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 Brined Is Best

Brining is all the rage this Thanksgiving.  If you too want a moister, more flavorful bird on your table this year, read on!

What Is Brining?

Historically, brining has been used as a method to preserve meat. Meat is soaked for many days in a very strong saltwater solution with the addition of sugar, spices, and other ingredients. This curing process binds the water in the meat or removes it altogether so it's not available for the growth of food-spoiling microorganisms.  With the advent of mechanical refrigeration, traditional brining became less popular for food preservation, but is still used today in the production of some meat products.

Flavor Brining

Today there's a surge in popularity of "flavor brining", a term coined by Bruce Aidells and Denis Kelly in the book The Complete Meat Cookbook.
While traditional brining was meant to preserve meat, the purpose of flavor brining is to improve the flavor, texture, and moisture content of lean cuts of meat. This is achieved by soaking the meat in a moderately salty solution for a few hours to a few days. Flavor brining also provides a temperature cushion during cooking--if you happen to overcook the meat a little, it will still be moist.
At a minimum, a flavor brine consists of water and salt. Other ingredients may include sugar, brown sugar, honey, molasses, maple syrup, fruit juices, beer, liquor, bay leaves, pickling spices, cloves, garlic, onion, chilies, citrus fruits, peppercorns, and other herbs and spices. Many recipes call for bringing the ingredients to a boil to dissolve the sugars and bring out the flavor of herbs, then cooling the mixture to below 40°F before use.

How Does It Work?

There is general agreement among food scientists and writers that the processes of diffusion and osmosis are involved in achieving equilibrium between the flavor brine solution and the meat--in other words, that these processes attempt to balance the difference between the amount of water, salt, and flavorings in the flavor brine solution and the amount of water and dissolved substances inside the meat cells. However, opinions differ as to the mechanics of this balancing act.
The most commonly offered explanation is that the flavor brine solution contains a higher concentration of water and salt than the meat, so the solution passes into the meat cells through their semi-permeable membranes, adding water and flavor to the inside of the meat cells. This explanation is offered by authorities including Cook's Illustrated magazine and Robert L. Wolke, author of What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained.
A higher concentration of salt inside meat cells causes protein strands to denature. The tightly wound proteins unwind and get tangled together, and when heated, the proteins form a matrix that traps water molecules and holds onto them tightly during cooking. The bottom line is that flavor brining results in meat that is more moist and flavorful than unbrined meat, regardless of which explanation you choose to believe.

How To Brine

First off you will need a suitable container that is non reactive and large enough to hold the turkey. Best bets include:
Food Service Containers: food grade containers from a restaurant supply store
Plastic Buckets: used bulk food buckets or non-food buckets lined with a turkey oven roasting bag
Coolers: small, medium or large insulated ice chests
Ziploc Bags: 1- and 2-gallon sizes and Big Bags XL
Reynolds Turkey Roasting Bag: nylon bags intended for oven roasting
Pots: stainless steel or anodized (do not use aluminum)
Bowls: large glass, ceramic, or stainless steel mixing bowls

Avoid garbage bags, used laundry detergent buckets, or other plastic containers not intended for food use.  Also, keep in mind that the bigger the container, the more brine you'll have to make, so match the size of the container to the meat. The meat must be completely submerged in the solution during the brining process. Place a heavy ceramic plate or bowl on top of the meat to prevent it from floating in the brine.  Flavor brining does not preserve meat. The meat and brine solution must be kept below 40° at all times.
If storing the meat in the refrigerator during brining, check to make sure that the container will fit in your refrigerator! A container large enough to hold a whole turkey might be too big for your fridge.
If storing the meat in a cooler during brining, you must keep the meat and brine cold without diluting the mixture. Put the meat and brine directly in the cooler, then place Ziploc bags filled with ice or reusable gel packs into the brine solution. Another approach is to put the meat and brine into a turkey oven roasting bag inside the cooler, then pack ice or gel packs around the bag. Monitor the temp of the cooler to make sure it stays below 40°F at all times.
To determine who much brine you need to make place the meat in the container and cover with plain water. Remove the meat and measure the remaining water to determine the amount of flavor brine you'll need to make.

How Long To Brine

A whole turkey should remain in the brine anywhere from 12 to 24 hours. Then remove from the brine and pat the turkey dry and let it "dry out” in the fridge for 8-12 hours to make sure you get a crispy skin on your turkey.

Recipes

A basic recipe for w whole turkey is as follows:

2 gallons cool water
1 ½ - 2 cups Salt (use Kosher or sea salt, use the lesser amount of sea salt and the higher for kosher)
Mix in a non-reactive container until dissolved. 
Optional: 1/2 cup rapadura can be added for each gallon of water. Brine for 12-14 hours. Rinse turkey and pat dry with paper towels before cooking.

Based on an article that appeared in The Virtual Weber Bullet.