I can not stress enough the importance of basting your turkey. I am speaking from a terrible experience…not quite as bad as the Christmas Vacation where the turkey turns to a dry piece of dust but pretty close. It was my first thanksgiving and thank goodness it was just my family…I cooked the Turkey and never basted it…just put it in the oven and it came out horrible. Next year my grandfather gave me some great tips on basting and it just came out so much better