[jyl]

That's a lot of brine, I know salt and sugar are inexpensive but it still seems wasteful. Suppose you put the turkey in a plastic bag, then pour in some brine, and twist the bag down to get all the air out? Maybe you could brine a turkey using only a gallon or so of brine?

Now, for something a little different. Has anyone tried using a syringe and needle, and injecting weird and flavourful stuff into the chicken? I mean, like horseradish, wasabi, hot pepper oil, Dijon mustard, etc?