and pat dry removing any excess brine. Place on counter and allow it to warm up for at least an hour before cooking.

Cooking the Turkey:

1. Preheat oven to 425.

2. Pat turkey dry one more time and place lemon pieces, onion pieces and fresh herbs inside the cavity. Tie legs together with twine and place on roasting rack breast side up. Make sure legs are all tightly snug next to the turkey.

3. Brush the turkey with melted butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

4. Place roasting pan in the oven and cook for 30 minutes at 425.

5. Lower oven temp to 325 and continue to cook for 2-21/2 more hours. Check internal temp at the thickest part of the thigh, it's ready at 165 degrees. My 10 lb. turkey took just 2 more hours to cook and I wish I would have checked about 20 minutes earlier.

6. Remove from oven and place rack on a baking sheet (you are going to use drippings from roasting pan for gravy) and cover with foil, allowing to rest for at least 20-30 minutes before carving.

Gravy (inspired by Ina Garten)

1. Place the butter in a large saucepan and melt over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and stir and sauté for about 15 minutes, until the onion becomes nice and brown.

2. Add flour and continue to cook and stir for about a minute.

3. Add chicken stock, brandy, sage leaves, bay leaves, and 1 teaspoon pepper and continue to stir (I wouldn't add salt yet because you want to see how salty your drippings are). Bring mixture to a boil then lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Stit occasionally.

4. Remove from heat and allow to cool for an hour.

5. Strain cooled mixture through a sieve and set aside for drippings or in the refrigerator if making way ahead of time.

6. Taking roasting pan and place on the stove over med-high heat. Add wine and continue to stir and bring to a boil.

7. Lower heat and simmer for 1-2 minutes, stirring the entire time getting all the bits off the bottom of the pan.

8. Pour gravy and dripping together and stir (either in roasting pan or in another saucepan). Stir until nice and thick and taste for salt and pepper needs.

Pour that delicious, hot gravy over that perfectly browned and moist turkey and ENJOY!!!

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