Stainless Steel Roaster

Hi Gals, well, it's that time of year, and the new tradition in our family is that I'm responsible for Thanksgiving. It was my husband's idea, and I'm still not sure how I let him get away with it. Anyway, since I haven't cooked a turkey in about 25 years I need a roaster. I'd absolutely love that All-Clad stainless steel one, the one for $200, but I think that might be going a little overboard. As it's only my husband and I on a regular basis I'd probably only use a roaster that size once a year. I don't want to get an outrageously priced roasting pan, but, I don't want a pan I'm not going to be happy with either. I believe that in order to roast a turkey properly the pan needs a bit of "heft" to it in order to absorb heat properly, and I want something with comfortable and large handles. It's time to do my favorite thing - ONLINE SEARCH & SHOP!!!

I have a lovely stainless roasting pan that I inherited when my step-mom passed away. It's a lovely Rever Ware one. I have no idea how old it is. It's much too small for an 18 - 20 lb turkey, although I use it often on a day to day basis for just the two of us. I've been searching and can't find any Revere Ware roasters offered. Perhaps it's so old they no longer make them.

One of the things that I'm really looking forward to is making gravy. It was always a big thing in our house, and I'm sure in your home it is a tradition to have "real" gravy on Thanksgiving. So, what that means is that I'll need all the pan drippings and brown bits I can get in order to make flavorful gravy - so no nonstick roaster for me.

I found on chefscatalog.com a very nice CHEFS Professional Tri-Ply roasting pan. It's heavy gauge construction and comes with the rack. This large roaster is 3.5x12.5x17, which would make it plenty big enough for my turkey, which will be between 15 and 18 lbs. It's priced at $125, much more reasonable than the All-Clad.

Target.com advertises an Oneida heavy gauge carbon steel roaster at the low, low price of $29.99. Hmmm, a bit suspect don't you think? It even looks flimsy in the picture, oh, it's also out of stock, good, I didn't like it anyway.

On the other end of the spectrum, Surlatable.com offers Viking professional cookware and has a gorgeous Viking roasting pan with a rack for $275, now that's a serious roasting pan. Needless to say it has a lifetime warranty.

That CHEFS Professional Tri-Ply roasting pan is looking better all the time

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