Fully soaking it mate. Leave mine in a zip-lock bag with enough water, with salt, brown sugar and some spices, to fully cover the bird for around 5 hours before rinsing it off and drying the skin off in the fridge overnight.
The brine helps tenderizing the meat and also adds some moisture and flavour.
The brine mix I tend to use, cut from another site.
Gourmet BBQ Brined Chicken
This is without a doubt one the best chicken recipes you will ever try. You can also adapt it for the Xmas Turkey simply double the quantity and brine the turkey for 8 hours instead of 4-5. The length of brining will determine the saltiness of the bird and how moist it will be, if you are going to smoke cook it, you could brine it for longer. My experience is 5 hours is perfect for chicken and 8 hours for a turkey.
1 #14 - #18 Chicken
Brine
1/4 cup salt (was 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup brown sugar ( was 1/2 cup)
1 teaspoon ground garlic flakes
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1 ½ litres water
Method
Mix brine ingredients together in a glass bowl Place chicken in a Ziploc bag and pour in brine solution. Seal and place in the fridge for 4-5 hours. Remove, rinse with fresh water, pat dry and stand upright over a dish or tray in the fridge overnight to let the skin dry.
Preheat the Q on high for 10 minutes. Roast the chicken indirectly on a roasting trivet