question about open vs. covered roasting

[passatdoc]

I have a large roasting pan for my range oven and a small one to fit my Breville Smart (countertop) oven. Both have covers, and the only type of roasting I've ever done has been with covered roasters. Poultry, mostly.

Of course, if you go to the cooking section of a dept store or to a cooking store, you see lots of rectangular open roasters without lids or covers. I've never roasted food in an open manner (note: i eat very little red meat, so I'd roast a chicken but not a prime rib, if you see what I mean).

When is open roasting preferable to covered roasting? What kind of foods turn out better this way? (I remember my grandmother doing roast pork in an open roaster). From what I've observed, red meats (beef, pork) seem to lend themselves to open roasting more than say poultry. Of course, I've seen turkeys with foil tents roasted in open roasting pans (as well as turkeys in bags on an open pan), but what I mean is under what circumstances is open roasting (no foil tent, no bag, no lid) preferable to covered roasting?

 

[58limited]

Usually, people who use the open roasters cover them with aluminum foil, then remove the foil for browning for the last 20 minutes or so. I prefer a good covered roaster such as the old self-basting Lisk roasters. The meat is less likely to dry out when covered.

 

[sudsmaster]

My impression is that covered roasting is more like steaming than baking.

The secret to open roasting of poultry is to jack up the oven temp as high as possible: 450 to 550. Dry the bird thoroughly, give it a light coat of vegetable oil, then sear it in the oven at the high heat for 15 to 20 minutes. Then reduce the heat to 325 and roast until the white meat is about 165F. It can help but not mandatory to do most of the roasting with the breast side down, so the fat from the dark meat tends to self-baste the bird. It can be flipped for the last 30 minutes or so to brown the breast.

The searing and the slow roasting tends to leave the meat moist and tender. It's important to make sure all parts are at least 165F, but not to overcook as that will dry out and toughen the bird. It's also recommended not to put stuff the bird, as that lengthens the cooking time and there is a good chance the stuffing will not get hot enough to kill any bacteria in it.

 

[passatdoc]

@58limited: My guess is that you can achieve the same browing effect by removing the foil (or lid cover) for the last 20 minutes, as one does with a turkey when the foil tent is removed.

@sudsmaster: thanks for the open roasting tip. I always had sub-par results with open roasting, probably because I did not use high enough temps followed by a cooldown to 325. The Granite Ware covered roaster can of course be used without the cover (using just the lower half plus rack insert) for open roasting. Any way to add veggies to your recipe?

If you want to roast veggies (potatoes carrots celery etc) with poultry, can it be done with open roasting, or is one obligated to use a cover to prevent dehydration? Thus far I've only done it with a covered roaster. I suppose if the veggies were done (e.g. potatoes cut into small pieces) by the time the lid needed to be removed, one could remove the veggies and return the chicken for 15-20 mins of uncovered roasting.

 

[sudsmaster]

Roasted veggies

Well, it doesn't take very long to cook vegetables, so generally one must time them separately from the roast meat/bird. Personally I prefer steamed or stir-fried vegetables to roasted ones. There is almost always room on another rack in an oven for potatoes or other veggies, separate from the pan that holds the turkey.

 

[launderess]

Longer A Thing Roasts You Want It Covered

As the dome shape of the lid actually "bastes" as moisture condenses and falls back down onto the roast. Also keeping the joint/fowl out of direct heat at once keeps it from browning/the outer surfaces from cooking sooner than internal.

Much will depend upon what one is roasting and the desired affect. For instance wouldn't bother covering roast chicken for most recipes as one wants a nice crispy skin. Same for small to medium roast beef. However large fowl like turkey and or even capon are going to need long roasting times hence some sort of covering as noted above.

There is also the fact by covering a roast with a tight lid you are creating an "oven within an oven" so to speak which can produce a steaming affect depending upon how much water is in the meat or whatever. This can be great for making tender old fowl and or tough cuts of meat, but again not what one wishes for crispy skin on chicken or pork roast.

 

[petek]

I've pretty much always roasted beef without a cover. Mom never covered hers so that's probably where I got it from. And come to think of it.. roasts done on rotiserries etc are never covered.

 

[sudsmaster]

I get great results with rotisserie roasting of chicken and small ( < 15lb ) turkey in my gas rotisserie/bbq. Also get great results open roasting turkey in an old Kingsford covered bbq. Again, the trick is to sear the bird for 15-20 minutes at the highest possible heat beforehand. This helps to lock in the juices so that the meat doesn't dry out.

The other trick is to use low heat for the rest of the cooking. I've successfully made melt-in-your-mouth turkey at temps between 275 and 325. In one case I had a guest over and I forgot about stoking the charcoal. Well, the chicken turned out to be the best I'd ever made, even though the temp had dipped below 250F towards the end of the roasting.

 

[passatdoc]

thanks for all your replies. I should have explained: when the Granite Ware roaster is in the Breville, there is no room for anything else. It takes up all of the available room, but it fits like a glove. So if you roast veggies, it has to be in the same container as the meat. I suppose I could roast open and add veggies later. Or start veggies with meat with lid on, remove veggies, and then finish roasting with lid off. Or, as sudsmaster suggested, maybe roast at high heat for fifteen minutes, then reduce to 325 and add veggies at that point.

 

[maytagbear]

I like to

add the vegetables anywhere from the last 45 minutes to the last 30 minutes.

I've also been known to melt butter (or a good, but not spectacular, olive oil) and chicken broth, and roast the vegetables in a 13x9 open pan. Those come out very nicely. About 1 part of the fat to 2 parts broth, a tiny, tiny bit of salt, and some freshly ground black pepper. I like to do this vegetable roast at 350-375F, depending on what else is in the oven. "Irish" potatoes, carrots, an onion or two, a beet root, if I have one, a sweet pepper in lengthwise quarters.....

I also do the decreasing heat roast. My old stove could only go to 475F, so I am very happy that my new one goes up to 550F.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[mattl]

Odd but true --and very tatey.

Well contrary to what many of you are saying I've gotten fantastic results using my Electrolux oven's "Perfect Turkey" setting.  To use it you put the turkey on an open rack, I use a V shaped turkey rack in a moderately shallow pan, insert the temp probe, I use the breast area, and put the bird in a cold oven.  What ever program the oven uses, when I pull it out the breast is a perfect 165- what I set it at- and the turkey is very nicely browned and juicy.  I do baste a bit, but other than that, no cover, no foil.  A 12-14lb. turkey is done in abut 3 hours, unstuffed.

 

I've done  chickens this way too with similar results.   Even though I'm mostly vegan now, I'm still tempted to do a turkey or chicken for guests and nibble a bit of it.

 

[sudsmaster]

Perfect Turkey

Matt,

Sounds very cool. Or very hot. Whatever!

In any case, if I ever have to replace my GE P-7 oven, I'll look at the Electrolux.

 

[countryguy]

I always roast a turkey using convection, uncovered. This causes the skin to crisp quickly thus sealing in the juices.

Gary

 

[ronhic]

I've never covered a roast when cooking it for anything longer than about 20 minutes and even then, it's mainly because I turn the oven up to crisp off the vegetables. Neither does my mother or or did my maternal grandmother.

 

You may as well steam it as cover it....

 

[perc-o-prince]

I'm, too, of the "don't cover it" school. Yes, I'll tent a turkey or a large pork roast for the first bit of cooking, but both ends are fully open and the foil never touches the meat. Like Rich (sudsmaster), I start high then cook low for things like turkeys, chicken, pork loin, prime rib, etc. Unless I make a huge mistake (like losing track of time!!) the meat comes out juicy with a nice crispness outside.

And, I don't baste anything with a skin with the hopes of making/keeping it juicy. The liquid just rolls right off the skin. All regular basting of skinned meats seems to do is lengthen the time it takes to cook because the oven keeps getting opened and cooled. I do squirt a little inside the bird if I go in to remove some juices from the pan, and try to get a bit of the fat from the drippings on the skin for browning.

And, yes, as Launderess said, if you have something that you want basted, a cover is great. But, if it's a smooth dome, the condensate just runs down the dome and back into the pan. Be sure you have a cover that has the little nipples or bumps (like stalagtites) in the middle. Then the condensate will drip off those and onto the meat!

I have been usually doing things like chuck roasts in a covered slow cooker, but that's braising rather than steaming.

Chuck

 

[passatdoc]

The Breville goes up to 450F---the range oven I think goes to 500 or 550F. I hope 450F is enough for the start high-then low school of roasting.

 

[perc-o-prince]

450 should be fine. Where you haven't done this before you'll need to get used to cooking times. If you need some references, you can always ask here or check different recipes on foodtv.com for timing. I generally like to see what Alton does if it's something I'm unfamiliar with because he puts a lot of the science and 'why?' into how he does things.

Chuck

 

[norgeway]

I !

Cover a turkey...but do not cover, say, a standing rib roast.I carve a turkey in the kitchen, so it dosen't matter if its pretty or not., I always roast a turkey at 325.