Hi all — Spatchcocked and began dry brining my 17.5 lb turkey tonight and now I’m second-guessing whether I used too much salt.
I followed Kenji’s dry brine recipe but while it says you might not need all the salt you use, I forgot about that and ended up using my entire mixture. Kenji’s recipe says use 1/2 c. Diamond Crystal, and this Epicurious recipe (https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/how-to-dry-brine-a-turkey-step-by-step-thanksgiving-article) says 1/2-3/4 c. for a 14 lb. bird, so I went with a heaping 1/2 c. along with 2 tbsp. baking soda, 2 tbsp. sugar, dried thyme, and black pepper.
I sprinkled all over the skin and got a fair bit of it under the skin directly on the breasts, but now after seeing other recipes calling for something like 4 tbsp. salt I’m worried it will come out too salty. Was planning a 3 day dry brine as well. Should I start over? (I can always cook this bird off tomorrow as a tester and give it away.)
Thanks all!
by strongliftssf89
2 Comments
I haven’t tested this yet, but someone (I believe from Reddit) made this calculator:
https://www.saltyourmeat.com
I put in the details you posted and it says to use slightly more than a half cup, so you should be good. That being said, I wouldn’t add any more salt. Some parts will be plenty salty.
I found the calculator because I was worried about the same thing. Whoever made it, thank you!
I think you added enough salt- going forward on your 3 day brine I would not add any more salt or salty spices. A good rule of thumb is if the salt ends up no being enough, while cooking or after it’s done you can taste and adjust. It’s better to find out you need a bit more salt than figuring out you added too much