Happy Thanksgiving to The Lounge

[Sabra]

Most of the rest [of thanksgiving food] is OK but a bit on the bland side.

I have to agree. The best turkey is one that isn't dry, and that's rare. After that there's still not much flavor. In my opinion, if the chef is really good your turkey won't taste much worse than chicken.

Well, here you go, Fellow Turkey Disliker. The secret to a juicy turkey is brining.

Sorenson's Brine
(My maternal grandmother's family recipe)

Ingredients
1 gallon vegetable broth
1 cup sea salt or Kosher Salt
1 tablespoon crushed dried rosemary
1 tablespoon dried sage (I do not add the sage.)
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon dried savory
1 gallon ice water

Directions

1. In a large stock pot, combine the vegetable broth, salt, rosemary, sage, thyme, and savory. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently to be sure salt is dissolved. Remove from heat, and let cool to room temperature.

2. When the broth mixture is cool, pour it into a clean 5 gallon bucket. Stir in the ice water. (Important to note that if you use a bucket, it has to be made of food grade plastic. Some people use plastic bags for this step, but again, the plastic has to be food grade. I use this huge roaster pan I have. This recipe is from the early 1900s so their buckets were either tin or wooden.)

3. Remove the innards. Wash and dry your turkey. Place the turkey, breast down, into the brine. Make sure that the cavity gets filled. Place the container in the refrigerator overnight. (Original recipe reads "basement" not fridge - pretty cold down there in the Minnesota winter.)

4.Remove the turkey carefully draining off the excess brine and pat dry. Discard excess brine. Do not wash the turkey after brining.

Cook the turkey as desired. You can use the drippings for gravy just as one normally would. Brined turkeys cook 20 to 30 minutes faster so watch the temperature gauge.