DAVID POGUE: The dreaded dry turkey is a pop culture cliché, and something we're all probably a little too familiar with.

I mean, this was just a waste of, this was a waste of a Thanksgiving, right there.

So why is that? A raw turkey is made up of about 75 percent water. It's also not very appetizing, and it's potentially lethal to eat, because of the bacteria growing in it. So, of course, you've got to cook it. The problem is that takes hours, and all of that heat can evaporate the water right out.

So, is there a way to get more moisture into the turkey, before cooking it, and keep it there?

I like to use the seasoning injector. It's like a prop from Pulp Fiction. I can save him! Straight into the heart. Is that a good technique?

KEITH: I'd recommend brining in a bucket.

DAVID POGUE: The cooks at America's Test Kitchen have discovered one way. They recommend soaking the whole bird in saltwater overnight, a process called "brining," which adds moisture to the meat. More moisture will make the meat more tender and juicy.

Let's back up and see what is really going on, deep inside the turkey. Meat is mostly muscle, made up of millions of fibers that are like electrical cables bundled together. Each fiber is a long cell, made up of protein and mostly water. When you heat the meat, the fibers contract and squeeze out that moisture. The more you cook it, the drier the meat becomes.

I thought we were just sticking a bird in some saltwater.

GUY CROSBY: Well, we are, but a lot of chemistry is going on in there.

DAVID POGUE: If you put a turkey into water, the H2O moves into the meat through a process called osmosis. Osmosis creates a natural force that pulls the water across the cell membrane, from the higher concentration of water to the lower one, so they're in balance. Now, meat would also absorb plain water, but the salt is key for a juicier turkey.

GUY CROSBY: The salt will help the muscle fibers to expand, create gaps, and that makes room for more water to get in.

DAVID POGUE: A few hours later, I get the tough job of analyzing which turkey is juicer, the brined or the unbrined.

Ladies and gentlemen, Sample A. Okay. That needs some serious gravy. And here we go with the second sample. Wow, that does not even need gravy.

KEITH: So, you can see the brining at work.

DAVID POGUE: The brined turkey is moist and juicy, while the unbrined…

KEITH: This…I would not finish that piece. I mean, it's really dry.

DAVID POGUE: It's super dry.

KEITH: You'd need a half cup of gravy to choke that down.