Soaking the turkey overnight in a brine solution makes it juicier and can add flavor. A lot of the turkeys in the store, such as Butterball, have broth or something added to help with the juiciness, but brining is still worth doing.

There are several recipes on the Internet for brines, calling for apple juice, cranberry juice, and various herbs and spices in addition to lots of salt.

Of course, a big challenge is finding a container large enough to submerge the turkey in the solution and keep the whole thing cold enough. If it's a small turkey a person might have a large enough cooking pot.

I like this method:

"Line a cooler with a large food safe bag. Combine the apple juice, water, and salt in the bag; stir until the salt is dissolved; add the garlic.
To use: Lie your turkey into the brine with the breast-side down; add more water to submerge turkey completely if needed. Pour the ice over the turkey. Seal the bag and close the cooler; allow to sit overnight."

I haven't looked lately, but am vaguely aware that not all large garbage bags are deemed food-safe, but if not a garbage bag of some sort, I'm not sure what else to use. Definitely not a dry cleaning bag because not only are they too thin, they smell like the cleaning chemicals.

Another recipe called for using a clean 5-gallon bucket. Now, that's a good idea because pickles and other foods come in those buckets, and a deli or restaurant would probably save one for us.

My mother brined her turkeys in the laundry tub, that deep sink next to the washing machine. We have a laundry tub in Las Vegas that has Mr. Troutbend's bowling ball spinner in it. He squirts fine gritty stuff on the ball as it rotates and applies light pressure to clean up the surface. Putting it down in a sink keeps the glop from flying all over the room. No danger I would consider using it for a turkey, though.



The other problem is that it is a good idea to refrigerate the turkey in the brine. That can be a challenge with these large containers, which is why the cooler idea sounds attractive. With our cold nights, we could simply set whatever container out on the back porch, but this is mountain lion and coyote country, so I would put mine in the garage if it's cold enough.