Fresh Natural Turkey: Wet Brine or Dry?

[ChadVKealey]

So, for the first time ever, we decided to spring for a fresh (as opposed to frozen) turkey. The last few years, I've used Alton Brown's "thaw in brine" method with various takes on his veggie-stock-based brine. I've been reading up lately on dry brining, but never done it with turkey.

For a non-frozen bird, is dry brining more beneficial? I mean, I rarely get complaints about the flavor or texture of the turkey, but if I can avoid the hassle of dry brining, I'm all for it. I understand that dry brining takes a bit longer, but since I'm not thawing it, I'll have that time to work with.

 

[Bob Ivey]

We are also going for a fresh non frozen bird and are considering dry brining. Have always wet brined. Also using an all natural bird. Keep us informed about your research. TIA

 

[Randy G]

I've done both with a fresh turkey. I prefer the dry brine for ease because I feel its easier /safer/less cumbersome than keeping a big batch of turkey water in my fridge. Also, its easier, IMO, to dry the skin out before you cook.
I've cooked the turkeys in different manners (WSM, Kettle, Roti, and BGE) so hard to get a turkey to turkey comparison. I just like the concept of the dry brine better.
The biggest debate in my house is always between the turkey traditionalists and those whose prefer a little more adventure in their bird. And the fight of fights is the spatchcocked vs traditional style.

 

[ChadVKealey]

I've done both with a fresh turkey. I prefer the dry brine for ease because I feel its easier /safer/less cumbersome than keeping a big batch of turkey water in my fridge. Also, its easier, IMO, to dry the skin out before you cook.
I've cooked the turkeys in different manners (WSM, Kettle, Roti, and BGE) so hard to get a turkey to turkey comparison. I just like the concept of the dry brine better.
The biggest debate in my house is always between the turkey traditionalists and those whose prefer a little more adventure in their bird. And the fight of fights is the spatchcocked vs traditional style.

I'm cooking two this year (one on Thursday and another Sunday), so I'm going to do one each way. The one for Thursday (the "fresh/natural" one) I won't have until Tuesday night, so I'm going to do my usual wet brine on that (I do it in a big gatorade cooler with a bag of ice, so no fridge space is consumed). The one for Sunday is thawing in the secondary fridge now and I'm going to dry brine that starting probably Thursday afternoon or Friday morning, so it'll have at least 48 hours. Both will be rotisseried. This way I can compare the two methods and see which I like better. Obviously, this isn't an ideal scientific experiment since not all of the factors are equal, but as long as the frozen bird is fully thawed by the time I start the brine, it'll be close enough.

 

[Pat G]

I prefer the dry brine for ease because I feel its easier /safer/less cumbersome than keeping a big batch of turkey water in my fridge. Also, its easier, IMO, to dry the skin out before you cook.

My thoughts exactly Randy. Dry brine for us this year.