Nah.
I tried brining once. The skin was rubbery and the flesh was salty. Not a fan.
Maybe the once wasn’t indicative of the general case.
My skin is always super crispy and the meat is perfect. But I do a lot of stuff to make sure both happen.
My favorite turkeys have been those I spatchcocked, which doesn’t make for the lovely carving scene, but assures even cooking and no dryness, but I prefer ham to turkey, so since it was only us and the 3 younger kids, ham
I made a waaaay harsh turkey brine a couple of years ago. Thankfully, the meat was fine, but the pan drippings needed a big infusion of chicken stock!!!
What do you do to crisp the skin?
With an unbrined turkey, I start the roast at a high temp, then turn it down to complete the roast. My skin always comes out fabulous – and pretty, too. My roast fowl looks like something that could be on a magazine cover. (or so I’ve been told. I don’t buy those magazines.) Maybe brined skin needs something different. It was really tough and rubbery when I tried it.
My family tends to like less salt than average. At least, my husband and I do. I guess my daughter always salts the stuff we make. But I tried buying kosher chicken, and it was just too salty. Same with the brined turkey.
I brine the turkey in apple cider brine (I think it has 6 or 8 ingredients in the brine) 36 hours before I plan to cook it, and take it out several hours in advance to let it dry. When it’s time to cook, I rub it with vegetable oil and I cook at 500 for 30 minutes, then reduce to 325 or so for the rest of the time, and I don’t cover it. The apple cider turns the skin super dark, to the point it looks burnt, but it’s not.
I also make sure to not buy a turkey that is pre-brined for shelf life. That makes a big difference in the saltiness, but if you don’t like salt, it might still be saltier than you prefer.
That’s probably the key difference. I wiped it dry, but didn’t do this.
This year, since we were cooking early, we brined about 24 hours, then cleaned and dried and back in the fridge overnight.
We use America’s Test Kitchen turkey recipe to cover the outside and under the skin with an herb paste.