I’ll never forget the Thanksgiving when the turkey didn’t finish in time for dinner. As a professional recipe developer, I knew how long to cook a turkey, but my experience must have made me flippant.

Roasting is the most common way to cook a turkey, although deep-frying and smoking have also become popular in recent years. (Getty Images) With Thanksgiving here, there’s no better time to talk ...

There are many ways to cook a Thanksgiving turkey, of course — but which is best? Purists insist that roasting is the only way, whereas other cooks and chefs point to deep-frying, smoking or grilling ...