Brine schmine

This time of year, turkey captures a cook’s imagination, but not because it’s chock-full of flavor. Pulling off an exceptional, memorable bird is the culinary brass ring. Let the record show I’m not talking about injecting and frying – clearly that imparts flavor to this otherwise bland bird. I’m talking about good, old fashioned roasting, an act rife with pitfalls. The white meat cooks faster than the dark, the bird’s monotonous flavor has to be seriously jazzed up, and the threat of bacteria, were it to be cooked or stuffed incorrectly, lurks at every corner.

So, what to do? Brine it.

At least that’s what everyone from the Food Network to detail-obsessed foodies recommend. I tried it a few years ago and sure enough, brining, (soaking the thawed bird overnight in a salt-sugar solution), gave our turkey an even salty, juiciness. But man, was it ever a royal pain. First of all, who’s got enough refrigerator space during the holidays to hold a bird submerged in a container of liquid? (For that matter, who’s got a container big enough to hold a big fat turkey?) We managed to pull it off by brining our bird in an ice chest and leaving it outside. (Fortunately, a hard freeze was expected in my hometown that year.) The next year, the stars didn’t line up, so I used my personal favorite method of imparting flavor: butter. Baste a turkey with lots (I mean lots) of butter and no one will complain it’s dry. (I think I melted 3-4 sticks and added honey and Worcestershire sauce before basting.)

Finally recognizing the inconvenience of brining, Cook’s Illustrated Magazine (normally brine-obsessed) finally offered an alternative with equally successful results this year: rubbing it down with kosher salt 1-2 days before cooking. See the November-December 2006 issue. You have to be a member to access it from the Web site, but they offer a free two-week trial period or you might still be able to find it on newsstands.

But, for the brine-committed, word has it that the best recipe out there is Alton Brown’s Good Eats Roast Turkey available on the Food Network’s Web site. Click here for recipe.

Getting the Apollo 13 astronauts home may have been less complicated, but the five-star recipe rating and rave reviews from users (see reviews) make it sound like a slam-dunk.