Depends on what mood I'm in for. Sometimes kosher salt, fresh herbs, cracked pepper. Other times it may be those same ingredients with some orange juice or apple cider. Either way is very good. I usally get the storage bags from hefty and throw everything in a large cooler overnight. Brining does make a difference.

I brine. 1 gallon cold water, 1 cup kosher salt, 1/2 c brown sugar. Bring to simmer then chill. Marinate turkey 2 - 8 hours. I do it overnight. I have an old refrigerator in the garage and use one of the crisper drawers to brine the turkey in.

Depends on what mood I'm in for. Sometimes kosher salt, fresh herbs, cracked pepper. Other times it may be those same ingredients with some orange juice or apple cider. Either way is very good. I usally get the storage bags from hefty and throw everything in a large cooler overnight. Brining does make a difference.

I do not use brine, although it is supposed to be much juicier if it is brined. I like my turkey cooked in the oven and basted every 30 minutes.

Sorry about the double post, ran away from the computer for several minutes and forgot I had submitted. ooops.

I brined my first turkey year before last and really liked the results. I used Alton Brown's brine recipe with a few tweaks since I didn't have everything on hand that his called for. It truly did seem to make the turkey come out more moist than usual. I brined it over night in our garage fridge. I will be doing it again when it's my turn at roasting the turkey. We're going to a friend's house Thursday.

I did buy a fresh turkey when I brined mine. Have any of you used a thawed turkey to brine and if so, did it come out as good?

We also have used Alton Brown's brine recipe. This year my DH is using a citrus brine...we'll see if it's better than Alton's! I really LOVE a brined turkey. Fried is great, too, but the peanut oil is too darn expensive for just 1-2 uses.

No brine, no basting, no extra liquid. Shallow open roaster. I stuff, pop in the oven and forget about it. If it starts to brown too much I put foil over the parts or a loose tent.

When the leg moves easily it's done. Turkey is so easy to me. Longest part is making the stuffing and gravy base the night before. I don't understand all the stress about it.

Wildchild, I don't stress about the turkey but I do brine with Mark Peel's brine (those who wish to can Google it). The turkey is always moist and it seems to cook quicker for some reason. I don't baste. The only turkeys we can get here are thawed ones, so I can't compare it to a fresh one, but I always get good results.

I don't see any stressing, lol! Brined turkeys are terrific AND easy. The meat is incredibly tender and juicy, that's for sure.

Sometimes we brine, sometimes we don't. If you decide to brine just be sure and check that your gravy isn't too salty - that can happen.

Some of you take things way to literally. The stressing I refer to is everywhere, not necessarily here and doesn't really apply to the OP's question which was simple and straightforward.. But every Thanksgiving the talk everywhere.....on TV, the radio, forums turns to how to cook a turkey. It's almost like it's some kind of foreign dish instead of just poultry. People (in general for you literal thinkers) don't ask about how to roast a chicken but say the word turkey and all of a sudden the discussions start. There are even turkey hotlines. THAT was what I meant by my comment about all the stress.

Just remember not to brine a kosher, butterball or other bird that's been "enhanced" or injected with salt, sugar and other stuff.