Start with a thawed turkey. In theory, you can start with a frozen turkey, but it is harder to pull the legs and wings apart to thoroughly coat the turkey and you would have an unevenly brined turkey.

Combine the salt with any of the optional ingredients. Coat the turkey by sprinkling the brine with a dry hand and using the other hand to pull the turkey apart. Two people can get this job done even more smoothly, but if you are solo— you can do it!

The skin can also be lifted slightly to coat the salt directly on the flesh. It is harder to do lift the skin after brining. Place the turkey in the roasting pan you are planning to use with a rack below to lift the turkey up slightly.

Place it in your fridge, uncovered. Alternatively, fill a cooler with ice and place your turkey in there. If it is in the cooler longer than 24 hours, be sure to resupply the ice and check the cooler’s temperature periodically.

When it is time to roast, the salt should be mostly absorbed and the skin will be mostly dry. If it is wet, you can dab up any wet spots but rinsing isn’t necessarily required as the salt will be absorbed and no longer on the surface. Do not add more salt before roasting, there is plenty absorbed in there now.