How long is it safe to dry turkey in the fridge?

[DogFaced PonySoldier]

The ever-present quest for true crispy turkey skin on a smoked turkey.

Doing it on the smoker is... ok. Good flavor of the meat, but if I brine it, as with chikkins, the skin never really truly dries out enough to get really crispy.

So I'm considering doing a good solid 24-36 hour brine, maybe inject, but leave the spatchcocked turkey in the fridge to dry out. I really need to go back to my previous threads and see what I did the last couple times or so, but I think I've just dry-brined for at most 48 hours. Has anyone gone longer than that? 72 hours? Or longer?

I want crispy, cracklin'-style turkey skin. But moist, brined flavorful meat.

Is deep frying the only only ONLY way to get the skin that good?

[synodog]

The oil-less fryer I used provided that skin relatively decently. It's definitely not like deep fry but it does dry out the skin much more than smoking or oven. I happened to spray that butter-flavored cooking spray on both birds as well. (I did that more for non-stick on the basket). I don't know if that contributed to the crispiness.

[RonB]

Have you tried separating the skin from the carcass? Putting some whole herbs under the skin will help too.

[DogFaced PonySoldier]

I pretty much pull it all away when I do a full spatchcock. But not like removing it from the bird. But it's all pulled free except at the wings and the legs.

[Michael_in_TX]

I seem to remember that the one time I did a turkey (~15 lbs, I think) I did a dry brine (just salt) for two, if not three days after it had thawed.

[Jerod Broussard]

Frying is the best. Subcutaneous fat does a wonderful job of keeping skin rubbery.

I inject, let it sit uncovered in the fridge 2-3 days, pat dry and spray with cooking spray, little dusting of Tony's, run 350-F+. NO spatchcock. Drumsticks and wings may need wrapping before she hits 160.