Thanksgiving this year will be another "away game" for our family. We're headed to the Orlando area to spend the holiday with my wife's mother. Before we leave, however, we will be picking up our local pasture-raised turkey from Promised Land Farms in Thorntown (they have a few turkeys left unspoken for, BTW). I'll pack it in a cooler of ice and it will make the trek with our family. I'm sure I'll have to replace the ice along the way to keep the bird at 40 degrees or less.
For the last several years, I have brined my turkeys. You can read about my technique here. I've had great results from brining but this year I am trying something new - a dry salt rub. There is a great article here in the LA Times about dry salt rubbing. The article actually does an experiment comparing several techniques, including brining.
The article calls for just plain salt but I am interested in infusing into the turkey some additional flavors. So, I will be making a citrus salt and then use that to salt the bird. I figure that since I'll be in Florida, I should take advantage of the availability of great citrus fruits. Here is the recipe I will be using to make the Citrus Salt and then the technique for salting and roasting the turkey.
Citrus Salt
- 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon zest
- 1 Tablespoon fresh lime zest
- 1 Tablespoon fresh orange zest
- 1/2 cup Kosher salt
You will need to do this this weekend. Heat the oven to 200 degrees. Mix all the ingredients together and spread out evenly on a baking sheet. Bake for about two hours or until completely dried. Grind in a food processor and the store in an air-tight container until ready to use.
Citrus Salt-Rubbed Roasted Turkey
On Monday evening before Thanksgiving, prepare the turkey rinsing, drying (inside and out), and then loosing the skin around the breasts and thighs. A chopstick works well for this. Set aside about one tablespoon of the citrus salt for each 5 pounds of turkey. Use this amount of salt to work the it into the four cavities you've made under the skin.
Wrap the bird up in plastic wrap or in a ziplock back (if you can find one big enough - sometimes you can find brining bags this time of year). Place the turkey in the fridge.
On Wednesday night, remove the turkey from the fridge, rinse off excess salt, dry, and put back in the fridge uncovered overnight to let the skin dry out (this will help you have a crisp skin).
Thanksgiving day you can prepare the turkey the way you like. I plan to fill the cavity with a cut-up orange, lime, lemon, roasemary, and sage, use Penzey's Poultry Seasoning on the outside of the bird, and roast uncovered starting with a 425 degree oven for 30 minutes and then knocking the temperature down to 325 degrees until I get an internal thigh temperature of 170-175 degrees.