Brining a turkey

rip said:

I've never brined a turkey before, but am thinking about giving it a
try. My question is that I read somewhere that you should not stuff a
brined bird. Is that true? Is so why?

Brining itself has nothing to do with it. Stuffing a bird
can be a problem for a few reasons.

Leaving hot stuffing inside a bird could be safety problem.
Always cool the stuffing before putting it in the bird.

The other issue often raised is that by the time the stuffing
reaches the minimum safe temperature, the meat, particularly
the white meat, may be overcooked. I haven't found this to
be a big problem. I use a thermometer and when the core
temp where the stuffing is hits 160 F, the white meat is
just short of 170 F. That works fine for me.

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Quoted message said:

I've never brined a turkey before, but am thinking about giving it a
try. My question is that I read somewhere that you should not stuff a
brined bird. Is that true? Is so why?

I can't imagine why not, really. The only thing is that a brined turkey is
going to be done cooking faster than an unbrined one. Maybe that's why?
The salt in the brine helps cook the bird faster, but I don't know the
scientific reasoning behind that.

My hubby has a really good brine that's been out for years and it's got
quite a bit of citrus base.

The Fat Man's chicken kickin' brineT
2 gallons water
1 1/4 cup pickling salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
3 tbsp. garlic powder
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp ground sage
2 tbsp crushed red pepper
1 tbsb fresh black pepper
4 bay leaves
1 tbsp Old bay seasoning
1 tbsp Dave's Insanity Sauce
2 tbsp Italian seasoning (oregano, marjoram, thyme, rosemary and sage)

Some folks want to heat the brine to dissolve the salt and sugar faster. I
use a wand or stick blender and mix it cold. In either case, make sure the
brine is COLD before dunking the birds. Keep it well under 40º for the
duration of the soaking.

33º works just fine for me if the birds are completely thawed.

kili