Roasting Pans

I have been married for 12 years and today I finally bought my first roasting pan. I stood in the middle of the isle at the store and tried to remember why I have never bought one and yet I have cooked the darn bird for the last 5 years. I am still trying to understand it and it's been 5 hours (in the mean time I did actually come home). I don't believe I'll ever figure my brain out but I am sure I have had some reason for not buying one.

So, how do you choose a roasting pan? My first criteria is always cost. I just cannot afford to buy the ultimate roasting pan when I plan on using it only a few times a year. I draw the line at tinny sounding pans with no heft and scratch easily. So, somewhere in the middle is a big range of pans, standard and now electric (what??) to choose from.

Yes, electric. This is what I found on an end display:

It's a good old crockpot style roasting "oven" that will free up your own oven on the important day. Yes, it stopped me in my tracks. I stood there, looking at it and at the pan I had selected and thought about the pros and cons of each. Going for the electric roaster is the ease of use, the simple settings on the front, freeing up my oven, cooks 30% faster than an ordinary oven and still has multiple other uses and inserts for keeping buffet style foods warm. It even holds up to a 20 lb. turkey. Did I buy it? Nope. Why? It's BIG and it's UGLY!

I bought this:Yup, pretty boring. It black, slightly shiny and has a non-stick interior. It has a nice domed top to sit over the bird and holds a 25 lb. turkey. And it was on sale. So, why this one that takes up space in my oven and has to negotiate for cooking time with rolls and potatoes and pies? It's sturdy, it's easy to lift, It holds enough bird to feed everyone twice, and if it gets left out on my counter, it's OK. It actually looks nice and inspires some of those Alton Brown meals that seem so intense but are deceptively simple. This is a pan that will keep me cooking through the winter. This is a pan that can carry apples for pies and do more than one duty. How on earth was I supposed to use that electric one for anything else? I would have died from tripping on the cord!

So what do you do when faced with oval and rectangular pans? Oval pans often have lids so I'm not sure if that rules out the rectangles. Perhaps you can get more veggies into the rectangular pans. Personally, I find birds just slide a lot more in squarish pans. I'm not big on trying to rescue the bird off the floor when he's decided to go flying. I will admit that a rectangular pan may be easier to store in cabinetry and nestle with other baking pans better. I guess it is up to personal choice but if anyone has any scientific insight, let me know.

Lid on or lid off? Foil tent? There are so many "family secrets" about the perfect way to cook the turkey. Do you keep the foil on through the whole process and remove it 15 minutes before it's done to brown the top? Do you brown your bird before to "seal" in the juices? One year I said, "forget it all" and tossed the bird into my huge pressure cooker. That was one of the best tasting turkeys ever! Moist! Rich! Juicy! Not a poster child for a brown turkey ad....infact it wasn't the type of bird you would really set at the table. It was a bird that you prep in the kitchen and present fully sliced and ready to eat. I have to think that if I could have fit my pressure cooker in the oven to brown the top of the turkey it may have been a total success. Well, next time!

One last reminder......the size of roasting pan determines the size of turkey you cook. So make it big enough to do the work and make it beautiful so you don't mind looking at it.