If taste is important....try to find a *native* bird. You might be able to find a local turkey farm ....just make sure you place your order for the bird well in advance, of when you plan to use it. Obviously Thanksgiving is the busy time for these farmers.
Some growers are fussy about what they feed their birds ...and the taste can vary from farm to farm.
The BEST tasting [most natural] turkey is a wild one. Ever year, we always have at least one. After you've experienced a wild turkey ....you'll say...*THIS is what a turkey is supposed to taste like* ...you'll be spoiled.
One thing is that a native bird cooks faster than a frozen Butterball-type ...IIRC, it's only about 11 minutes/pound. I don't like overcooked meat, of any sort.
I think a convection oven is the best way to cook fowl of any type [duck, goose, wild turkey, etc]
Can't believe I'm taking turkey on a beef thread.
The only thing I know about cooking wild turkey came from a red-hot turkey hunter who if he wasn’t at the workplace, was out hunting wild turkey.
He said only the breast meat was fit to eat, that the dark meat was much too tough since wild turkeys are ground creatures that only rarely take flight.
FWIW, when I first cooked tandoori chicken, I learned that in India poultry dark meat is more expensive than white meat because the former has more flavor (I heartily agree).
Preparing an exotic region’s cuisine is much cheaper & less complicated than actually going there.
“Why should I travel? I’m already here.”