A ham is standard fare for me. Personally I find turkey to be the driest, most flavorless bird that you could put on the table. A chicken, roasted simply, with rosemary and thyme, would be an acceptable substitute. Or better yet, a capon.

I seem to have a knack for making tasty turkey that isn't dry, but I was drooling over the flier that had tri or top round beef roast on sale for $1.99 this week.

Over the years I have had roast beef, ham, and pork roast all as Thanksgiving "besides the turkey" meats. I've had a big roasting chicken as an alternative to the turkey, and I see those are on sale this week for folks who might do that. Indeed, hams are a big sale item and I can barely constrain myself from buying one because it's been forever and I just love that.

Thanksgiving turkey rules, but I've had turkeyless Christmas dinners many times, with some mix of the above, and more common for there to be duel meats then. Easter dinner is more commonly ham, but can also be others.

That's why I mentioned raisin sauce for ham the other day; I was just dying for some ham and almost wishing for it instead of turkey.

Duck or goose are both good substitutes, particularly if you have a smaller group (and are generally quite a bit more flavorful than turkey, though you have to be kind of careful how you cook them lest they wind up very greasy).

Turkey dinner is my favorite meal, bar none.

If your turkey is dry and tasteless, then it isn't being cooked properly.

For my family, Thanksgiving is all about the turkey and trimmings. Christmas is roast beef and the traditional English fare like Yorkshire pudding. Easter is usually lamb. We're not big on ham for some reason.

Okay, Jen, How do you cook your turkey?

Jeff, jeff, jeff,
Okay, first of all, in this case..bigger isn't better! Those cooking a turkey over 18 lbs will have a tougher{?}time making it tender and juicy. I have in recent years started brining my turkey which results in a tasty, moist, meaty...well, you get the idea. I am doing a brine by Alton Brown on the food network. Basically it involves kosher salt, brown sugar, some spices, a vegetable broth, and a large vessel with which to soak the bird, such as a cooler. Any number of variations are available. Let's not dismiss the value of what nearly became our national symbol! 14-18 lbs, or opt for two smaller ones. Time to get cooking! Mrs. DCE xxx

One year we did Cornish Game Hens wrapped in prosciutto, they're like miniature chickens, that was yummy and easy.
I've heard of brining the turkey in a saline bath which helps by saturating the meat with water so it stays moist. My understanding of the science is based on, "Nature abhors a vacuum." By osmosis (or something) the brine-water moves the high-solution, salt-concentrated bath to the low-solution turkey-meat until both are at an equal concentration - it pulls water and salt into the turkey to create a (moist) equilibrium.

IMO the main thing is not overcooking it and keep the breast moist. I do all my roasts with a big-ass oven thermometer nowdays.

Truthfully, you cook a turkey just like a whole chicken. The way to ensure that it doesn't dry out, but is cooked through is that you test the temp in the meat of the drumstick, not the breast.

Brining is a great way to infuse flavor and moisture. Just don't plan on using much of the juices in the pan for your gravy, or it will be too salty.

Make sure the cavity is stuffed with something if you don't use traditional stuffing - onions, celery, carrots will add flavor and moisture, too.

Another good way to produce a moist turkey (or anything else, even cakes) is to have a Pyrex dish full of water in the oven to raise the humidity.

Our Thanksgiving meal this year happens to be centered around a pot roast, and will be a lunch. The foster niece, who will be hosting, will be working that night.

I usually cook a small ham. WS doesn't really care for turkey (although he will eat it once or twice a year), so I don't bother. Plus, a turkey is way too much for just 2 people to consume and I would end up throwing a lot of it out (after it has been in the freezer a couple of years naturally).

I haven't made a whole turkey in years. So I couldn't tell you what I do right or wrong.

The last one, I think, was Christmas at my in-laws about 3 years back. We did it in one of those turkey bags, with a stick of butter rubbed under the skin, and stuffing in the cavity.

It stewed in its juices nicely, and we poked a hole in the bag, drained out what we could, and started the gravy a half hour before the bird came out.

Today, I'd probably do it differently. I think I need to shop around for a local church with four ovens, and say "I'll volunteer to cook four turkeys, I'll pay everything, I just also get to side-by-side the final products!"

Sigh, maybe next year.

since I am allergic to poultry, and could eat it only after taking a strong anti-histamine, my family always made both a turkey and a roast: either Ham, Pork or Beef.

Since there was often 8-12 people there, it was not a waste.

In later years, and now, since there are fewer people attending, and no one wants to cook for a large crowd anymore, our alternative is a nice restaurant. The food is usually better, choices wider, and NO CLEANUP. Tomorrow we will go to a very nice one in Ulster County, NY.

Smoke that turkey. In a good smoker or pit with a hardwood fire.

Mine take about four hours. You should maintain about 300 degrees inside the pit, so the turkey roasts as it smokes. Use a meat thermometer and get the meat to 185 degrees (F).

For something different, stuff the turkey with a duck, a hen, or both. Down here in Cajun country, we're liable to use both. Put the hen inside the turkey, then the duck inside the hen. Smoke them all at once. We call it a Tur-duck-hen.

"Smoke that turkey."

Too hard to get lit.

We had friends who's first Thanksgiving together was spent moving into a new apartment located over an Italian restaurant. They had lasagne that holiday, and it was their standard meal for every Thanksgiving afterwards.