lazycook, be sure you roast at no lower than 325, I usually do mine at 350 and a 13-14 pound turkey would take about 3 and a half hours, unstuffed. How to thaw? A bird that size will take 2-3 days to thaw in the fridge or you can submerge it, still wrapped, in cold water. Change the water every half hour or so and it'll be thawed in 8 hours, give or take an hour. I've been known to leave a frozen turkey overnight in the sink, although I realize that the USDA says that's an absolute no-no, so I don't advise other people to do it. As for temperature, I roast to 165F, I find that 180F in the thigh gives you way overcooked breast meat. I do hope that you have company coming or you are going to have a ton of leftover turkey, the "experts" recommend a pound per person. Good luck, cooking turkey is easy, actually. If you want the skin crispy, roast uncovered. You can start at a higher heat and turn the heat down if you prefer, and Ann T does a quicker high-heat method, but it can make a mess in the oven if you don't have the right pan. Annie

Scored a package of turkey wings today at the Harris-Teeter, the reason I went there. Should have gotten more than just one package, but I'll probably go back this weekend. Also bought several pounds of sweet potatoes on Wednesday just because they were 27cents per pound! Teresa

My mom always bought the largest turkey she could find -- had to be over 20 lbs and was 24 lbs one year. For Thanksgiving, I have tended to follow suit because I now have the gang, and the saddest thing ever at Thanksgiving is not having leftovers (it happened one year. I was really upset and cooked another turkey that weekend. :D This year, we had a 20-21 lb turkey but only had 10 coming. We had more leftover than usual, but it wasn't too much. The turkey was free in a grocery store promotion, so it is a lot of good eating for very little money (some with the rub and brine), it's easy to cook and everyone loves it. I have cooked 2 smaller turkeys side by side in a very large roasting pan. That works too. If it is just for us, I will cook a 12-14 lb turkey. Rhome, have you used the convection roast cycle on that Wolf oven of yours for roasting turkey or whole chickens? Fabulous! We brine our turkey, but not the chickens. I use a dry rub, may stick some lemon or orange in the cavity (the rub we use most often has citrus in it too) and pop them in on the preset convection roast cycle. The hot air of the convection sears the skin, seals in juices and it cooks fast. I think our 21 lb bird took about 3 hours - and it was moist, juicy and the flavor was fantastic. We may do turkey at Christmas or New Year's and experiment, but I doubt we will every make our Thanksgiving turkey any other way. I love that convection roast cycle.

Norbest are .29 cents at Safeway here this week, I doubt if they will be lower anywhere between now and Christmas. I don't need a turkey for either Thanksgiving or Christmas (we're not eating here) but I'll pick up a couple in the 10-12# range and have them in the freezer - I have a BIL who would eat turkey and rolls, cranberry sauce every week of the year given the option, so I try to make a turkey dinner for him every few months. If I was having dinner here, I would probably opt for a fresh bird, but for the freezer for later - it's hard to pass up .29 cents a pound meat :) I'll put aside a couple of hams and prime ribs too before the end of the year, I find the best prices on those in the next 6 weeks and the week before Easter.