Likely rain on my xmas turkey, moving it indoors. Meathead's gravy on the stove works?

[fcy]

My plan for Christmas is (was 😢) a smoked turkey on my Weber Kettle, I read the new book on turkey on the grill and I was really excited to cook the turkey following The Ultimate Turkey recipe but rain decided to fall in California (finally 🙏) so I'm planning a backup cook indoors.

From what I've read in other posts and in the book, cooking the turkey indoors I will only lose the smoke as an oven is an oven inside or out. But in the oven I won't put a big pan under the turkey and let it drip, sounds very messy. So I'm thinking, can I just make Meathhead's gravy (no flour) in a big sauce pan, let it simmer like the whole time? Any advices?

[efincoop]

Are we talking tropical storm-like rain? If you had your heart set on smoking the turkey I say get that Weber kettle under some cover and press on young man . Perhaps a pop up canopy or something similar barring any big wind, but alas, if inside it must be, so be it. Yes, you will lose the smoke flavor, but it will still be wonderful. I suggest sticking with the drip pan if you have the room in your oven. All those delicious rub infused juices will amp up the flavor of the gravy. But that can be skipped and the gravy will still be good. Whatever you do I wish you all the best and a very Merry Christmas

[fcy]

The amount of water is never too stormy but it comes with a lot of wind, the city is already windy usually, it gets worse when raining. Thank you, and merry Christmas to you too!

[ecowper]

What efincoop says is right ….. put up a pop-up over the Weber and go to town. I live near Seattle and get about 70” of rain per year where I am. If I didn’t cook outside in the rain, I’d never be able to grill or smoke.

Heck, even if you don’t have a pop-up of some sort, it’s okay. The rain will probably cool the Weber down 25-30 degrees, so be prepared for that if you can’t shield it from the rain. Otherwise, no issue.

[fcy]

I'm holding on to the rope I'll have enough of a break to cook outdoors, basically I'll plan for both cases. What I'm thinking will be worse than the rain is the wind that usually comes with it. Long term I might think about building some sort of weather fortress for the weber 🤔 — it is windy even without rain.

[ecowper]

All that said, I would say that you can cook that gravy on the stove just fine. Add some drippings from your roasting pan as you go along.

[Santamarina]

Meathead’s ultimate turkey recipe has been my guide since my wife and I took over Thanksgiving duties for our family 6 years ago. In that time I’ve made smoked turkeys per the recipe, and indoor oven turkeys (for the family members who have strong anchors to “tradition”).

Rest assured the recipe works perfect in the oven. Spatchcock that bird, throw it on the top rack of your oven, and put the roasting pan with all the gravy mixings under it on the bottom rack. It’s really not that messy, and the gravy is outstanding.

The gravy from those oven birds has even won over the traditionalists in my family!

[fcy]

That is great news! I was planning on spatchcocking it, but it didn't even cross my mind to put in directly on top rack with the roasting pan below it. I think I'm worried of any fat dripping past the roasting pan to the bottom of the oven, or even worse past it to the flames below. I'll give it a try if I have enough space to make it safe.

I'm excited for it! 🤤

[Santamarina]

Line the bottom shelf with aluminum foil and put the roasting pan on it. That way even if some drips past the pan it won’t burn.

[Steve R.]

Rain? That ain't no hill for a stepper, just put up a pop-up canopy and keep on truckin'. 😉 Wind... now that's another story.

[fcy]

As I've read the other comments I kept thinking that covering the cooker is easy enough but the past few rainy days stretches came with a lot of wind too, keeping the cover from flying off would be difficult but I guess keeping the temperature with the winds would be worse.

[ecowper]

fcy if you have heavy winds, you should move indoors. You’ll be chasing the pop-up and the temperatures.