And they still look tasty after resting under foil overnight. The bottoms are a little soft but they’ll firm up in the fridge between now and lunch.

I just finished lunch, which was built around a chicken thigh with no sauce, no gravy. A baked chicken thigh, at that. And it was amazing. Since you’ve read the title, you know why. Brining.

A brine is a salty solution. Here’s mine: 16 parts water, 3/4 part salt, 2/3 part sugar. The recipe calls for cups, I tried to do it with smaller measurements but it was a pain in the ass. So this last time I just made one full batch that I’ll portion out bit by bit.

The resulting thigh is pretty salty, I’ll warn you (which makes the original recipe’s addition of 3/4 part soy sauce mind boggling). I think it’s intended to be used with a whole chicken. So if you try it, maybe reduce the salt content even further.

But why, you ask? What’s the point? Ever had a piece of chicken so moist and tender you couldn’t quite convince yourself it was actually cooked all the way? Yeah, that’s what I just ate (30 minutes at 350 degrees, then left in the oven with the heat off while stuffing and veggies were prepared. It was deffo cooked).

In the middle of lunch I thought “I need to tweet this”, but I’m pretty sure I have already. So instead of laboring the point, I’m sharing here, so I can hopefully remember that I have and not keep bothering my audience with it.

Speaking of which, if you tend to eat holiday turkeys that seem awful sawdust-y, point whoever does your gobblers here.