Unless it says it’s brined, it’s not brined. I try to get a turkey without anything in it because it messes with the flavor. Brining is a moisture thing, the salt moves water into the tissues. It doesn’t necessarily make the bird salty. But with the deep moisturizing, the flavor of the meat is very enhanced, and you don’t get any dry breast meat anymore. I usually put rosemary and chiles in the brine for a little flavor, but remember you’re doing it under ice packs so there’s not a lot of flavor transfer going on. After it’s brined, just cool it the way you want and flavor it as normal.
Cook it, not cool it. It’s already cooled.
Thank you! I’ll brine. Trying to decide whether to do a dry brine or a wet brine.