Kill and Eat

[retlaw]

How do you brine a turkey? And for how long?

You can do wet brine or a dry brine.
Usually around 12 hours.

 

[hdmax]

Heritage birds don't need to be placed in a brine.
Industry birds do well in a brine.

Heritage birds are closer to a wild animal so they are much leaner and should be cooked at higher heat for shorter time.
I cook heritage at 400 to 450 wrapped in parchment paper.
Comes out perfect every time.

When I cooked a heritage at low heat like one will do with a Industry bird because of the loads of fat it has the heritage turned out to have tough dark meat.
The lack of fat and slow cooking time damaged the quality of the heritage bird.

No brine at high heat for heritage gets me the same comments every time,
"That's the best turkey I have ever eaten"
What more can one ask for.

I have to disagree with this! (I it works for you, great!) Sorry, but from my experience any bird (Especially game birds.) Taste better if a salt water brine is used, or let rest for at least 3-5 days in the fridge, and a lower slower bake always makes them taste better. (This is my opinion!) I may be new at raising turkeys, but I have been cooking them for well over 25 years. I bake them at 275* covered until the last 30-40 minutes, I remove the cover and adjust the heat up to 375*. I remove it from the oven and cover it tightly for about 30 minutes, and this gives it a great taste and they are ALWAYS extremely juicy. This comes from roasting more then 80 turkeys over the years.
If I am preparing a fresh never frozen turkey, I place it in a salt water brine for 2-3 days in the refrigerator. (Depending on when it was butchered. Most of the time on Monday or Tuesday!)
Now that I am doing my own, I will butcher on Saturday, or Sunday, and most likely will not use a brine, as it will have 4-5 days to rest.

 

[retlaw]

Have you tried cooking one at over 400?