How to: Traditional turkey is best if you marinate the bird in spices, pepper, salt, wine, garlic, oil and so on or just brush with oil and seasonings before baking. It can also be stuffed, or simply cooked as is. Set your oven temperature to 325°F and cook for 3 to 6 hours, depending on the size of the turkey and whether or not it's stuffed. You can use a foil-tent covering to help contain moisture. If you completely wrap the bird in foil, then your oven needs to be at 450°F. Baste the turkey every hour by brushing pan juices over meat, or spooning on any left-over marinade.

As a safe and easy alternative to the traditional roasting method, many people use a turkey-sized oven cooking bag. This method produces a moist-heat cooking environment.

Joan says: There are dozens of great ways to stuff, baste and roast a turkey - most families have their own "secret" favorite recipe. Roasting can be one of the best cooking methods. If you're trying to cut fat, cook your stuffing separately. When eating out, rather than drenching the turkey in gravy, have gravy on the side and lightly dab the turkey in it. (Or if at home, make a lowfat turkey gravy). Another lower calorie option is to skip the gravy and marinade the turkey with herbs and spices instead.

How to: You need to start with a good rotisserie. A rotisserie consists of a spit, a motor to rotate the spit, and a heat source. Some rotisseries are designed to sit over an existing heat source - usually a grill - but you need a good strong rotisserie to cook a turkey, and often these are designed for smaller pieces of meat.

Insert the spit rod into the turkey, just below the breast bone, and place above the heat source where it rotates slowly until done - around 25-35 minutes per pound.

You can marinate and season a turkey before using this cooking method, but you can't stuff it.

Joan says: Also known as spit roasting, rotisserie roasting is a slow-cooking method that makes for juicy, self-basted, and crispy-skinned meat.

Rotisserie is one of the best methods for cooking, flavor and juiciness. The fat drips off during cooking which helps reduce overall fat content. But if you plan to gobble the whole turkey leg, keep in mind that calories and fat will be higher as the leg is dark meat.

How to: A turducken is a boneless turkey stuffed with a boneless duck stuffed with a boneless chicken - sound like poultry "overkill" ? Apparently it tastes pretty good!

To make this dish, debone the turkey, duck and chicken, splay them, and layer on top of each other. Place seasoning and stuffing between the layers and the then lift the layers together. Sew the turkey up with a needle and thread - this operation requires at least two people!

This turkey-cooking method has a higher potential for food poisoning than regular turkey. To make it safe, the USDA recommends keeping the birds chilled and assembling them as fast as possible before putting in a pre-heated 325°F oven (many recipes for turducken say to cook at low temperatures, but this can be unsafe).

Joan says: Turducken is high in fat largely due to the fat content of the duck, as well as the larger serving size. Nutrition information for a whole Turducken per traditional two pound serving is pretty depressing - 1639 calories, 107 g fat (59% calories from fat), 33 g sat. fat, 0 g carbs, 156.9 g protein, 577 mg chol, 539 mg sodium, 0 g fiber. But if you're trying it just once, and can keep to a small serving size, it's worth the experience.

Happy Holidays!