Growing up, my parents always wet-brined our Thanksgiving bird for three hours in a mixture of salt, sugar, water, star anise, and a slew of other spices. For days I would forgetfully open the fridge door only to be engulfed by a woosh of raw turkey meets sweet herbs aroma. It was one of those scents you didn't necessarily want to smell at 9AM, but at the same time you could image that once cooked the smells would transform in the oven into pure deliciousness.

Nowadays, dry brining is all the rage. But why? Camp dry and camp wet each has its own sect of fervent followers which brings us to the final question, Do I wet-brine or dry-brine? Which method produces a juicier, more flavorful bird? Because that's what we all want, right? Right.

Let's start with the word 'brine.' A brine is made from salt and water, think sea water. Have you ever described shellfish as "briny"? That's because oysters, mussels, sea urchin and such can taste like ocean water, aka salt plus water.

Wet-brining refers to a process where meat (or seafood) is immersed in a salt water bath with sugar and can include spices plus other flavoring agents. Dry brining, on the other hand, uses a similar technique minus the water part. If you wanted to dry-bring a turkey you would start at least a few hours in advance or up to three days, rub the skin of the bird with salt plus any herbs/spices desired (about 1 tablespoon for every 5 pounds) then seal it in a plastic bag and refrigerate. The thought process behind brining comes down to diffusion and osmosis. To not over complicate the idea, basically the salty water of a wet-brine travels into the cells of the turkey adding moisture and flavor. Similarly, in a dry brine, the salt first draws out moisture from the bird, which is then reabsorbed with the salt to season the bird. Also, as a turkey cooks the protein strands in its muscles tighten and thus expel moisture, though when salt is introduced the muscles act differently and retain liquid.

Now that we have the technicalities out of the way, which method is for you? Both processes, if executed correctly, will greatly improve taste and juice factor of your turkey. Have you ever heard the age-old debate, "Should a martini be stirred or shaken?" Well, we run into the same situation here.

Why to dry-brine:
- Some believe it requires less work and cuts back on prep time
- You need more room to wet-brine because the turkey needs to be placed into a large container and submerged under water
- The argument has been made that wet-brining adds water to the turkey meat, not flavor, and can render the meat rubbery

Why to wet-brine:
- This method is older and arguably more trusted
- Some deem dry-brining "trendy"
- Since no water is introduced to the bird in a dry-brine, many don't trust that the bird will become moist enough because the only liquid absorbed is from the turkey itself

And lastly, a couple tips to help out:
- If you choose to wet-brine but have a small fridge you could a) put the turkey in a garbage bag and add enough water (plus whatever else you desire) to cover the bird and brine in bag, b) if that still doesn't fit in your fridge and you live in a cold climate, simply store the bird outside, c) brine the bird in a cooler with ice either in a bag or directly in the cooler
- For those who brine their turkeys in a bag, rather than spend the extra bucks on a shmancy turkey-made bag, just buy a large Ziploc (made from food-safe plastic)

Which brine do you stand by? Feel free to share in the comments.