Westinghouse Roaster / Turkey

[paulg]

More thanks / Plus canning thoughts.

More thanks for more tips! Really good point on the roaster being preheated. Also, foiling to top to keep the seal better is a great idea.
You mentioned canning. Even though I have never done a turkey to fruition in the roaster I DO use it for canning. It is what I use to keep the jars boiling prior to filling.
Actually one of the most successful canning episodes was when a group of us guys and gals did canning off on a friend's farm in Galena. Since the host only had a four burner standard range, I brought along the roaster and set it up with boiling jars. We then had two Sunbeam electric saucepans and one Corningware Electromatic range set up around the kitchen. By setting up zones in the kitchen with different functions, we were pumping out our canning (mostly tomato stuff) like a machine. It was great and quite fun. I am sure the electric meter launched like a Frisbee. In the evening... out came the Martinis on the porch had a few laughs and enjoyed seeing the stars....
We will be canning again soon. However in the interim I will do the turkey and enjoy all the meals that ensue. The info here is a great springboard. Much obliged.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Paul, just so you understand about the foil, a small piece can be placed over the glass on the outside of the cover to reflect heat back if the bird is large enough that the breast touches the glass at the start of cooking. You do not want to cover the vents in the lid that allow steam to escape or you will have some sort of boiled bird.

I don't think many people had complaints about the amount of electricity that roaster ovens used. They were rated at 1650 watts or so. When used inside during the colder months, the heat they gave off was welcome, but still less than that of a gas oven. In warmer months, food has to be cooked one way or another. Using the pans that came with the roaster, entire oven meals could be prepared in the roaster and if you don't have the pans or want to save space, veggies could be placed in foil packets to cook. You could easily bake a meat loaf, potatoes and carrots in the pans, using one of the covered pans for the carrots. If you coordinated things correctly, you could turn up the heat near the end of the cooking time and have a pan of biscuits ready to go on the load and lift rack after removing the baking dishes while you finished the salad. The roaster oven could be taken outside or downstairs to lessen the heat added to the kitchen and the load on the air conditioning. Two 8 inch layer cakes or two pies fit on the rack also. An added feature of today's cooking methods is that you can give each item in the meal a bit of a head start on cooking by microwaving it for a few minutes so that it is already hot before placing it in the oven.

 

[paulg]

Foil

Thanks for the foil clarification. I did have the wrong picture in my head.
The chances of my making a mistake have been FOILED!!

 

[kevin313]

The wonders of your Westinghouse

I think it's awesome that you are cooking a turkey in the summer! We often have one for the Fourth of July, when everyone else is doing burgers and hot dogs on the grill, I've got a 16 pounder in one of my vintage Westinghouse or Nesco roasters. I think they produce the moistest turkey - not always as brown and crisp as a conventional oven turkey, but I don't carve at the table so the turkey never makes a "grand entrance" - taste and texture is more important. And then you can use your regular oven to for the dressing, rolls and other sides. I envy all the turkey sandwiches, turkey ala king, turkey pot pie, turkey soup or whatever you'll enjoy with the leftovers (providing there are some!!). Here's one of my Westy roasters (late 50's vintage) that I love for baking and large quantity cooking:

 

[paulg]

Same baby

Yup, that is the same quintessential roaster I have. In fact, we are using it TODAY for canning.
The jars are being washed in the old downstairs Kitchenaid DW which I call "The Blaster."
... And so after today's canning event (bread and butter pickles), the roaster will be called again into service to make our Turkey.
Will keep y'all posted. OK, so the turkey may not brown. Can I use an old sunlamp? LOL.

 

[tomturbomatic]

You should not have trouble with the turkey browning adequately. Ours always did. When CU tested Roaster Ovens in 1952, the Westinghouse was top rated for its performance and also for the performance of its broiler grid although they said none of the broiler grids was as powerful at broiling as the best of the "new" open front broilers that they tested in 1951.

In the article they mentioned a capability that we used one year with a really big bird. They said that with the Westinghouse and the Sears, the inset pan could be removed and used as a cover to accommodate a large turkey. Of course, washing the well of the roaster was not as easy as putting the inset pan in the dishwasher, but the bird roasted beautifully and making gravy is a very effective way of removing every stuck on bit of food and drippings from a pan so there was nothing that really required scrubbing.

 

[norgeway]

Boiled Turkey!

I remember my Aunts talking about boiling the turkey back years ago when the woodstove they had was not large enough to roast it,they said they did it in a old blue enamel canner.My partners Mom cooks a turkey breast in the crock pot, then uses the broth to make dumplings, now that is something good!