How To Dry Brine Steaks, Turkeys, Chicken, And More…

Dry brining is a process that helps produce deep flavors in the meat that you want to cook, and it makes any meat cut juicy, so how and why do we dry brine?

Dry Brining is perfect for meat like poultry that is relatively dry. You can use Dry brine on other cuts of meat like steak to accentuate the meat’s flavor and juiciness.

The main difference between dry brining and the more common wet brining is that there is no flavor dilution from the salt or the dry brine.

There is also better browning on the meat I cook when I use a dry brine. Creating a nice brown and crispy crust on the meat is satisfying.

No matter what meat you have, you want it to cook perfectly, and dry brining will help you get that juicy and tender desired result.

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What Is Dry Brining?

In simple terms, dry brining is salting the meat and then resting it before cooking it.

The salt draws moisture from the meat, this moisture mixes with salt and reabsorbs into the meat.

This process allows for a deeper, more enhanced flavor on the meat and a juicier result.

Salt reshapes and loosens the meat’s muscle fibers, allowing it to absorb more moisture into the meat.

How to Dry Brine a Chicken — Dry Brining a Chicken

When the meat cooks, the muscles do not contract as much meaning the meat does not squeeze too much moisture out when cooking making it tender.

Another benefit from dry brining is the crispy crust that you get. The soggy and grainy outer part is common with wet brine, which you can avoid with a dry brine.

The brined meat is packed with flavours; the texture and overall quality of the meat is not ruined, so dry brining is great for your recipe.

How To Dry Brine?

In this part of the post, let us look at these simple guides on how to dry brine cuts of meat that you might want to cook in the future to get better, juicier, and more tender results.

1. Turkey/Chicken

Birds like chicken and turkey are two of the most common types of meat that are dry brined because they are relatively lean and easy to dry when cooked.

So here is how to avoid that.

Step 1: Thaw The Bird

If you are starting with a frozen chicken or turkey, then make sure to remove it from the freezer and place it in the fridge overnight.

You can speed up the thawing process by running the bird under cold water.

Step 2: Mix The Dry Brine

Mix the salt and your choice of seasoning in a large bowl, and then set it aside for now.

Step 3: Prepare The Chicken Or Turkey

Remove any packaging from the bird and other parts in the cavity. Massage the bird slightly to open up the muscle fibers and then pat dry the bird with paper towels.

Step 4: Brine The Inside

Start by putting the dry brine inside the cavity of the bird. Toss it around so that the interior gets even brining.

Step 5: Brine The Outside

You will need to concentrate the seasoning on the parts with thick meat. Such parts are the breast and the thighs.

Grab some dry brine and get it under the skin and onto the meat. You need to season inside the skin first to tenderize the meat.

Use the extra seasonings to brine the skin of the bird.

Step 6: Refrigerate

Place the bird in a large bag and then place it in the fridge. If the bird is too large for a bag, leaving it on a roasting pan in the fridge is okay.

The rule of thumb is to let the bird brine for 1 hour per pound. Personally, letting the bird stay in the fridge for at least two days will garner the best results.

Step 7: Ready For Cooking

Once done with the above step, the dry brine would have done its job and the bird will be ready for cooking. No need for further seasoning or patting dry the bird.

2. Steak

Steak is considered a thinner cut of meat and brining it should not take as long as you did with turkey Usually, brining steaks can only last a day.

The process is almost the same with the birds as you need to thaw the steak before applying the dry brine. Be generous with the brine and then let it rest in the refrigerator.

After an hour, the steak will be ready for cooking but if you allow it to brine for another 24 hours, you will notice a big difference.

3. FIsh

You can brine any type of fish fillet, yes, it may seem redundant, but the salting process helps make the fish flavors pop.

To counter the saltiness of the brine, you can mix sugar in the brine. A ratio of 2:1 with 2 parts salt and one part sugar will accentuate the flavors better.

Dry Brining Fish with salt and other spices

In just 45 to 90 minutes of letting it rest in the fridge, the brined fish will be ready for cooking. A longer resting period will give the fish a more cured taste.

Since the brine easily penetrates the skin of fish , dry brining it will not take as much time as the other cuts of meat.

Pork

Large cuts of meat like pork shoulders and brisket should be dry brined for up to 3 days. I know it is a long time but this helps pack these cuts of meat with flavours.

Make sure to do the brining process a day before the actual cooking. Leave the pork in the fridge overnight to let the dry brine do its magic.

I love mixing kosher salt, ground black pepper, and cayenne pepper as my dry brine for pork. This combination is really good for enhancing the flavor of the meat.

What Type Of Salt Should One Use For Dry Brining?

Coarse salt, with Kosher salt being the best, should be the type of salt for dry brining. I use this because coarse salt is easier to distribute as it does not clump up.

Kosher salt has become a must-use for my dry brine as it accentuates the flavors of the meat I cook.

Coarse salt like Kosher salt has larger crystals that are less salty, making them easier to control so you do not end up with a cut of meat that is too salty.

Cut Of Meat	Minimum	Maximum
Chicken And Turkey	12 hours	3 days
Large/Thick Cuts Of Meat (Pork Roast, Pork Butts, Pork Shoulder, Brisket, etc.)	12 hours	3 days
Small/Thin Cuts Of Meat (Steaks, Chops, Etc.)	45 minutes	24 hours
Fish	45 minutes	90 minutes

I try to avoid using table salt for dry brine because it is too concentrated and does not dissolve evenly on the meat.

Benefits Of Dry Brine

If you are still not convinced that dry brining will bring benefits that other methods cannot, here are the main benefits you will get from dry brining.

1. Develop A Deeper Flavor

If you compare dry brining to traditional wet brines, the flavors will be more accentuated with the dry brined meat.

Although wet brine has all the aromas from the herbs and spices, it does not penetrate the meat as much as a dry brine, which only uses salt, would.

Dry brine uses the moisture from the meat so it will not get diluted when the dry brine is applied. You will no longer have surface-level flavors on your steaks or chicken recipes.

The seasoning of the dry brine gets into direct contact with the meat and will even go deeper, and it develops far better flavors than the traditional wet brine.

2. Crispy Exterior, Juicy Interior

Since the salt in the dry brine dissolves the proteins and muscle fibers in the meat, the result will be a juicy interior even without using other liquid ingredients.

The meat will be more relaxed but firm enough to hold its juices. Since the juices are kept inside the meat, the outer parts will be drier, resulting in better browning.

Aside from the color of the meat, the crust will also become crispier as there is not much moisture that will make the outer parts soggy.

3. Hassle-free And Space-saving

Dry brining does not require much space as you will only rub salt on the meat. Wet brine needs space for both the meat and the container you will use to soak the meat.

There is also no need for any special skill to salt a cut of steak or a whole chicken. A wet brine will take hours to make as you whisk, cook, and wait for it to cool down.

A wet brine also needs to have the proper ratio of ingredients so you do not over season or under season the meat whereas the dry brine only needs salt.

Dry brine is also cheaper because you do not need a lot of ingredients for it. Dry brine is truly the go-to if you compare it with the hassle you get from the traditional wet brine.

Dry Brine Vs. Wet Brine

Dry brine is still my go-to compared to wet brine because it enhances the meat’s flavors, especially with steaks and pork chops.

Difference between wet Brine and Dry brine — Chicken in Wet Brine

However, I prefer the result I get from wet brine when I do it with poultry. Wet brine adds a lot of moisture to the meat, making it juicy and tender.

Flavor

In terms of flavor, dry brine takes the win since it gives the meat a more concentrated and even flavor.

Wet brine is dilute and will not go deeper into the meat, which is why it does not do a good job adding a deeper flavor to the cut of meat you brine.

The taste of the meat will become more accentuated if you dry brine it.

Texture

Wet brine does a good job of making the meat tender because of the long exposure to liquid. However, the same aspect can cause the meat to become soggy.

Dry brine is better for making the texture of the meat evenly tender. Dry brine even gets deeper into the meat so the salt does its work well by processing the protein and loosening the muscle fibers.

Procedure

Dry brine is the easier method to use when it comes to brining. Wet brine just takes a lot of ingredients, time, and effort.

You need to prepare the ingredients, find the right balance/ratio, and you even have to cook when you use a wet brine whereas dry brine is salting a cut of meat.

Back to the point above, dry brine is also cheaper and better for space-saving than wet brine.

Amount Of Time Needed

The only downside of dry brine is that it takes a lot of time. Wet brining usually is finished overnight and it would have done its job.

Dry brine will take at least 24 hours and can go up to 3 days for the flavor to truly develop and get the results you want such as the crispy and browned crust or the juicy interior.

How Long To Dry Brine Turkey, Steak, Chicken, Etc…

While it is easy to dry brine your choice of meat, there is no one rule for dry brining the different cuts, and the timing will vary depending on the meat you want to brine.

If you want to dry brine, here is a chart on how long the type of meat should be dry brined to get the best results.

What NOT To Brine?

Burgers! Burgers are not meant to be brined because they do not have many muscle fibers to dissolve.

Do not Brine a burger Patty — Do not Brine a Burger Patty!!

There is no reason for you to brine ground beef as it will become tender already even without any sort of brine or meat tenderizer.

Retaining moisture is good but since the muscle fibers in the burger patties are not connected, they will not be able to hold in the moisture from the brine.

Fattier cuts of meat also do not benefit that much from brines. Leaner cuts of meat are the best cuts to brine since the brine will help them tenderize.

Fats can help with both adding flavor and tenderness to the meat so if the cut of meat you are cooking has enough marbling in it, it is not necessary to brine it first.

You can just cook it as it is with a little seasoning and your barbecue would still be full of delicious flavors and tender textures!

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