Check the marthastewartliving.com website. She's got tons of recipes including brines. Also check the foodnetwork.com website.

Sal

A recent taste test of chefs found that they ALL preferred the basic Butterball turkey to a fresh turkey, even a brined one. This was a blind taste testing, btw.

Why? Because the Butterball---and almost all other commercial frozen turkeys----is already "factory brined" before it's frozen. This is what makes the meat juicy and the browning even.

If you don't want the extra work (and brining at home is a LOT of extra work and you have to keep it refrigerated in the bucket of salt water) you may want to consider just getting the Butterball.

The most comprehensive description of brining I've ever seen was in last year's November Cook's Illustrated magazine. They have a website as well, but it may be on a subscription basis also.

Good Luck!

Thanks for the info.

I'll check both and see which I feel up to doing. Its good to know they sell some already done just in case I don't feel up to it.

I brine our Thanksgiving turkey every year. We had our dinner on Sunday, so hubby and I are just relaxing today! But all brines that I have seen contain both sugar and salt. The brine I use is 1/2 cup of kosher salt and 1/2 cup of brown suger per gallon of water, plus about 12 whole pepper corns and about 6 whole garlic cloves. I have a large canning kettle and can fit up to a 20 lb. turkey. This year we had a 13 pound turkey so I made 2 gallons of brine. The salt and sugar should first be dissolved in the water, then stir in the pepper corns and garlic cloves. We have a second refrigerator that the kettle fits in, and I brine the turkey the night before. I remove the turkey from the brine at least 1 hour before roasting, rinse thoroughly and pat dry. I leave it on the counter to come close to room temperature so that the turkey is not ice cold before roasting. No other seasoning is necessary before roasting, but I do spread a compound butter with some rubbed sage between the skin and meat. Then rub the whole turkey with olive oil. It is always tender and juicy.

I haven't tried a pre-injected turkey with brine yet, but maybe I'll buy one to try for Christmas to compare.

I did a dry brine this year and it turned out so tasty and juicy! I learned about this brine on the Martha Stewart Show. All you do is rinse (don't forget to remove the neck and giblets) and dry your turkey very well and then mix about 2/3 cup of kosher salt with about 6 crushed bay leaves, rub the salt mixture all over the outside and inside of your turkey, put the turkey in a large bag (I used a new plastic garbage bag) remove air from the bag and tie it off. I put in on a jelly roll pan and let it sit in the refrigerator for 2 days. Before cooking rinse the turkey very well and pat dry.

This was so much easier than a regular brine and the results were very good.

I did a turkey a few years ago that was so big the only way to brine it was to use a cooler. It worked out great. It was a fresh turkey (from a nearby farm). I think you can only brine fresh or kosher turkeys. Most surpermarket packaged turkeys are basically pre-brined/injected. Make sure you rinse it really, really well after removing it from the brine. I used the brine recipe from Cook's Illustrated.

In my experience, the best way to get a juicy bird (cooks dark meat, not overcooked white meat) is to flip the bird (not trying to be funny!). Cook it on a rack upside down at 400 for an hour. Turn the oven down to 300 and cook it right side up the rest of the time (white meat at 160). I have to say, flipping a 24 pound turkey is not easy, but it can be done. I do this all the time when I do smaller turkeys.