I need a good turkey brine recipe?

It`s for t-day and I`m cooking and want to impress. I need a good turkey brine recipe?
This is a 5 star herb brine, courtesy of Emeril Lagasse..





***Brine***





Brine:


1 cup salt


1 cup brown sugar


2 oranges, quartered


2 lemons, quartered


6 sprigs thyme


4 sprigs rosemary


1 (10 to 12-pound) turkey


1 large orange, cut into 1/8ths








Directions


To make the brining solution, dissolve the salt and sugar in 2 gallons of cold water in a nonreactive container (such as a clean bucket or large stockpot, or a clean, heavy-duty, food grade plastic storage bag). Add the oranges, lemons, thyme, and rosemary. Note: if you have a big turkey and need more brine than this, use 1/2 cup salt and 1/2 cup brown sugar for every gallon of water.





Remove the neck, giblets, and liver from the cavity of the turkey and reserve for the gravy. Rinse the turkey inside and out under cold running water.





Soak the turkey in the brine, covered and refrigerated, for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours.


I need a good turkey brine recipe?
ROASTED BRINED TURKEY





1 (14 to 16 pound) young turkey, fresh or thawed





For the brine:


1 cup kosher salt


1/2 cup light brown sugar


1 gallon vegetable stock


1 tablespoon black peppercorns


1/2 tablespoon allspice berries


1/2 tablespoon candied ginger


1 gallon iced water





For the aromatics:


1 red apple, sliced


1/2 onion, sliced


1 cinnamon stick


1 cup water


4 sprigs rosemary


6 leaves sage


Canola oil





Combine all brine ingredients, except ice water, in a stockpot, and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve solids, then remove from heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.





Early on the day of cooking, (or late the night before) combine the brine and ice water in a clean 5-gallon bucket. Place thawed turkey breast side down in brine, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area (like a basement) for 6 hours. Turn turkey over once, half way through brining.





A few minutes before roasting, heat oven to 500 degrees. Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes.





Remove bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard brine.





Place bird on roasting rack inside wide, low pan and pat dry with paper towels. Add steeped aromatics to cavity along with rosemary and sage. Tuck back wings and coat whole bird liberally with canola (or other neutral) oil.





Roast on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F. for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cover breast with double layer of aluminum foil, insert probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and return to oven, reducing temperature to 350 degrees F. Set thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let turkey rest, loosely covered for 15 minutes before carving.





--Alton Brown, Food Network



TURKEY BRINE





4 quarts water (24 cups)


3 1/2 cups kosher or sea salt


4 cups sugar


2 tablespoons cracked peppercorns


7-8 cloves garlic


5 bay leaves, crumbled coarsely





Wash and dry a cooler which is large enough to hold the turkey you will be placing in the brine. (Or use a food grade plastic bag made for the purpose, available at your supermarket; this method will require only half the amount of brine.)


Prepare brine by combining ingredients in a stainless steel or enamel pan (do not use aluminum). Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, until all of the sugar and salt are dissolved. Allow brine too cool. Pour into cooler (or bag, if using).





Add 2-3 quarts of ice; enough to bring the temperature of the brine to about 35F degrees. (Or, if using a plastic bag, add 1 1/2 quarts cold water and refrigerate the brine until it reaches this temperature.)





Remove giblets, neck, etc. from inside turkey and refrigerate to use later on for making gravy, stuffing, or broth. Wash turkey well, inside and out. Rub inside of turkey liberally with additional kosher or sea salt.





Prepare sufficient brine to submerge turkey entirely. Recipe may be doubled, if required (or halved, if using a plastic bag for the brining).





When the brine is cold, add the turkey to the cooler or plastic bag. Keep the turkey cold (35F or below). This can be accomplished by adding ice, or placing the cooler or plastic bag in a cold place. Check temperature to be sure it does not go above 40F. (Note: A frozen turkey can be brined until it has thawed).





When ready to roast the turkey, remove from brine and rinse thoroughly in cold water. Pat dry with a clean towel. Rub turkey skin with 2 tablespoons melted butter combined with 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 teaspoon soy sauce. Bacon drippings can be added for extra flavor. Sprinkle turkey with garlic powder, salt, pepper, and paprika.









This is a great one I have used. It is from allrecipies.com - see link below - and has ove 225 5 star responses from people who have used it!!





INGREDIENTS


1 gallon vegetable broth


1 cup sea salt


1 tablespoon crushed dried rosemary


1 tablespoon dried sage


1 tablespoon dried thyme


1 tablespoon dried savory


1 gallon ice water


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DIRECTIONS


In a large stock pot, combine the vegetable broth, sea 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.


When the broth mixture is cool, pour it into a clean 5 gallon bucket. Stir in the ice water.


Wash and dry your turkey. Make sure you have removed the innards. Place the turkey, breast down, into the brine. Make sure that the cavity gets filled. Place the bucket in the refrigerator overnight.


Remove the turkey carefully draining off the excess brine and pat dry. Discard excess brine.


Cook the turkey as desired reserving the drippings for gravy. Keep in mind that brined turkeys cook 20 to 30 minutes faster so watch the temperature gauge.





http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Turkey-Brin鈥?/a>
I have used his original recipe that's about 5 years old. This looks like a newer one but looks good all the same.





http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton鈥?/a>





One thing I noticed that the recipe says in the begining to use a frozen turkey - then later tells you that turkey needs to be thawed so make sure you defrost first.


I did use a frozen turkey once and thought the brine would thaw it. Nope, all that ice kept the turkey nice and frozen!