After researching, do people really cook the turkey upside down for the first 30 minutes of cooking?

I tried flipping one year and decided that any (minimal at best) improvement in breast-meat moistness wasn't worth the pain of wrestling a hot, greasy, 20-pound object when there are other kitchen things to do and guests around.

Spatchcocking is a better solution for the uneven doneness problem, if a Norman Rockwell whole bird presentation isn't important to you. You could mess with your old-school parents by saying you ran over it with a car!

Thank you!

I do flip it. Not sure the juices really do run down, it's more that I want both sides nice and browned. I don't have a big enough pan to spatchcock.

Right side up is fine. I spatchcock my Turkey, that might make your parents blink. It helps the bird to cook evenly.

I've done both the flip and non-flip method and can't say I've noticed much difference. Not an easy maneuver with a large turkey, so I don't flip anymore - plenty of oven-juggling without it on Thanksgiving. I'm sure someone will chime in and say the opposite...just my experience, results no doubt vary.

Fine Cooking recommends cooking the turkey breast side-down for the first hour or so—the juices run to the breast and the turkey "bastes itself." http://www.finecooking.com/item/45363/the-secret-to-juicy-roast-turkey

The Kitchn says to roast it like upside-down the entire time—http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-roast-a-turkey-upside-down-237555—then broil it if you want crispy breast skin.

None of our tested turkey recipes call for an breast side-down roast and they're not less juicy for it! So I say... try it if you're willing to take a risk (and come away with a maybe less perfect-looking bird) or otherwise pick a classic recipe you know won't be dry, like this one: https://food52.com/recipes/38997-barbara-kafka-s-simple-roast-turkey