I like turkey enough to cook one every few months. Originally, the only way I cooked one was in the oven. It always came out fine and we ate on the carcass for a couple days and then I'd make soup.

Once I moved south, I began cooking things outdoors year-round and began smoking turkey, or sometimes just a breast. I like smoked turkey, but if I buy smoked turkey, too often it just tastes like ham, but home-smoked is several cuts above anything I can buy. I have experimented with different woods, but don't have a particular favorite.

A couple Christmases ago, my next door neighbor was given 6 turkeys. So, he deep-fried them all and gave them away. We were lucky enough to receive one, and it was the moistest bird we've ever eaten. He used a cajun butter injection and there was tremendous flavor in the meat. The smell while he was cooking perfumed the air all day long. But I was a little intimidated by the cooker and it doesn't look inexpensive what with all the oil. I'm not about to fry 6 just to get my money's worth out of the oil.

So, what's best? I have to say I want it all, but given limited time and resources, most often I roast it. Why? My favorite turkey meals are the days after: I still want a turkey sandwich and a bowl of homemade turkey vegetable soup.