I dry brined my turkey this year and I thought the skin tasted a bit too salty. Yesterday I dry brined a small chicken and the skin was crisp but a salt lick. I followed directions of 1 tsp per pound plus a little baking soda and some garlic powder and herbs. What is,the best way to dry brine and enjoy the skin?
Need to know exactly how you dry brined your turkey.
The most common reasons you end up with salty skin are the following:
- Too much salt for the weight of the bird
- Left too much salt on the skin of the bird before cooking (brush, don’t rinse off extra salt)
- Did not dry brine long enough (at least 24, if not 48 hours uncovered in fridge)
- Salted both on and under the skin (choose one, not both)
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That’s a shitload of salt! For a 14-lb turkey, I think I used about five to six teaspoons of Diamond Crystal salt, total. I rubbed about 1 teaspoon under the skin for each breast half and leg quarter, plus another teaspoon for the cavity side (I spatchcocked it). Let it rest in the fridge for a few hours (I prefer overnight, but I didn’t have room in the fridge for that long), then about half a teaspoon on the skin-side before going into the oven.
For a 4-lb chicken, I use about half a teaspoon per breast half and leg quarter.
[FTR, I think “dry brine” is a stupid term. It’s salting (dry) or brining (wet). But I’m pedantic that way.]
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1 tsp per/pound does sound like a lot. Also try and get salt under the skin. My mom simply called it “salting”, the bird, roast or whatever.
I can’t say much other than it sounds like too much salt…though I have to confess I do it “by eye” and not by any measurement. 24-48 hours in the fridge afterwards is really necessary for the salt to absorb into the carcass. If you have visible salt on the bird after that time, brush it off.
I will confess that there are times when the drippings are pretty salty for the gravy I make afterwards with the drippings, but most of the time it’s. Just. Right.
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I made an almost 7 lb roasted chicken a few weekends back, and there’s no way I would have used 7 tsp of salt on it. I’m probably an under-salter, as I’m finding myself more sensitive to too much salt as I get older. I probably used max of 2 tsp, rubbed it all around the chicken with some fresh cracked pepper, and set it on a rack in the roasting pan for about 30 hours in the downstairs fridge. I couldn’t see any visible salt on the skin when I took it out, and it roasted up fine, although the skin didn’t get as dark as I usually like, but it was crispy!.
So maybe back off to the 1/2 tsp per lb as suggested upthread? And hold off on the garlic powder and dried herbs until it’s ready to go into the oven.
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The other consideration is how pre brined so to speak is the bird?
Some birds contain “up to x% solution of salt and other stuff” which means you are starting out saltier these tend to be frozen
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Thanks so much, everyone!!!
I dunno, I use 3 T of salt for a 10-lb turkey so a teaspoon per pound does not seem wildly off to me. I put salt under the skin, on the skin, and in the cavity. I do the dry brine in a plastic bag in the fridge for 48 hours. I don’t rinse it, but there’s a lot of liquid that comes off the bird, which I just leave in the plastic bag and throw out.
1 tsp per pound for a turkey doesn’t seem that out of proportion to me either - though I also tend to eye ball it . . . also the point about a “pre-brined” bird (aka x% solution) is a big factor.
but also remember not all salts are the same. So a teaspoon of table salt is a lot more salt that a teaspoon of say Morton’s Kosher salt. Just something else to consider.
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