There are two processes:
Brining: Brining is soaking the bird in some kind of liquid to add moisture and flavorings to the meat; it usually is salt-based, but almost any kind of brining can be used.
Curing: Curing is adding a nitrite to the brine that physically changes the meat into a cured product having that 'hammy' flavor.
I do a cured brine turkey. The original recipe is 1 gal. water, 1 cup non-iodized salt, 1 cup white granulated sugar, 1 cup brown sugar, and 1 rounded tablespoon of Cure #1 (I get mine from Butcher and Packer, known as DQ Cure no. 1). Use enough to cover the turkey in a large bucket or vessel, usually 1-2 gallons of mix, let soak 3 days or so in the fridge, keep it weighted down with a partially full ziploc bag of water. Remove, pat dry, smoke and cook to 155°-160° internal. It will have a ham-like flavor, a delicasy! Also, by being cured, it eliminates the 40° - 140° in 4 hours rule.
After two strokes I've had to modify my original recipe to a lo-salt/lo-sugar formula. I substitute Splenda[emoji]174[/emoji] and Brown Sugar with Splenda[emoji]174[/emoji] for the sugar and brown sugar 1:1. I reduce the salt from 1 cup to as low as ¼ cup and use sea salt rather than non-iodized regular salt. The nitrite is already a much lower percentage than what is allowed at maximum: 1 oz. vs. 2.4 oz / gallon of water.
Enjoy your experimenting but keep detailed and accurate logs to reflect back on; there are even some log programs on here to help! Enjoy! There will be mistakes, but the worst results give the best answers! And darn, you just gotta try again, lol!