So I tried something new with this year's Thanksgiving turkey. After I thawed it out, I put it in the brine bucket and returned it to the fridge without any brine or water. I left it that way for 6 hours overnight. Early yesterday morning, I added the brine and covered the bird until 3 o'clock this morning. My theory was that it would dry out a little in the fridge and, therefore, soak up the brine when I added it to the pot. I smoked it for 9 hours, trying to maintain a 250-275 temp. This is, without a doubt, the best turkey any of us has ever eaten. I was worried about it being dry. But it is so juicy, I had to put it in my deep dish seasoning tub to carve it. It still tastes like turkey, but you can taste all the seasoning that was in the brine.