HOME > Chowhound > Home Cooking >   Brining my turkey..    • 6
I have an 18lb turkey and I plan on using Alton Brown's brine
recipe. I have a fear of my turkey being salty and thought about
cutting the salt down to 3/4 cup as opposed to a full cup.
Should I bother doing this since the recipe is for a 16lb
turkey? I don't want it salty, but not too weak either. Since my
turkey is 2lbs heavier than the recipe, should I be adding more
of anything, like sugar?  OH, and about how long should I brine
this turkey? The recipe calls for 8-16 hours but I read
somewhere that it should be 1 hour per pound, so 18 hours? I
also don't want my meat to be mushy.  ~First Time Briner    1.
Click to Upload a photo (10 MB limit)     1. re: sweetea25
I've been brining my turkey for many years (using a recipe from
1994 Food & Wine magazine) and it comes out great, not salty. So
just go with the recipe as it's written - it will turn out
great!!      2. Just go according to the recipe, it won't be too
salty. If you've never d