Brine

This is a very general recipe for a brine that would work well for pork and all poultry like chicken and turkey. I'm adding variations below or a Thanksgiving turkey since it is the season after all! Brining seals moisture in meat from the inside, so on top of a good sear on the stove, or browning in the oven, you're taking extra steps on the inside. Let me tell you, it works pretty darn good if you have the time, and it's relatively simple.

 Turkey Brine

The recipe that follows is enough for a 10 to 18 pound turkey. You can make this batch and split it up into freezable amounts for smaller birds or pork. 

Brine:

1 gallon chicken or vegetable stock (homemade with leftover bones would certainly be cheapest here)

1 cup salt

1/4 cup sugar

1 gallon iced water

Combine the broth, salt, and sugar and bring to a boil. Stir until all the sugar and the salt is dissolved. Take off the heat and let cool. Once cooled, combine with the gallon of iced water. If using all the brine, such as for a turkey, put it in a clean 5 gallon bucket and place your dried turkey, breast down, into the bucket while making sure the cavity is filled. Leave overnight. For smaller pieces of meat, brine about an hour per pound. You can leave it for up to two hours per pound, but this can result in salty meat, and can irreversibly change the texture if you're not careful. Take your meat out and pat dry, you're ready to go!

Extra additions that can be added when the mixture goes on the stove: Citrus (such as lemons or oranges), peppercorns, any herbs, bay leaves, and spices. For my Thanksgiving brine, I would add 2 lemons or oranges (halved), 1 tablespoon of peppercorns, half a bunch of fresh thyme and sage. Give it a go