Very nice!
I've never had a deep fried turkey, but I hear they are good. You can't go wrong with roasted, though.

I've been waiting to brine one. I've heard rave reviews. No extra money for a turkey this year and we've been invited to a friends.

Reminds me of when we went to an uncle & aunt's place for the holidays and my aunt was so "thrilled" that they "won a turkey"! So we were eating the turkey they "won". Well turns out my uncle owned a rather big business in town and DONATED the turkey! For years, they would "win" a turkey!! Not a lot of people could catch on though. Says something, doesn't it? LOL

LOL, Congrats, Kathy....I think!! I always brine our turkeys if they are not being deep fried, it makes a huge difference. And last year for the first time in many years we bought a fresh turkey. It was good, different from the traditional Honeysuckle.

We're deep frying this year!

I've never brined one, but might like to try that. How is it done?

I've neve heard of it either. I'm curious, too

Oh, you lucky woman! I would just put it away for sometime I feel like having turkey! :)

Never brined one, nor deep fat fried, and really don't think it is in my future either. We love it done in the oven, the traditional way.

Moni

Just one? Heck, that's nothing. When I was a kid, our church had Bingo just before Thanksgiving and of course, the prizes were turkeys. My mother was the first to win a turkey, 3 games later, my brother won and about 5 or 6 games later I did. People were jokingly saying we must know the Bingo caller.

To top it off, when we got home there was another turkey on our doorstep. Our neighbor's grand kids had tried out their new jackknives on mom's garden. Neighbor felt so bad and was trying to make up for the damage. So we wound up with 4 turkeys. We kept one, ate one and gave the other 2 to charity.

I've heard about both brining and deep frying turkey. I use the rotisserie and cook my bird over a charcoal fire. It's so tender that the meat almost falls off the bird. Nice part is you don't tie up the oven for hours and don't have to worry about basting the bird.

A free turkey? Just think it as a bonus, I remember one year, when hubby and our two sons worked at the same company. We were having a big crowd for Thanksgiving. I was so proud to tell them one evening when they came home from work, that I had bought a 22lb turkey. They said that each of them would be getting a turkey from the company. Then one of the sons won another turkey at the Christmas party. He gave it to a co-worker who had a big family, and we donated a couple of the others to others who needed them more than us. We still call that the year of the turkeys. LOL Dottie

Don't know about that brining. I'm not a big salt person.

We've deep fried quite a few turkeys. No problems after the first one caught the grill on fire. After that we got an actual deep fryer for turkey, works great, plus you don't need the oven! Mainly do them in the summer. One year DH and DSIL were out on the driveway frying the turkey and up the drive walks a live turkey. We still laugh at that.
I know brining uses a lot of water and salt (let turkey sit in water for about 4 hours), I'm not a salt person, so not crazy about that, but willing to let DH do it.
One year I did win 3 turkeys at different bingos, gave 2 away and ate one. No freezer room to hang on to them!
Kathy G in MI

Definitely brine it. I made a brined turkey two years ago (my first) and everyone loved it.

I have a brined turkey breast in the oven right now! This is my first time trying it. It was very, very easy. The directions were in the Boston Globe magazine last Sunday. 16 cups water, 2 cups salt, 2 cups sugar, 1 tbsp. pickling spice. Bring to a boil, then simmer until sugar and salt are disolved. Let cool to room temp. Pour it over the turkey in a big bowl, breast side down (I think it's supposed to cover. I didn't have a big enough bowl, so I put it in 2 plastic bags (in case one leaked), tied the top, and set it in a 13x9" glass pan).

Let set overnight (I did it early this morning until late this afternoon). Line a roasting pan with long strips of foil and put turkey in; brush melted butter on turkey and sprinkle with white pepper. Cover the extended foil loosely over the top. Roast at 350 for 1 1/2 hours. Open foil and cook for 2 1/2 hours more, brushing with more butter and basting with chicken broth every 30 minutes.

Let set for 15 mins. These directions are for a 9-11 pound turkey breast.

I've no idea how it'll taste yet - will let you know. :-)

I'm with Moni--just plain roasted is good for me. We've done them fried and brined but always go back to roasting. Never tried it grilled, but it sounds good that way.

I'm glad to hear that some have brined and enjoyed it. I'll have lots of other things on the table, so if it is too salty for anyone, no one will starve!
Suzieque, please report back on your turkey.
Kathy G in MI

There are several recipes for brineing a turkey on the Food Network's web site.

Here is a link that might be useful: Check it out!

Well, here's my report. It was good. Not great, good. It was very salty on the outside, and got less salty further in. I looked at some other recipes on the web afterward and most of them say to rinse the turkey after it comes out of the brine. The recipe I had didn't say that. And I didn't realize how many variations there are. Some have herbs in them, and all types of different things. I will do it again. The turkey is very tender, has flavor, and is moist. I'll try other recipes next time, but will do it as it's very easy and little work.

Oh - in the recipe I posted, above, I forgot to list 5 crushed garlic cloves.

Regarding the original post, congratulations! :-)

Suzieque

I accidentially "brined" (salt-free) a turkey one year. I always thaw the frozen turkey in the wrapping, covering it with cold water in a clean 5 gallon bucket. One year, when I went to remove the thawed turkey from the water, it weighed a ton! The wrapping had a small tear in it that alllowed water to get in and soak the turkey. I thought it was going to be awful but it was the best, most tender, most juicy turkey I ever made. Ever since I've been thawing the turkey without the wrapping in water overnight and dryng it well. I do not add salt or seasoning to the water, I just use plain water. No big mess to clean up. I season the turkey as usual after it has been soaked and dried with paper towels. A few years later I began seeing all the "brining" recipes! I still just use plain water. In fact, I started soaking chickens & parts as well with the same great results. All that water soaking does is replace the natural moisture that was there but lost during processing & storage. I guess I should call this method "soaking" not "brining" since there is no salt the water! I deep fry or roast the soaked turkey with great results.