Breast down all the way. None of us eat the skin so it does not matter if it is browned or not. If you want it browned turn it over for awhile.

Sue

Yup, breast down all the way. Makes for really juicy yummy white meat.

Moni

Cook's Illustrated: 45 minutes breast-down, rest of the time breast-up.

I tried it down for the first time after reading about it here. It came out nice but there was nothing (and I do mean nothing) in the bottom of the pan for gravy.

If you don't eat gravy it would be OK though, but I was very disappointed.

Up. I like the turkey looking purty ;-) We test the heat often when we think it's time, and it's never dry.

Up. If the breast starts browning too much just put a loose tent of foil over it.

Up at this house.

Up here too, sometimes with strips of bacon across the breast!! Yummee!!

I've always done breast up but that's simply because it' the "way we've always done it"! I read a couple spots that say it makes no difference. And for flipping it over I got a kick out of the one who said who wants to be fighting a greasy hot bird and flipping it and however many times picking it up off the floor??? I use an electric roaster so moistness isn't an issue. Actually one of the best prep methods I've experienced was to butterfly the bird, cook it on a rack over the dressing and everyone is happy. One thing though is the hint I read just this year to be sure to put the legs in first on the bird since the back of the oven is usually hotter than the front, thereby cooking the dark meat more so the meat comes out more evenly cooked. Makes sense to me, but again, I don't use the (conventional) oven.

Breast up here. If you don't overcook it, it won't dry out. IMO. Little puzzled about the "legs to the back" theory though. Smaller area to cook and more exposed to heat anyway. Wouldn't the legs be overcooked if put in the hottest part of the oven? Especially for the full cooking time. Maybe someone can give me a better explanation for this? Dark meat can't take that much more time to cook over white.

Having read here about roasting the turkey with the breast down, I decided to try it this T-G. We flipped it after a couple of hours. It was 14#, so that was not an easy feat to accomplish. I thought the breast looked as if if was cooking much faster than I had planned. I put a foil cap over it to cook the rest of the time.

I've never had a problem with "dry" in the past, so I think I will just roast breast up in the future.... just easier, imo.