Politics, religion and is the turkey done are the three biggest areas of disagreement. My grandparents were unashamedly Catholic, never talked politics and my grandma always cooked the hell out of the turkey.
Had she brined it, she would still have cooked it for 9 days, but it might have been better. A brine does a few things at the molecular level which I’ll not bore you with but it is worth knowing that the brine–a solution of salt, sugar, and water, does make the meat more moist (my wife hates that word). The salt water enters the meat faster than regular water and sorta locks on to the meat so when it is cooked, the meat retains more moisture.
You may bulk and say, Yeah, but, I don’t have time for that. Well, here’s the deal. The turkey does all the work. You make the brine one day, cool it, and put the bird in it the next day. Easy peasy.
At its core a brine is
1 gallon of water
1 cup of salt
half a cup of sugar.
You may add any flavors you wish from black peppercorns, bay leaves, fresh herbs like marjoram or thyme or rosemary or keep it simple. A turkey will likely need 24 hours to brine which means totally in the brine. You may need to produce a double batch of brine to make sure the bird is covered. Also, the basic brine is excellent for pork chops or chicken breasts.
Remove the bird from the brine and let it drip dry a bit on a rack. If you are in the part of the world where Thanksgiving is cold, leave it outside if the temperature is below 40 degrees. Roast that baby as you would any un-brined bird. Remember to allow for carry-over cooking. That is the time that the turkey, or steak or chicken, will continue to increase in temperature. The larger the turkey (or chicken or roast [Prime rib]) the more the temperature will climb. I’ve seen turkeys increase a full 10 degrees out of the oven. This is normal and is to be used to your advantage. The turkey will be fine on the counter covered loosely with foil. Let a turkey rest–sit out on the counter–for at least 20 minutes before you carve. Remember at Aunt Petunia’s house the turkey was always sitting in juice? That juice is supposed to be in the bird, not a bird bath. Letting the turkey (or roast) rest allows those juices to redistribute throughout the meat making supper yummy and (gasp!) moist.
