How to cook a Thanksgiving meal without an oven?

momofmany

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Here's my dilemna. My oven in the new house has never really worked right - it shuts itself off after about 30 minutes. I'm having the kitchen remodeled and they have already removed the oven into the dumpster. I suspect that the range top will follow the oven in the next few days (along with the dishwasher and the remaining kitchen cabinets).

We have a smoker and I'm thinking about smoking a turkey. But what do I do for the balance of the meal? I'm addicted to stuffing, but can't figure out how to make a decent one in a crockpot or electric skillet.

Any ideas out there on how to fix a Thanksgiving dinner without an oven or range top? I have a Big Green Egg smoker, gas grill, crock pot, electric wok, skillet and fryer that can double as a dutch oven.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Reservations are out - I'm bound and determined to cook a meal without a stove just to say that it can be done.


Oh yeah, my kitchen probably won't be put back together until January, so Christmas dinner is also going to be a challenge this year.
 

valanhb

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Use that gas grill as an oven! You just have to use the right type of cookware, but you could certainly use an aluminum pan, put the stuffing in, cover it tight with aluminum foil and let it "bake" for a time in the preheated grill. You could also make some nice roasted potatoes the same way.

Check out this site, and this guy's recipes. He seriously makes full meals on the grill for every episode of License to Grill. He's GOOD! http://home.discovery.com/fansites/l...ipeindex2.html
 
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momofmany

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Originally Posted by valanhb

Use that gas grill as an oven! You just have to use the right type of cookware, but you could certainly use an aluminum pan, put the stuffing in, cover it tight with aluminum foil and let it "bake" for a time in the preheated grill. You could also make some nice roasted potatoes the same way.

Check out this site, and this guy's recipes. He seriously makes full meals on the grill for every episode of License to Grill. He's GOOD! http://home.discovery.com/fansites/l...ipeindex2.html
I'm definitely going to bookmark that page! I'm so bent on Thanksgiving that I forgot I've got 2 more months of cooking to do without a range!! Very cool - thanks!
 

babyharley

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I'd order a fancy meal from a restaurant and have them bring it to my house
Claim it as your own
 

cheeseface

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If you love stuffing, I guess flavor injecting the turkey and deep frying in a turkey deep fryer it is out of the question. That would mean no gravy either.
I've heard it's still nothing short of amazing, but I haven't been able to try it myself yet.
 
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momofmany

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My friend made a deep fried turkey for us a few years back. It was absolutely awesome!!

He had a pot luck, and my friend he insisted that I make the stuffing and bring it to his party - I actually bought a turkey breast so I could make the stuffing inside a bird, then just unstuffed it after cooking brought it over to his house.
 

starryeyedtiger

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I wish I had some advice to give you as to your current delima, but I honestly don't know what to tell you. I hope some of the other members are able to give you some good tips though
I'm sure your dinner will turn out lovely without the oven!
 

satai

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Originally Posted by Hydroaxe

If you love stuffing, I guess flavor injecting the turkey and deep frying in a turkey deep fryer it is out of the question. That would mean no gravy either.
I've heard it's still nothing short of amazing, but I haven't been able to try it myself yet.
A friend of mine had to do this one year (and she'd never heard of anyone using a deep fat fryer to cook a turkey before) - but apparently it was divine.
 

alaynna

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can you borrow a roaster? you can cook the turkey in there...also if you have a toaster oven you can make a few things in there...
 

gailc

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There was an episode on on of the local tv stations morning show on deep frying and smoking a turkey-looked pretty tasty. I concur about using the grill as an oven substitute. Do you have a microwave oven to reheat food items? Or can you go to a friends house and use their stove oven (not on thanksgiving) and cook up a bunch of food and freeze to reheat later?? When we remodeled out kitchen I had no rangetop/oven for 6 weeks-lots of warming up stuff in the microwave and using the grill!!
 

natalie_ca

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OMG! That so reminds me of one Christmas where I was going to a friend's house for dinner. She was going to cook the turkey and I was going to do some other things and the dessert. Her oven broke a couple days before Christmas and she couldn't get it fixed in time. So we did a scramble and trade of food items and she dropped off the turkey at my house for me to cook and she was going to do the dessert and some other things.

I cooked the turkey and while it was still piping hot, she picked me and it up in the afternoon and we went over to her house and had Christmas dinner.

It was too funny!!!!

I don't know how to cook a turkey other than in an oven, so I can't offer you any advice other than to see if you can use someone else's oven to cook it.

Maybe ask your neighbour if you can cook it the day before in their oven, then you can just reheat everything in covered dishes in the microwave (if you have one), the day of Christmas.
 

twstychik

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I couldn't imagine cooking w/out a range for that period of time. I have a great dressing recipe but it still requires a stove. Oh, and I call it dressing because you don't stuff it into a bird. I've never done stuffing like that and I find everything cooks faster on it's own.
 

sharky

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You could do a raw thankgiving ... I think I have some recipes
... OKAY I am a BIT OUT THERE
 

jcat

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Originally Posted by valanhb

Use that gas grill as an oven! You just have to use the right type of cookware, but you could certainly use an aluminum pan, put the stuffing in, cover it tight with aluminum foil and let it "bake" for a time in the preheated grill. You could also make some nice roasted potatoes the same way.

Check out this site, and this guy's recipes. He seriously makes full meals on the grill for every episode of License to Grill. He's GOOD! http://home.discovery.com/fansites/l...ipeindex2.html
My sister has been doing that for years, because she cooks two huge turkeys (with stuffing) every Thanksgiving and Christmas. One goes in the oven, and the other in the grill out on the deck. She cooked a "Thanksgiving dinner" for my husband and me one time when we were there in May, and used the grill, since she didn't want to heat up the kitchen too much. It was delicious!
 
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momofmany

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Great ideas all!! We'll need to get our spare propane tank refilled, but the grill option sounds pretty good.

We considered getting a separate convection oven or a toaster oven, but with a very expensive convection oven/range sitting in my garage, I can't see spending the money for something I'll use for 2 months.

Cooking at a neighbors the day before and reheating? Possibly. Cooking at a friends? More probable. Our closest friends are leaving town for the weekend and I've considered asking if we can camp at their house while they were gone.

But I still think the grill option is pretty good!
 

lokismum

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I do extra stuffing in the crock pot all the time. I just cook it at low for 4 to 6 hours with the neck and make sure I have added either Oxo or chicken stock (just a little) for flavouring. I also put apples and cranberries in my stuffing and a little bit of long-grained rice. It comes out fantastic.
 

crittermom

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gas grill, crock pot, electric wok, skillet and fryer that can double as a dutch oven.
you can use all of those to get your dinner made.
 
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