Just as Tim said. what ever your cooler will hold is fine. I suggest brining for 2 days, just make sure you check to make sure there is enough ice through the process to keep at a safe temp. Everytime, I have only needed to add one bag of ice after 24 hours...except when we lived on the mountain, I didn't have to add any...in fact, if it wasn't for the salt, I may have ended up with a frozen bird.