Dry Brine- 3 days ahead of serving

Day 1 (Monday before Thanksgiving)

• Place all dry brine ingredients in a large bowl and combine them together.
• Rinse and dry the turkey. Make sure you remove any giblets inside and get any leftover feathers that were missed. I use paper towels to dry the bird. Place your turkey in a roasting pan (you don't need the rack yet), and rub all over with brine mix. Make sure you get all the nooks and crannies and the inside too! Wrap the entire pan with a large roasting bag or cover it with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator. I found a roasting bag at the dollar store and it worked perfectly!

Day 2 (Tuesday before Thanksgiving)

• Open the bag or uncover and flip the bird over. Rub any mix that fell off over the bird, re-wrap it, and place it back in the refrigerator.

Day 3 (Wednesday before Thanksgiving)

• Take the bag or wrap off the turkey, flip it one more time and allow the turkey to dry out in the fridge uncovered.

Day 4 (Thanksgiving day!)

• Remove the turkey from the fridge and pat dry removing any excess brine. Place on the counter and allow it to warm up for at least an hour before cooking.

Roasting the Turkey

• Preheat your oven to 425°F and move the rack all the way to the bottom of the oven. Pat turkey dry one more time and place lemon pieces, onion pieces, and fresh herbs inside the cavity. Tie legs together with twine and place on roasting rack breast side up. Make sure the legs are all tightly snug next to the turkey. Brush the turkey with melted butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Place the roasting pan in the oven and cook for 30 minutes at 425°F. This is how you get crispy skin!
• Lower oven temp to 325°F and continue to cook for 2-2.5 more hours. Check the internal temp at the thickest part of the thigh, it's ready at 165°. My 10 lb. turkey took just 2 more hours to cook.
• Remove the turkey from the oven and place the rack on a baking sheet (you are going to use drippings from the roasting pan for gravy). Cover with foil and allow it to rest for at least 20-30 minutes before carving. This is the perfect amount of time to make the delicious gravy!