Salted Roast Turkey

November 15, 2018 33 Comments

How many times do you want to make a turkey for Thanksgiving dinner and try a different way than usual? Well I finally got that chance. I am not hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year and we bought this 13 pound turkey for only 47 cents a pound! I have always wanted to make a liquid salt brine and brine the turkey over night. However, I didn’t have a container or bag to fit the turkey in so I could keep it covered in the refrigerator.

After watching some cooking shows I remember seeing where they prepared chicken with just a dry Kosher salt. After some research I found that my 13 pound turkey should be salted with 13 tsp of Kosher salt, refrigerated for 24-48 hours and you don’t rinse the salt off before you bake it. That seemed like a lot of salt but since this was just for us I went ahead and tried it. I also sprinkled the turkey with pepper.

Why make a Salted Roasted Turkey? Because the salt penetrates the skin and meat which turns the skin a crisp golden delicious flavor. The turkey was very moist but keep in mind, I kept a close eye on it with the thermometer. I do not use the pop up button they put in the turkey, I pull it out and throw it away before I prepare the turkey. I find my turkey is never at the right temperature with the button pops up and I prefer a thermometer. I check the turkey breast and thigh at the thickest parts with the thermometer and when it is 165 degrees it’s cooked perfectly.

Turkey

Kosher Salt and Pepper

Ingredients

Place the turkey on a plate in the sink.

Remove the outer wrapper.

Remove the neck from the cavity.

My turkey had a bag of

gravy in the cavity too!

I was really disappointed to see

that they cut the skin on the breast.

In the neck cavity there

was another paper bag.

Inside this bag you will find

the heart, gizzard and liver.

You can save these for homemade

stuffing, discard them or do like I do and

rinse them off and put them back

in the cavity without the bag.

Rinse the turkey inside and out

removing any pin feathers they

may have missed. Pat the turkey

completely dry with paper towels

inside and out. Place the turkey

in a roasting pan.

Tuck the wings under.

Salt and pepper all of the skin

of the turkey, both sides.

It will seem like a lot of salt

(1 tsp Kosher salt per pound of turkey)

but it will be delicious.

********************

Cover and refrigerate for 24-48 hours.

********************

Remove the pan from the refrigerator.

Set the pan on counter for 1 hour

without the lid before baking,

or until it’s room temperature.

Pour about a cup of water or chicken

broth in the bottom of the pan.

Don’t pour it on the turkey.

Bake in a preheated 325 degree

oven without a lid. If it starts

to get too brown before it is

165 degrees, put the lid on.

Continue to bake until a thermometer

inserted in the thickest part of the turkey

reads 165 degrees. Below is a chart for

approximately how long to bake your

turkey but use your thermometer

so it is not over or under cooked.

If you stuff the turkey, make sure

the stuffing is 165 degrees too.

Remove from the oven and let it

sit for 20-30 minutes then slice.