Butterflied, Dry Brined Roasted Turkey with Roasted Root Vegetable Panzanella

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This was such an easy recipe to make. The method was pretty simple and planning ahead made the T-day much less stressful. We would cut back on the salt maybe a teensy bit. We also cooked it on a cooling rack rather than straight on the oven rack and removing it and cleaning up wasn't bad at all. Flavor wise I would say it was among the tastier birds we've made, texture was also juicy with a crispy flavorful skin. I would make this again. Thanks for a great technique :-

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Holy Moly! I made this for the first Turkey I've ever made, and honest to God, Everyone told me it was the best Turkey they've ever had: Crispy skin, moist meat, Delicious!

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Turkey was too salty and dry brine technique is a bother. Will not ever make this again.

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Not only the best Turkey preparation I have ever made, but the best I have ever tasted - as was the soup made from the carcass after! I did not make Panzanella, rather put our bread stuffing pan under the bird - and also threw a few bacon scraps over the bird while it cooked. Used Bobby Flay's roasted turkey stock a few days ahead to make sure I had lots of gravy - it was divine. Love you A.B.!

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I used AB's wet brine the last few years and loved it, but I found this recipe a lot less labor-intensive and the results even better, which I didn't think was possible. I followed the recipe to the letter and it was the juiciest turkey I've ever tasted.

- I used a fresh turkey from a local farm. It was 18 pounds, so I doubled the dry brine ingredients and just slathered them on until they looked even around the bird. I didn't think it was too salty, as some have said. Maybe the store bought turkeys that are already injected with salt need less in the brine? It also took 38 minutes longer to cook due to the size, but I expected that and planned for it.
- I thought the panzanella was great, and added a really nice slight acid to the often one-note of the Thanksgiving plate. It DEFINITELY prevented the smokey kitchen, so roast some kind of veggies in the bottom.
- We have a second refrigerator and a large stove. I'm not sure it would have been as feasible without them.

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Excellent turkey, with rave reviews from 50+ people.

- Turkey was super moist, great flavor, and seasoned perfectly all the way through. Skin insanely crispy.

- Compared to AB's classic brine? My wife says that one tastes like Thanksgiving, this one tastes like turkey, both awesome.

- Butterflying was tough with no electric knife but worth it. Made cooking more even and gravy was done the day before.

- Dry-brine = easy! Resulting flavors were a hit. Salt penetrated all the way in perfectly. Use Diamond Kosher salt. If you use Morton's, go 2 Tbsp per 14 lb bird.

- Our 19 lb bird took a lot longer.

- Pull at 160 deg F if you need more doneness. We pulled around 155, resting took care of pink.

- The rack procedure is tricky if you have a bigger bird or aren't doing the panzanella. We did have to alter a bit due to smoke. Just make a nice big/wide leak-proof rig to catch the fat, maybe with a mirepoix.

- Concept of this turkey can be applied to chicken. I'll definitely try it.

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Won't make it again. Yes, the turkey cooked perfectly in 90 minutes, yes the flavor was great, and no it did not stick to the rack as I envisioned it would. BUT it looked "pathetic' in its flattened, discolored, shriveled state as I placed it in front of my Thanksgiving guests. And since we eat with our eyes first, it was a big disappointment. Also, did not care for the Panzanella. The root veggies became over cooked at the first stage and the flavor was weird with the vinegar added.

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This is not my favorite Alton recipe. This is a improvement in texture over the brined bird but the flavor reminded me of the frozen turkey rolls we ate when I was a kid. The star of this recipe is the Panzanella. Delicious!

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Awesome recipe!! Much better than the AB wet brined turkey and much easier. I adjusted the salt by 20% (10 tsp down to 8 tsp because I had a 11 lb fresh turkey, and it came out perfect. The turkey came up to temp in about 40 minutes after going to 350. The panzanella was different but very good. However, I roasted and stirred it for about 20 minutes, took it out and added the vinegar which was a little much. So I threw it back in the pan and roasted it for another 20 minutes to burn off some of the vinegar and it was awesome. No leftovers. This is my permenant recipe for turkey day, although I will experiment with the dyr brine spices and possibly the panzanella ingredients next year :-

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I walked into my house where my wife has been cooking this recipe, and was greeted with the stench of burnt grease. How on earth are you supposed to roast a turkey directly on the rack, without grease dripping off to the side everywhere? Does Alton own a giant oven that normal people don't own? Our 13 lb bird was dripping everywhere but the pan beneath it, God help anyone trying to cook a 20 lb. turkey. Instead of the smell of Thanksgiving, our house reeks of burnt grease.