Hellobee Boards

I only ever dry brine (both for roast chicken and turkey); its the brine I prefer.

Wet brine 4 years running here. Delish!

Dry brining is amazing because the skin dries out a little and helps it crisp up. And you don't have to worry about having a vessel large enough to hold a turkey submerged in liquid.

I use the Serious Eats method for dry brining.

I've only ever done dry brine and it was terrific all 3 times!

I wouldn't bother. The turkey is the easiest part of Thanksgiving dinner. Don't make it difficult!

I've cooked Thanksgiving and Christmas turkeys for years now for a lot of foodie-types and picky eaters who are brutally honest about their thoughts on food (including all the other things on my holiday dinner table, so I've no reason to doubt that they'd tell me if I screwed up the bird!), and I've never brined them. As long as you're not ignoring the oven as you approach the end of the cooking time, you'll be fine. Just cook it to the proper internal temp and tent it with foil if necessary towards the end to avoid burning the skin. Oh, and don't forget to take out the plastic baggie of grossness that's in the chest cavity before putting the bird on the pan! That's seriously the worst part of the entire process.

A food writer backs me up on not doing brine! http://www.seriouseats.com/2012/11/the-food-lab-the-truth-about-brining-turkey-thanksgiving.html

Team no brine. I just put butter under the skin.