Counter top roaster vs. oven - pros, cons, benefits, etc?

[launderess]

Vintage roasters will not heat up a space same as a larger oven. However you can t throw a "blanket" made from oven or similar insulation over or around the thing to keep more of the heat in. Do this with the Ovenette and Maxim convection oven.

As noted previously main thing is to *NOT* keep lifting/opening the lid on these things. Once they reach temperature it remains surprisingly constant long as you keep the lid on/door closed.

Because you are cooking in close confined space you'll probably find things are done a bit faster and or you must adjust the temperature a bit lower. This makes sense as unlike a large oven you aren't heating lots of dead air space around your pan/dish, so there is probably a more efficient transfer of heat.

 

[tomturbomatic]

If you are comparing it to a gas oven, then yes, it does not heat up the kitchen like using a gas oven, but it can heat up a kitchen more than a well-insulated electric oven, depending on the task being done. This is not meant as a knock against the roaster oven, just a cautionary statement about using one during the summer when any additional heat source is best kept out of the living area. Oven meals were generally reduced during the summer in the years before air conditioning. People in the south often used these roaster ovens on porches during the summer when they had gas ranges in their kitchens as did our former neighbors when they lived in an apartment. At that time, their old apartment model gas range did not have an oven thermostat so the thermostatic control of the roaster oven was a real boon to precise oven cooking.

 

 

I will share one bit of hard-earned knowledge. If you are baking in a Bundt Pan in a roaster oven, you need to place a trivet like one from a 4 or 6 quart pressure cooker on the load and lift rack before placing the Bundt Pan in the oven. While the load and lift rack is adequate to keep flat bottom cake and pie pans from coming in direct contact with the bottom on the oven, the fluted outside of the Bundt Pan needs the greater surface area of the additional trivet to provide a cushion of air between the oven bottom and the pan. The Westinghouse Roaster Oven bakes beautiful pound cakes that are beautifully browned on all sides. Once, when the bake element in mom's oven went out just as she was going to bake a pan of brownies, she fired up the RO and reported excellent results.

 

 

 

[fan-of-fans]

Steam table

I remember some of these had a kit that consisted of a rack and three small containers so you could put water in the bottom and use it as a steam table to heat your side dishes. Did anyone ever try this, and how well did it work?

 

[abcomatic]

My aunt Jean had a Nesco roaster and had the stand on which it stood. Her's had a clock in it too and storage below. She used it for Thanksgiving dinner back in 1958 and it was wonderful as I remember. I have no clue what ever happened to it.

 

[rp2813]

I've never come across a vintage roaster that has all of its accessories, particularly the extra cooking containers, except maybe on ebay IIRC.  I think people found these useful and kept them for use in their conventional ovens or as storage containers for leftovers.  AFAIK, they were standard equipment as demonstrated in the Studio One video clip above.

 

My GE came with its load & lift rack plus an additional adjustable height rack.  Tom, would I be able to use the additional rack for a Bundt pan instead of a PC trivet?

 

[artcurus]

@rp

Should be fine. Mine came with the lift out rack and the second shelf. The point of the trivet is to get the bundt pan off the floor of the oven

 

[circlew]

Our church kitchen has three, two are Westinghouse from the mid-late 50's, and the other is a Hamilton Beach that is about 5 years old - based on the old Westinghouse design, so the pans interchange. We use them when the steam table is full, or when serving out in the dining area. We don't bake in them, but have used for BBQ, soups, baked beans, etc.

 

[perc-o-prince]

We've run across lots of the containers; some with covers and some without. Hall pottery made some in colors for the roasters as well.

Chuck

 

[launderess]

Many of those roaster containers pop up on fleaPay, estate sales, CL, thrifts, etc... labeled as "refrigerator" use. Which I suppose is fine.

A NIB set recently sold on eBay for a good price:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Westinghous...D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Roaster accessories often got misplaced over the years so often you find racks, owner's manual and other things missing.

As with so many other things in the early eBay or whatever days you could get complete Westinghouse and other roasters for very little money. Now as with so many other things (such as wringer washers) sellers assume their rusted and clapped out roasters are worth several hundred dollars.

 

[frigilux]

Here's a photo of the items for a Westinghouse Electric Roaster on eBay that Launderess referenced.

 

[whirlykenmore78]

I have a post-war Westinghouse myself.

NOTHING save for a smoker cooks a better turkey. Mine also has the template with the 3 aluminum pans for use as a steamtable. Clean-up is a snap as well just pre scrub the cooking vessel with some hot water and Dawn, rinse it and send it through the dishmachine. I have cleaned dozens this way at church.
WK78

 

[polkanut]

Malcolm,

I couldn't find any other online reference to our Aroma 20qt roaster other than the instruction manual PDF.  We have all of the extras to use it as a steam table as well.  We bought it about 10 years ago from QVC of all places.  Only thing I've ever bought from a TV shopping channel. lol

http://www.aroma-housewares.com/manuals/ART-620TB_InstructionManual.pdf

 

[tomturbomatic]

Nice Roaster Ralph!

 

The main thing you want to do is keep the bottom edges of the pan from touching the bottom of the pan through the gaps in the rack while keeping the Bundt pan low enough in the oven for best baking and browning. The second rack in the position shown would probably elevate the pan more than is best for optimum baking.  That is why I suggested an old pressure or dutch oven trivet. A cooling rack would probably work also. These ovens are pretty amazing. The cookbook even has a recipe for baking an Angel Food Cake, but of course those pans have flat bottoms so they can sit on the load and lift rack.

 

OT, but I am curious to know if anyone has attempted to use the Guardian Service kettle oven to bake a cake. The whole operation seems fraught with opportunities for disaster.

 

[kletmar]

I Just Bought One of These!

About a month ago I saw one exactly like this at our local Hospice thrift shop for $9. I went home and thought about it for days and days, and then this past Wednesday went back to see if it was still there. It was. It was also 20% off day so I picked up this little gem for $7.20. It needs some cleaning and brightening up, and a new cord, but I'm off to the races! Can't wait to use it. You can cook anything in it; my Grandmother used hers for everything. Meat loaf, cakes, pies, roasts, turkeys! A keeper!

http://https//hepcatrestorations.com/2011/07/20/1950s-westinghouse-roaster/

 

[rp2813]

New Cord

I'm pretty sure I saw the big roaster oven replacement cords at ACE Hardware recently.

 

For cleaning the exterior, I got excellent results from a bottle of brush-on white appliance touch-up (apply very sparingly with nearly-dry brush) and liquid car cleaner/wax to polish.

 

This is the same GE roaster pictured above in as-found condition:

 

 

 

[tomturbomatic]

Congratulations!

I hope that you have lots of fun cooking in it.

 

[frigilux]

There's a user manual/recipe book for a Westinghouse roaster in Ephemera. Forgot I'd purchased it! I was going through my Ephemera collection on the iPad and there it was, LOL. Quite a few recipes in it.

Everyone's endorsement of using an electric roaster to cook a turkey prompted me to put turkey on the shopping list. A few days thawing in the fridge and then a nice turkey dinner on Sunday and I'd use a new cooking method.  Fun!

 

Didn't realize our little grocery store doesn't stock turkeys in the middle of the summer.  How did I not realize that before?  I have two of those whole, frozen turkey breasts, but I'm making cheesy hot turkey sandwiches with those.  Besides, it just wouldn't be the same as cooking a nice, big turkey.  Will have to wait, I guess. Or go hunting, LOL. 🍽

 

[lordkenmore]

Or go hunting, LOL.

Lord Kenmore sits, staring at his monitor, his body shaking in fear... "I hope...I hope...I'll be safe," he says. "Surely, even though I'm a turkey, I'd be too big to fit inside of one those electric roasters..."

 

[polkanut]

Eugene,

Check a larger store like Hy-Vee or Coborn's.  I would think they should have a few in stock.

 

[frigilux]

Fear not, Lord Kenmore!  I have already abandoned the notion of hunting, primarily because I just can't find the right hat.