Thanksgiving with no oven...Help

[dcannaday]

A few years ago, I brought home one of those white roasters. I told my wife she could cook the turkey in there and have the oven for her pies, etc. She was not sure about it, but now uses it every year to do the turkey. You could also do the stuffing/dressing in it. You could do most anything with it. Hope that helps. David.

 

[Porthand]

Do you have access to a metal 33 gallon trash can and charcoal? The can acts as a reflector oven and you can roast/grill a 15# bird in about 2 hours.

 

[Constance]

Constance - the OP lives in an apartment. She said she has a stovetop & a toaster oven, & might be able to pick up a crockpot. Don't think grilling facilities are in the cards. And deep-frying a whole turkey in an apartment? Definitely not safe.

While I'm not familiar with grocery offerings in Korea, I'd suggest buying turkey parts or breaking down a whole bird & cooking the pieces on the stovetop. Brown first, then add some broth & braise covered until done in one or more deep skillets. Any/all sides can easily be done on the stovetop or in the toaster oven or a crockpot.

I read all that, Breezy. I thought she might be able to grill or deep fry her turkey outside, in the parking lot or whatever. Don't know how cold it is there, though.

 

[PieSusan]

What about making Turkey and rice soup? You can make mashed sweet potatoes. You can steam vegetables. Dessert can be a pumpkin mousse. If you can get cranberries, there a lots of cranberry recipes online, too.

Voila, an American Thanksgiving in Korea

Actually, it really doesn't matter what you eat as long as you are celebrating with family and friends and giving thanks for all your blessings. However, I do understand the homesickness of wanting to eat an American Thanksgiving.

 

[Michael in FtW]

RakiaKorea,

The best tool for roasting a turkey, in your situation, would be one of the electric roaster ovens that others have mentioned. My grandmother use to use them to roast the turkeys to keep the oven free for other things - tasted the same as if they were roasted in the oven. Don't know about cost and availbility in Korea - but they are about the same price as some slow cookers (crockpots) over here in the USA.

ALTERANATIVE: you might check to see if you have a restaurant that has the facilities to cook the turkey for you.

Depending on your toaster oven - you can bake pies in some of them - bake the pies a day or two ahead. Then you can use it for the dressing and other sides that need to be baked on the day you need them.

If anyone has a microwave oven - another plus that expands the capabilities of your toaster oven.

 

[lucky2009]

Depending on how many people you have, you could do a couple of chickens in the toaster oven, although the restaurant idea is really good. For a stove top crisp, you can brown an oatmeal mixture on the stove, then saute the apples and add it when you want to heat it up.

 

[jayde]

What about ham instead? Get a couple of ham steaks (bone-in) and cook it on the stovetop until it is browned.

It's not a turkey but ham is a staple on Thanksgiving.

 

[lucky2009]

It probably all depends on what's available in Korea.

 

[Claire]

My husband says when he was in Korea, he cooked Thanksgiving dinner in a traditional Korean house. He used cornish game hens, and everyone was thrilled. They can be cooked in a domed electric skillet. I know I'm too late for Thanksgiving, but other holidays loom. I once had a home without an oven, and the little birds do well in almost all situations (any skillet with a lid or buy some aluminum foil and cover them). You can use all the traditional sides, and stuff with your favorites.

 

[Porthand]

Claire, sometime I should tell you about the time the family Labrador ate the Christmas ham. LOL!

 

[Claire]

Oh, come on, tell us!

 

[Porthand]

OK, here goes . . .My mother was a partner in a floral shop so if we were to have Christmas as a family, it was pack up the kids and head to Cleveland. Mom of course worked Christmas Eve but she had our day planned head to downtown Cleveland to see all the window displays etc.
Having the grand kids at her home for Christmas was huge for my mom. She worked long hours at her shop then came home each day and worked on preparations for the family event. Everything was well planned in advance down to the daily menus. This year we were to have a Honey Baked Ham for Christmas dinner. Now I am going back about 25 years and in those days you had to order a HBH in advance.
Mom did so much food preparation ahead of time there was no room left in the freezer or refrigerator. No problem as our garage was insulated but unheated and in December it served well as a walk-in cooler. So food was neatly packed away in containers and set atop a picnic table that had been moved in from the patio for the season.
Back to the day, we all bundled up and piled into the family station wagon which had been parked in the garage. In the frenzy of the day someone didn't quite shut the door from the kitchen to the garage. While we were enjoying the magic of Christmas with the kids. My dad's Labrador was enjoying the 14# HBH in the garage she now had access to! When we returned home, we found nothing but foil, a well polished bone and a dog with a big belly.
My dad the calm calculating engineer freaked. He immediately called the vet and I quote "Help my dog ate our HBH. What do I do?" I could only imagine the man at the oher end of this conversation and began to laugh so hysterically that I was literally ROFLMAO. My brother dragged me out of the kitchen.
I took the dog for a very long walk in the snow that night. Mom came home and was totally cool about it. "Jim there's a turkey breast in the freezer. We need to get it thawed."
Maybe its not that funny but it is one Christmas that will always stick in my mind.

 

[TeonW]

Hey all, OP here, thanks for your suggestions, I ended up not being able to do it, ( The RA's didn't think cooking came with organizational properties. I appreciate your suggestions. Oh, and I'm a dude >.<. oh and as to the cornish hen, I love it, they're so small and cute... and tasty ^.^ I usually make them with beans, one time I tried it with lime instead of lemon... wooh! I knew limes had a strong flavor, but ****! potatoes were with it... u.u ... I ate it, but wow, I am never using lime peels with chicken, maybe juice, but not the limes. If anyone has any good recipes for em I'll eat em up, I'm always buyin cornish hen.