A second question for you, Margo A – Would the turkey truly be cooked through to the disintegration point if it hadn’t reached the correct internal temperature? I’m not being disrespectful, I’m curious, since I relied on the pop-up, and the interior was always lava-like, too.

We’d go down to the Rack n’ Sack (really) buy an 18 pounder for five dollars, some onions, celery and stove top –sometimes when we were rich or feeling high brow we’d get dry breadcrumbs and tins of oysters to make oyster stuffing– and roast ourselves some bird in one of those disposable roasting pans.

Brining was a necessity because none of us were about to baste a bird –I doubt if any of us owned basters– so we’d plop it overnight in a big trashbag full of saltwater and whatever spices we had. The bag would go in a cooler. The next morning we’d roast the bird –stuffing in– and have a big dinner, plus a week’s worth of sandwiches for whoever wanted them.

I find when frozen turkey comes on sale I just buy one. Then roast it and divide it up to use the meat for sandwiches, turkey pot pie, turkey vegetable soup, turkey tetrazzini and more. Cooked turkey meat, kept in the freezer in usable portions is a staple for my family.

I also make gravy from the drippings, and then will make open face hot turkey sandwiches with gravy at will. It is such a comfort food for me that I have them about once a month.

Phyllis, I’ll definitely be trying your tip about turning the bird next time I cook one (we’re going to spend Thanksgiving with friends this year and I’m not cooking a turkey and transporting it across town, so I’m only making a couple side dishes and pumpkin pie).

LBD, thanks for the extra tips about dealing with those flimsy aluminum roasting pans. Also the slow roasting sounds fabulous. It makes me wish I had that double oven set up my parents had back in the day so I could cook the turkey in one and everything else that needs roasting or baking in the other. And yes, you’re absolutely right: lower and slower is often successful with roasting, but faster and hotter results in nothing but heartache…and stomachache.

I’m also heartily in favor of practice turkeys. Turkey is good eating, and there’s nothing like having a nice bird carcass on hand when you want to make stock.

And you know what? If the refrigerator gods haven’t cooperated, it’s OK to start cooking Mr. Gobble the night before, say, at 200 degrees, and at an ungodly hour come wrestle the innards out NOW, since they were frozen like a block of frozen innards when you started. Then you can stuff a hot turkey! And put it BACK in the oven to continue cooking! It is OK to cook a turkey for much longer at a much lower heat. It is not advisable, however (in my experience), to cook a turkey for less time at a higher heat. If your turkey is going the Low Slow route, make sure it’s covered and oiled.

Do not panic, by the way, if the Low Slow route results in the ever-entertaining Topless Turkey, where the bones of the bird lift out when you are trying to move the bird from pan to platter; it just means it’s thoroughly cooked – and tender, tender, tender. Not all exploding turkeys are bad! If you go with one of those wretched disposable alumninum baking pans (I know I do!), it’s OK to DOUBLE THE PANS UP before you put the turkey in to cook. And when you move those flimsy pans out of the oven, slide your cutting board UNDER THE ALUMINUM PAN to support it as you lift it out of the oven. Good luck!

And we do have roast turkey in the winter beyond Thanksgiving. A turkey breast is usually just right to give you a nice meal and just the right amount of leftovers.