I have always stated how I hate brining! Maybe not recently, but I suppose one could search and find my rants! It goes back to the first time I ever heard about brining - in an article in Cooks Illustrated for chicken. I thought it was nuts but tried it - and we had to throw the cooked bird out! I followed the recipe exactly, rinsed the bird, etc. but the salt was disgusting. Then, at a cooking class from Mario Batali, we were served brined turkey - and no one could eat it! The bird and gravy reeked of salt. Mario tried to claim it was because the bird had been cooked the day before. Give me a break! A couple of years ago, while at the Food and Wine weekend in Aspen, I asked Jacques Pepin what he thought of brining and were there any tricks I might have missed - and all he said was why brine - unless it is for something like sausage that requires it. I buy the best birds, pork or whatever that I can find - to me that is the great secret of having a good roast chicken or turkey. I have been roasting turkeys and chickens for 50 years - and quite happily and successfully without a brine. Maybe if someone has a very substandard bird getting all that salt, etc. into it might help make it juicier, but not for me. When I was first married, I took cooking classes from two terrific teachers- Michael Field and Richard Grausman - and I have and still refer to their books. When I lived in France, I decided one of the glories of French food is a perfectly cooked roast chicken - no brining needed - and I like to think I can at least do this! Ok - I will get off my anti-brine soapbox now. If someone wants to brine and doesnt get an oversalted bird or piece of meat - fine. Go for it. But I have noticed even most recipes say you can't use the juices from a roast bird for gravy if you brine as they will be too salty! | 
