Turkey Help - No Oven

[WebmasterMaryJo]

<font color=navy>There's a possibility that I might have my brother & ex-SIL & her family over for Thanksgiving... but, my oven has been on the blink for awhile now.

Is there a way of preparing turkey on the stove or in a crockpot (well, maybe not a crockpot - too small) so we can have it for Thanksgiving? Or must it be cooked in the oven?

 

[Wagamama]

I don't know about a stove or crock pot but you bake the turkey on the grill!

 

[LindaBabe]

Always in my weber kettle with a charcoal fire, and a few pieces of cider soaked wood for smoke.

 

[piratesmate]

If you have an oval crock pot, you can do a breast in it. I just did this recently. The skin won't get crispy, but the meat was very tender. If you want both white & dark meat, you could probably get a smaller breast & the a package of turkey thighs. They would slip down the sides.

If you don't have a grill or an oval - maybe you could borrow from someone. The other thing that comes to mind - my mother has a Nestor (?) that she got from QVC - it reminds me of a really large crock pot, but she roasts meats in it. Maybe someone else could tell you more about them.

Deb

 

[Lainy67]

Ok, this may be ANTI Thanksgiving to some, but my vote in that situation would be your local grocery store, Lubys or barbecue restaurant. At least here all of those do that.

The Kroger sells cooked turkey dinners as does the Tom Thumb. You can arrange to pick them up early and reheat, or pick them up the afternoon of Thanksgiving (usually before 2).

Lubys also does a dinner. Online it says - 12 - 14 pound hot roasted turkey, 2 quarts dressing, 1 quart gravy, cranberry sauce, a pecan pie and a pumpkin pie for $69.95.

We have done a Boston Market ham before so we didn't have to cook the meat at Christmas.

As for barbecue restuarants. I live in Texas and every one here has a deep fried turkey that you can order for Thanksgiving.

We have a good oven, and if the meal is here, quite frankly I still might go and order one of the above. Just so I don't have quite as much to clean up and it leaves the oven for things like the potatoes and dressing and rolls.

Good Luck.

 

[chell]

I have just a regular round crock-pot and I cook turkey breast in it. Actually I am doing one for a Holiday Luncheon at work on Monday. It just falls off of the bone.

 

[pumba]

it is big enough for a 15 pound turkey and it is so nice and juicy she said.......she uses this roaster all summer too as it doens' t heat up her whole house.......they sell at walmart and other stores like that .....and are not a bad item to add to our appliances.....

 

[MerryPoppins]

A friend of ours likes to deep-fat fry his turkey. It's not what I would normally do for Thanksgiving, but it is tasty. We also do a "trash can turkey". If you live in an area that isn't too dry this time of year, you might want to give it a try.

Trash Can Turkey
10 lb. turkey, thawed & rinsed
10 gallon metal trash can and lid, new!
Fat wooden dowel, about the diameter of a broom handle
Aluminum foil
10 lbs. charcoal
Tongs or small shovel for moving coals
Oven mitts, for picking up the trash can at the end
Seasoning salt
Bucket of water, just in case!

First find a cleared area, safe for cooking. Cut the dowel so that it can be driven into the ground and put the turkey on top. Note, you don't want the turkey to drag on the ground or touch the top of the trash can. I can ask my DH for the length if you are interested.

Start the charcoal in the upside down lid of the trash can. You want it to burn until it is starting to turn white.

Pull off a couple strips of foil and cover the ground around the stake. Cover an area slightly larger than the trash can. Put a large ball of foil on the end of the dowel. That gives the turkey more stability. Fit the turkey onto the stake and sprinkle it with seasoned salt.

Turn the trash can upside down over the turkey. Position it carefully. Put a layer of coals on top of the trash can. Put the rest around the base of the trash can, on the foil. Start your timer. It takes 1 1/2 hours to cook. Don't peek.

We've done this at home and camping. It will leave a scorched place in your yard and you do have to be careful of fire, but it works great! Quite a novelty. Our Scouts loved it.

 

[jenny2]

Deep fried turkey is yummy! The skin gets good and crispy, but the meat stays moist. DH won't eat turkey any other way. Another good thing is it doesn't take that long to fry it. The last one we did took about 1 1/2 hours!

 

[StarCloud]

I vote for on the grill. That's how we've done it in my family for a very long time. If done right it's much better than when done in the oven. Oh and this is coming from someone that doesn't even like turkey all that much!!

 

[loisg1]

Glad to hear that someone else is considering ordering their dinner out! Ordered ours from the local Wegman's today. It will include a 14 lb turkey, 4 lbs mashed potatoes, 26 oz gravy, 3 1/2 lbs herb stuffing, 14 oz cranberry relish and one dozen dinner rolls. This is supposed to feed 10 people and is $55. Everything is fully cooked and should reheat in 1 1/2 hour. Add a green bean casserole, salad, and a couple of pies and everyone should be happy.

Just checking with all of you cooks out there - does this sound like enough for ten?

Lois

 

[BevS97]

I wish we could do this over here. I am a hopeless cook, and very occassionally I have to do Christmas dinner. the first year I did it we had a turkey that was off, and we had to throw it out just before dinner. Fortunatly, my mil had brought a ham for supper, so we had the ham instead.

last year I bought a boneless turkey, which was very easy to cook, but I did feel like a bit of a cheat because we didn't have a 'real' turkey.

Bev

 

[DVCajun]

I'm smoking our turkey!

Our family has done this for years and now I can't stand the taste of bland, boring baked turkey.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I say go out and buy a Roaster if you want to cook a turkey. Now they are not cheap so a good alternative is to buy one already cooked from your local grocery store.