Cool, will do. I will update with hopefully excellent results after we cook the bird. Got my fingers crossed.

j

Ok, thanks very much for the reply hb grrl. I was freaking out enough that I went next door and got the grandma to come look at my turkey. She looked at it, felt it, and then stuck her arm in the cavity and told me it wasn't defrosted all the way, and the defrosted texture was normal. So, basically I'm a complete idiot, and the reason it felt so much firmer last night was because it was still partially frozen.

Now what I'm worried about is that the already absorbed salt will hold the excess liquid from freezing. Does it work that way? If so, I assume that would be bad all around. I'll definitely try the air drying regardless, hopefully that will dry out anything that isn't supposed to be there (idk, just kind of confused at this point.)

Hey, I have to go to Japan on business next week, so we're doing Thanksgiving a week early. Bought a frozen turkey on Friday and defrosted it in the fridge until last night (I know frozen is not ideal, but I understood it to ultimately be okay with this technique). Following the LA Times dry brining article, I salted the turkey last night (1 tbsp/5 lbs). When my roommate took out the turkey this morning to massage the salt in (about 15 hours from salting), he was alarmed by how mushy the texture of the turkey had become. I checked it and he was right, the turkey is mushy all over, feels completely different than from last night. Neither of us have experience with turkey, but it's *really* mushy, like incredibly noticeable.

Is this normal and part of the process, or is my turkey ruined? I was going to cook it on Wednesday; should I cook it sooner to avert spoilage? It still smells normal, it just feels broken down. Is there a way to salvage mushy turkey?

I'm freaking out. Help would be very much appreciated.

J