Study up on why, when—as well as when not to—tent your bird with foil. When it comes to cooking a turkey, you have a lot of choices. Fresh or frozen? Free-range, organic, kosher, or conventional?

Basically the foil works in the same way a lid works—by trapping steam so the turkey stays moist throughout the roasting process. Simply tent the foil so that it loosely covers the whole turkey.

Some people say to roast your turkey breast side down the first hour to help it stay moist. But it's tough to flip a hot bird. Here's another way. Fold a sheet of foil into a tent shape and place ...