How often is “occasionally”? The directions on my turkey breast say to cook it for 2-3 hours, basting occasionally. Every 1/2 hour? Once an hour? Every 20 minutes? How are us non-cooking people supposed to know what the heck “occasionally” means?! 
Every 20 or 30 minutes – more or less. Honestly, it’s not that big a deal – do it when you remember.
twickster is generous and wise. Baste less frequently than the oven requires time to reheat, more often than 1/7 of the total cooking time. Remember that your own judgment, looking at the darn thing, is probably right on the money. Good luck and happy Thanksgiving.
I only baste a couple of times, toward the end of cooking. I used to baste frequently, but it doesn’t seem to make a difference either way, with flavor or moistness.
There’s celery, apples and butter in the cavity, and the bird will sit for 20 minutes before carving. That’s what makes a difference – wait a bit before cutting into the bird.
We don’t baste–we use cooking bags.
Alton Brown says not to baste at all.
'course, he also recommends submerging the thing in a brine for 6-8 hours before you cook it. . .
And it works great! You should try it.
Thanks, everyone! 
I just have fears of serving the world’s driest turkey. 
That might be good advice if I’d ever done this before… 
Well, there’s nothing in the cavity (it’s just a 7-lb turkey breast). Hopefully that won’t be a big deal. And the directions mentioned letting it sit for at least 20 minutes before carving, so it’s good to see that recommendation repeated.
On big occasions, like…Thanksgiving.
Yup, I used his method this year and it was wonderful. NB: He says not to baste because all you’re doing is letting a lot of heat out of the oven each time you open the door, thus extending cooking time and risking drying out the turkey. Only open it to put the foil over the breast.
No-basting will work with a non-brined turkey, as well. The last time I hosted Thanksgiving, I used the recommendations of the Butterball “turkey help line”, and merely brushed the skin with vegetable oil at the start of cooking, and kept the oven closed except for dealing with the foil. Turned out great.
I will never not brine again. Never. Desert island, leg bitten off by sharks, starving for 17 days, finally catch a seagull: brine it for 8-12 hours before you cook it.
But Alton Brown is still the single most irritating life form on this planet.