brine

How to Cook the Best Juicy Turkey

A flavorful, moist turkey is the centerpiece of every Thanksgiving dinner. These easy tips show how to cook the best turkey that’s always juicy and moist, and proves that it’s 100% not as scary as it seems.

By the time I post this, I will have cooked six turkeys in two weeks, with two more to go for my own Thanksgiving feast for twenty. Am I up to the task? You bet your drumstick I am.

Sure, the thought of cooking a turkey can be intimidating. I mean, why wouldn’t it be? Thanksgiving is a big deal with eager dinner guests depending on YOU—the little home cook who could—to deliver a juicy, delicious turkey dinner you may have never, ever cooked before. That’s grandma’s job! Or mom’s! Well guess who’s the mom now?

Rest assured, this recipe and these tips are about to calm all your fears.

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Wet or Dry? How to Make the Best Turkey Brine

For the juiciest turkey on the block, brining the bird with salt results in a plump, moist, and flavorful turkey every time. But is a wet brine or a dry turkey brine better? I tested both, and these are my recipes and results.

I discovered the genius of turkey brining several moons ago, and now, I can’t make a Thanksgiving turkey with one.

Whether to brine my turkey or not isn’t the question. It’s which method to go with: A wet brine soak in a salt water solution or a dry brine rubbed into and under the skin?

Brine me baby! And talk turkey to me.

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Tabasco Brined Spicy Drumsticks

This post is sponsored by Tabasco. Thanks for supporting companies I believe in, which allows me to create more unique content and recipes for you.

Sometimes when choices are limited, it’s amazingly freeing. It allows us to zero in on the basics. And when your job is to create recipes nearly every day, it gives some oomph to create something you’d never dreamed of, like these Tabasco Brined Spicy Drumsticks.

Most of the time when I’m working on coming up with new recipes I’ll work within a theme, or a seasonal idea, but I always have full reign of what to toss into a recipe to please the palate. This time around, Tabasco set my limits like a Las Vegas pit boss when the gambling just gets too good.

I’m a seriously spice loving girl, and so’s my man. There isn’t much we don’t eat without dousing some sort of heat on it. Okay, blueberry muffins might get a pass.

When the tastemakers at Tabasco invited me to participate in their food blogger 10-ingredient challenge, I asked my man if he’d be up to helping me because this time around, the ingredient list was serious. Seriously challenging.

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Stuffed Pork Chops with Roasted Grapes

It’s not even December yet and I feel like the holidays have already passed me by.

Working in magazine publishing means you’re always working at least 3 months ahead of each and every holiday. Plotting Halloween while others are launching firecrackers and decorating Easter eggs to the jingle of Christmas carols.

Hence why I’m always 3 months ahead yet 3 steps behind.continue to the recipe… about Stuffed Pork Chops with Roasted Grapes