I love turkey and all the yummy meals that can be made from this little fowl, but sometimes cooking a turkey can be overwhelming and you are certain you are going to mess it up. We haven't messed up a turkey after brining it (okay well there was the one time, but it was the first time and we missed a big step). But it IS super easy to do.
What you need:
a big bucket, like a utility bucket from home depot OR a good sized clean, empty cooler
an unfrozen (fresh or thawed) turkey that will actually fit in above container
kosher salt
brown sugar
What to do:
In your bucket mix together the brine and stir well.
Immerse the turkey (be sure to remove the innards/neck/etc from the inside of the bird) into the brine. Make sure it's under the water and covered. We usually just allow the cavity to fill with brine, but you might need to weight it down with something.
You can either put a lid on or just tin foil to cover and leave in a cool place. Where we live is a cold place when it is turkey time, so we usually will just put the whole container outside in the garage or on the back deck depending on how cold it is.
Turn the the turkey over in about 12 hours.
Leave for an additional 12 hours (for a total of 24, more if you want)
Now this is the part that we omitted the first time we brined a turkey: Rinse off the turkey well. Clean off the outside and rinse out the inside of the bird. If you don't then the first couple of cm's of the cooked meat will be salty.
Pat the bird dry and cook as desired. (deep fry, roasted, BBQ?)
