How about a really good outdoor gas grill?

I know, not exactly the same thing, but you can do a perfectly traditional turkey in one, if you do enough kitchen remodeling... :)

Good luck!

The same is true with gas ranges these days - you can use the burners during a power outage but not the oven. If you really have significant outtages, maybe you could get a small generator for your house.

You can probably light the oven with a match once but when it goes out after reaching temp and needs to light again later, you're in trouble. You need a pilot light for true independence. That's one of the reasons lots of commercial ranges still use them. More reliable start and doesn't require electricity to work.

d'oh - my mom's old range had a pilot light of course!! Sounds like connecting a gas wall oven electrical to a circuit on my generator transfer switch is the only way to go here. The microwave in the same cabinet will be on the transfer switch as well, anyway.

fori, I tried to finish a Thanksgiving turkey once on a charcoal grill during a power outage - I think it finally got finished around midnight lol!!

amcook - in general I don't think you can light the gas oven even once - on my range at least there's no access to the oven burner to be able to light it.

Alas, in the interest of "safety" (which seems to go against Darwinian selection, but I think the "innocent bystander" clause comes into play with gas explosions), the days of residential pilot-light ovens are gone.

The BBQ isn't a bad plan. I've been smoking turkeys since the early 80s in a Weber kettle (with a 12" wide ring of flashing to get enough height under the dome) and for the last several years in a ceramic Kamado grill/smoker which replaced my Weber. It's generally not a lot longer than oven roasting to do it at smoking temperatures around 220 deg. -- my mid-sized birds get pulled in about 6 hours and for some reason disappear from the table about twice as fast as the oven-roasted. Stuffing and bread though? That is a little tougher.

That's why you need a gas grill, Kathy! Much faster preheat. And you can monitor the temperature and have it behave like an oven.

Jeff, the stuffing can go in the bird or in a casserole alongside it. I did do a Thanksgiving with no kitchen once--it's really best of you just PLAN on putting the turkey out there so you're ready.

C'mom...everyone needs a good barbecue!

Weissman,
You're probably right. I've got an electric but my parents 25+ year old gas range could be lit once. Not that we ever tried it.

sfjeff,
Love the Darwin comment. :D We're into the deep fried turkeys and there use to be a website dedicated to this in relation to Darwin's theory. Some of it was pretty silly. I love to smoke... meat. :) Never tried a Turkey but I've heard it's great. Nice thing is that's safe to do even in the rain which I'm sure is a concern in WA.

Another idea is an outdoor oven or cast-iron roaster. These can be put on top of outdoor LP burners or charcoal and I've heard results are good. Might require more effort to manually regulate roasting/baking temps.

There is also a very low tech camping trick called the pit oven. Most cultures have variations of this in their history. Dig a pit about 3 feet deep and wide enough to drop in a large cast iron dutch oven or turkey roaster. Start some charcoal. Prepare the bird and put in the roaster. Cover all seams with foil. Put it in the pit. Make sure the charcoal is completely started with a coat of white ash all around. You can start the charcoal in the pit if you like. There should be enough to put all around and on top of the roasting vessel. Put them around the roaster evenly spaced and put 3-4 on top. Then bury the whole thing. Wouldn't advise this if it's muddy but this is safe to do under a covered part of the yard even. Even use a large tarp over the area to keep rain from hitting the area. Make sure there's 6-12" of dirt over the top to keep the heat from escaping. If the dirt is moist, then line the pit with rocks and cover the charcoal on top with smaller rocks and maybe a layer of foil before put the dirt over. Standard size turkeys take 4-6 hrs. Give it a little extra time. Roasting this way does not draw moisture out of the meat so overcooking is not much of an issue. Probably a good idea to try this on on a chicken first to get a feel for the amount of charcoal needed and cooking time. Nice benefit of this method is that it *will* be the conversation piece of the night. Heck, this is the way many Native Americans cooked in the past so it's fitting.

Good luck.

Here is a link that might be useful: Camp Chef Turkey Roaster