Brine

yes.  Now, what are you brining?  I've read that if you brine in salt water, skip the salt during the rub.  Don't want to over salt the meat.

I brine all of my poultry because my wife and I feel it tastes better. Typically I always go 24 hours and just dump some coarse kosher salt in the water and stir until it dissolves. I don't even measure the salt. I do rinse the poultry before then rubbing it, but have never had any too salty.

Yes sir. When you pull your meat from the brine give it a good rinse with cold water to remove the excessive salt then season as normal. I find that the cold water rinse first removes the excess salt. If you don't rinse you certainly run the chance of being to salty. If you do rinse then it's business as usual. Hope this helps.

Now, if you find you and yours enjoy the benefit of a brine then you might be open minded to some very flavorful taste inducing complex brines for turkey's. We have a favorite brine recipe from John Ash in which I brine a whole turkey for 3 days by sealing it in a bag and then submerging it in a cold water bath within a large Rubbermaid water cooler. Monitoring the temperature of the chilled water using a wire type thermometer on the outside is easy to do so as to add ice during the 72 hour brine.

Yes all the herbs and spices you can cram in there. The effect of the aromatics will be moderate. Use stems and whole seeds or flowers if you have them growing.

I've been using a brine with chicken for about 6 months now and will never go back. The brine adds flavor and juiciness. Your basic brine is just a gallon of cold water, 3/4 cup kosher salt, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and whatever spices and herbs you like. I typically add a few pepper corns, some dry thyme and rosemary, a little garlic powder (fresh garlic if I have it on hand), a few whole allspice berries, and a dry bay leaf. If I have time I will heat the brine to a simmer to help dissolve the salt and sugar then let it cool in the fridge overnight. The brine needs to be cold before putting the chicken in. If I'm short on time I just use cold water. Next soak the chicken in the brine for a few hours for pieces or 6 to 8 hours for a whole chicken. Rinse well to remove all excess brine and trim any excess fat. Then I dry the bird with paper towel and put on a rack over a plate in the fridge (uncovered) to dry the skin for a few hours. This helps get a crisper skin. once the skin is dry I lightly coat with olive oil and season with a dry rub (no salt). I let the chicken sit in the fridge uncovered while getting the grill ready. Good luck.