Turkey Dry Brine Timing

Not sure about the time Check with SirPorkaLot AKA John I believe his harvest brine is 2-3 hrs per lb He may know how long to let it sit

The amount of time is dependent upon the total weight of the bird. However i personally would never exceed the 72 hour mark.


You have to remember that while salt is passing in and out of the cell membranes, the outer layers of salt at continually exposed to salt. Salt relaxes and denatures proteins, and too long of an exposure time could potentially adversely affect the texture of the outer layers of meat.


Some say you can buy extra brine time, by placing the dry brine on a frozen turkey. I've never done this only because I usually only buy fresh turkeys from the farm.


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^^^^ This ^^^^
3 days (72 hours) is most I would recommend. After that you’re moving more towards curing the turkey, it will tighten the flesh up and change the texture

Not to hijac the thread but I’ll be doing a turkey this year. I was goi g to wet or dry brine. I have t decided. If I dry brine, are y’all saying 2-3 hours per pound? I was only going to do 12 or so hours but that seems like not enough? What if I decide to wet brine? How long?

Also, I’d love to find a fresh turkey but at this point that’s probably not going to happen. I stopped by Whole Foods today and the package says “up to 6% solution.” The meat person said that it can still be brined and the solution is not a brine but I’m hesitant. It seems like all store turkeys are stored in a solution?

busmania said:

Not to hijac the thread but I’ll be doing a turkey this year. I was goi g to wet or dry brine. I have t decided. If I dry brine, are y’all saying 2-3 hours per pound? I was only going to do 12 or so hours but that seems like not enough? What if I decide to wet brine? How long?

Also, I’d love to find a fresh turkey but at this point that’s probably not going to happen. I stopped by Whole Foods today and the package says “up to 6% solution.” The meat person said that it can still be brined and the solution is not a brine but I’m hesitant. It seems like all store turkeys are stored in a solution?

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Wet brines you need ~1 hour per pound of meat to effectively brine turkey, dry brine is twice as long (2-3 hours per pound)

You can successfully dry brine a store bought turkey.

You should be good with a Whole Foods Turkey

Thanks y’all. Do you wash the salt off prior to cooking?

busmania said:

Thanks y’all. Do you wash the salt off prior to cooking?

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If you use the correct amount. No.

John or others who have used Harvest Brine:

I applied a 4 ounce bag of Harvest Brine to an 18 pound turkey as per directions, wrapped tightly with plastic wrap and placed in the refrigerator for 53 hours. After unwrapping the turkey there is still some pasty brine on the skin mostly over the breasts. I rubbed the remaining brine around the turkey as to leave an even coat and I placed the turkey back in the refrigerator for another 24 hours uncovered to allow skin to dry somewhat.

This is the first time using John’s Harvest Brine and I wanted to make sure I followed the right procedure. Wasn’t expecting the brownish brine to be on the skin but may have applied more on breasts after the rest of the bird was covered.

Thanks for you help!

My first time using Harvest brine as well.
I put two 12.5lb turkeys out to thaw on Saturday. I used slightly less than what was recommended. I used 10 tsp on each bird. I put them in a Ziploc XL and they are thawed today. This morning I drained the liquid from the bag. I went a little light on the brine because this is a first and I was playing it safe.

Smokey Lonesome said:

John or others who have used Harvest Brine:



I applied a 4 ounce bag of Harvest Brine to an 18 pound turkey as per directions, wrapped tightly with plastic wrap and placed in the refrigerator for 53 hours. After unwrapping the turkey there is still some pasty brine on the skin mostly over the breasts. I rubbed the remaining brine around the turkey as to leave an even coat and I placed the turkey back in the refrigerator for another 24 hours uncovered to allow skin to dry somewhat.



This is the first time using John’s Harvest Brine and I wanted to make sure I followed the right procedure. Wasn’t expecting the brownish brine to be on the skin but may have applied more on breasts after the rest of the bird was covered.



Thanks for you help!

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Sounds like you nailed it!
The residue left on the skin is the Apple and maple. It will help to caramelize the skin during cooking

Happy Thanksgiving!

I know I'm late chiming in but I only dry brine these days. I part my turkey's out into breasts and leg quarters. Then I go by weight. I aim for 1 - 1.25% salt by weight, keeping in mind I'll probably put a rub containing salt on the outside after brining. For instance a 3 pound boneless breast is 1360 grams so I'd use about 13 grams of salt. For the leg quarters I use 80% to figure the weight of the meat. So a 3 pound leg quarter would be 1360g x .8 = 1088g so I'd use about 10g of salt. I've let mine go about four days uncovered in the fridge with no noticeable issues but I usually shoot for three tops. My favorite way to do turkey.

You can get to a wet brine that you can't over-do by using an equalibrium brine. https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/equilibrium-brining

And in all honesty I usually sous vide my turkeys and finish on the grill. I've not had a better turkey breast than one done sous vide at 132 for twelve hours.

Look, I’ve read the positive comments on this site about John’s Harvest Brine for the past two years so I was expecting the results would be at least as good as my wet brined turkeys over the years. But I wasn’t expecting the results to be over the top better!

The first clue was when the Inkbird remote reached 130 degrees and I decided to double check the temp using a Thermapen. When I removed the thermometer a stream of juice shot from the hole far enough to land outside the BGE. I was both excited and then dismayed that I lost all that juice and would end up with a drier product.

No way. This was the most moist and flavorful turkey ever and by a clear margin and ever guest raved about how tender and juicy the turkey was. I was expecting good results based on brethren experiences but this was eye opening.

And for what effort other than to essentially heavily season the bird with the brine. No mixing, buckets, etc. an 18 lb Butterball minimally processed frozen turkey from Acme and such a great meal.

Details:
18 lb frozen solid turkey minimal processed, 5% solution, etc
Defrosted in refrigerator for 72 hours
Harvest brine - one 4 oz pack over entire bird
Entire bird wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and brined for ~60 hours
Unwrapped and back to refrigerator for 24 hours.
Pulled an hour before to ice breasts.
Light coating of Secret Weapon before going into BGE at 350 for a little over 3 hours.

Pulled when breasts reached 167. Rested for 60 minutes in a covered roasting pan covered with a blanket.

B&B lump, a few apple chips to total about a half fist size chunk. Basted with butter during cook.

Just an excellent product.

Glad you enjoyed it!