Don’t Buy a Stainless Roasting Pan Until You Read This Article
Author: Bethany Boylan // Category: diningPicture your jovial, smiling family sitting down to a delicious holiday meal. All of your hours of planning and preparation have been worth it. Now imagine your panic as you take a burnt turkey out of the oven. Choosing the best stainless roasting pan goes a long way to helping you to create a perfect holiday meal. A bad pan could result in unevenly cooked meat, a pan so heavy that the roast is dropped, and scorched gravy.
The size of a roasting pan is your first decision to make. Air circulation and wasted space within the pan should both be considered. Ideally, you want a pan that fits in your oven, of course, but that has about 2 inches between it and the oven walls so that air can flow well. In addition, you want your roast to fit snugly in the pan, with little wasted room around the edges. This can just cause the juices to spread thinly and burn during cooking.
Secondly, the kind of metal in your pan matters. Two factors are the weight of the pan and how evenly is conducts heat. A good heat conductor is aluminum. However, ingredients with strong acids such as tomatoes and lemons can react badly with aluminum. This can add a sour taste to your recipes. Stoneware may not be your best choice because it can be fragile or heavy. Stainless steel is a great choice because it is relatively light, non-reactive, and sturdy. However, it is not the best conductor of heat. The best choice is a a roasting pan made up of different layers of stainless steel and aluminum and possibly copper.
Your turkey roasting pan must also be able to stand up to high oven temperatures and the high direct heat of the stove top. You often will want to use your roaster on the stove top to sear the meat and also to make gravy after roasting. Some lightweight pans can buckle under high-heat conditions. The poorly made pans can also distribute heat unevenly and cause burning and scorching of your roast or gravy.
Another factor to consider is how your pan is made. A rectangular shape with sides that are rounded is best. The round corners make for easier cleaning. In addition, the height of the pan matters. You want sides that allow good air circulation but also have enough height so that juices don’t spill when you are taking your roast out of the oven. A great height for the sides of the pan is between 2.5 and 3 inches. Also, know that the kind of handles on your roaster are important. More inexpensive pans have handles that fold down and are very hard to hold with potholders. Some handles stick straight out from the sides of the pan and waste space in your oven. Therefore, you should look for strong, riveted handles that come straight up from the pan.
There are deals on pans that include handy extras. A rack is one. My favorite extra is heavy forks. Even if I only use my forks once a year to lift that heavy turkey out of the pan onto my serving platter, they were worth it.
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