If you have never massaged a turkey before cooking it, then you're missing out on a chance to have the most flavorful turkey you've ever tasted.  It has nothing to do with relaxing the turkey, although turkeys probably get pretty stressed out around the holidays, it's all about the seasoning.  Using a dry rub on a turkey is an excellent way to add extra flavor to your turkey dinner.

Adding a dry rub is a very easy thing to do.  Just find a loose flap of skin that gives you access to the meat of the turkey and take a handful of the rub and start rubbing.  The act of the rubbing actually helps the seasoning penetrate the meat much better than sprinkling them on top.  You can taste the difference.  When you've rubbed as much of the meat as you can, then fold the skin back and you are done.  If you let the turkey sit for a while it will absorb more of the rub's flavor then if you cook it right away.  But remember to keep your turkey refrigerated until you're ready to cook it. 

The most common dry rubs include garlic or onion powder.  A garlic turkey is a wonderful to treat your holiday guests to something different.  But if you're really looking for a unique meal, then try a jerk rub.  You wouldn't think that all that jerk seasonings (including cinnamon) would go with a turkey but they create a wondering Caribbean style turkey that will have your guests talking until the next holiday. 

Using a dry rub on a turkey is pretty common in the world of deep fried turkey but there's no reason why you can't do it to a regular oven roaster too.  Either way a turkey that's been dry rubbed is a great way to incorporate a lot more flavor into your holiday meals.

Now that you have learned how to dry rub a turkey, the next thing that you'll need is some excellent turkey dry rub recipes.