I have a 2 step brine system for turkeys and you will LOVE IT!!! I discovered it on Thanksgiving and it was PERFECT

STEP 1 The Brine

1 Gallon of Chicken Broth
1 Cup of Kosher salt
1/2 cup of Brown sugar
handfull of black peppercorns

BOIL for about 10 minutes

Here is the key. When you have it cooling on the counter take a sponge that you have just finished cleaning the counters with and throw it towards the sink... MAKE SURE YOU MISS THE SINK AND GET IT IN THE POT OF BRINE!

Then, dump the brine and go to the store and buy more chicken broth...OH and make sure it is like 11:38 at NIGHT so you feel all NICE inside.

Come home from the market for step 2

STEP 2

(Repeat STEP 1 just OMIT the dirty sponge)

Here I thought it was going to be that you put peanutbutter in your prize winning chili.

Putting meat in brine helps with keeping the meat juicy and tender; We do it for the Pork Porterhouse we serve where I work. We also did it for all the turkeys we served on Thanksgiving.

Works well for pork and poultry and for leaner cuts of beef; I lean to just marinating for heavier cuts.

My main piece of advice is to not brine  the meat over 24 hours or so...too much brine time will result in a poor product. You can marinate after the brine, just watch the salt content.

Go at it!

Excuse my ignorance.  Do you just soak the turkey in the brine?  How long?

Did anyone fry their turkey this year? What do you season it with?

I soaked it for about 10 hours and MAN WAS THIS THE JUICIEST TURKEY EVER!!!!!!

I injected  my turkey with a mixture of white wine, melted butter and garlic (puree'd in the food processor) and salt.

Deep fry in peanut oil at 350degrees 3.5 minutes/pound...

before the turkey gets put in, we take Pilsbury biscuits (in the tube kind) and cut them into halves...throw these in the oil for a few minutes on each side (they float) take them out and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Nice treat.
After the improvised donuts, we then cook the hushpuppies in the oil. When those are done, then we put the turkey in.

That doesn't sound that bad.....a Great Dane dragging a whole ham(bone in) off the counter and consuming part of it before being caught...hard to doctor up that carnage![rolleyes]

I did the opposite - no seasoning on the bird that contained salt.  Brushed olive oil on beforehand, a little basil, a little sage, a little more sage, and then brushed every 45 minutes with melted unsalted butter - none of that margarine crap.

Juiciest bird I've ever had, bar none.  Meat was moist and very flavorful.