Turkey Tips From Alton Brown: Don’t Baste Or Stuff

It’s Thanksgiving planning time and Alton Brown, host of Food Network’s Next Iron Chef, wants to prevent you from making a dry, forgettable turkey.

He insists taking a bite of turkey should be followed by exclamation points. “You should be like, ‘Oh, my dear Lord, WOW! That’s turkey!” Brown tells NPR’s Melissa Block, host of All Things Considered.

Try Brining. Brown says he goes back and forth between wet brining and dry curing. “Brining definitely adds a lot of juiciness, moistness and it protects against overcooking a great deal because it kind of changes the cellular makeup of the meat and superloads it with moisture,” says Brown. “Dry curing can kind of do the same thing, but it’s more about intensifying the flavor.”