Best Roasting Pans
Our Pick
It is the most popular roasting pan. This 16-inch Cuisinart 16-inch Roasting Pan with Rack (MCP117-16BR), has a tri-ply design that cooks evenly. $74 from Walmart. $70 Home Depot. Our fourth annual pick is the Cuisinart 16’’ Roasting Pan With Stand (MCP117-16BR). It’s versatile enough to handle all kinds of cooking. Flat cooking surfaces and a tri-ply, fully covered construction heat evenly, allowing for effortless searing, deglazing and gravy-making. It is large enough to handle a 20-pound turkey, larger roasts, entire chickens or one pan meals. Large, riveted handles provide a secure grip, even with the bulkiest kitchen towels and oven mitts. Advertisement
How We Picked
Comparison of one-pan chicken meals in Cuisinart’s Kitchen. Aid roasting pans.
Over the past four years, we’ve considered more than 40 roasting pans and tested 12. Three new pans were tested against the top and second-placed picks. From a $25 pan to make a simple holiday meal, to a 250-pound roaster that can be used all year, we found roasters that fit most needs and budgets. Roasting pans that are durable enough to hold large roasts and can be used year-round on the stovetop or oven make great gifts. We looked into a few key factors in order to satisfy those needs.
We were concerned about the pan’s material. Our primary concern was the material of our roasting pan. After considering a number of options, such as Pyrex, coated cast Iron, Pyrex ceramic, copper and triply, we settled on triply. This is because triply is strong, durable, nonreactive, heat conductor and easy-to-clean. You can also see how much browning your pan has. Tri-ply is just aluminum sandwiched to stainless steel. Aluminum is an excellent heat conductor, but it’s also reactive, meaning it can impart a metallic taste when used to cook acidic foods like tomatoes, citrus, and vinegar. Combining aluminum with stainless is a great way to get the best both of them. It’s easy to use a tri-ply oven roasting pan on the stovetop, for making gravy and searing. Because of the aluminum core, heat is distributed evenly. This prevents buckling or warping. The pan is also lighter than coated cast iron so it’s easier to lift the pan into and out of ovens.
The roasting pans having dark interiors (e.g. anodized aluminum or nonstick) were instantly thrown out. Nonstick coatings will eventually wear down and it is difficult to track fond’s (delicious brown caramelized bits at the bottom of the oven) color. Tri-ply stainless-steel pans are less efficient at distributing heat than 5-ply. While ceramic and glass can be lighter than stainless-steel tri-ply pans, they are not flameproof so cannot be used on the stovetop. Copper can conduct heat well and is great for stovetop use. But it’s costly and easily tarnished.
Proper heat circulation in the pan ensures your roast is evenly browned and cooked throughout. A roaster’s sides should be tall enough to keep accumulated juices in the pan when you’re moving it in and out of the oven, but not so high that radiant heat can’t reach the bottom. Our ideal walls should be 3 inches high. Levon Wallace, Nashville’s executive chef for Grey and Dudley stated the following: “You want to have a bit more room for air-flow. And when you use high-wall roasting pots, it can cause uneven browning. Uneven heat distribution pans, such as those made of thin sheets metal, or ones with an encapsulated base, can warp over direct heat and produce burned marks. It is more stable and consistent to use on the stovetop if it has some weight.
Flat bottomed roasting pans are ideal for quick searing, and to whisk roux or gravy. Some pans feature a trough on the outside that can make it difficult for you to blend a smooth sauce or even get enough oil coverage during searing. This renders the middle of the saucepan dry and prone to scorching.
Our pick
Cuisinart 16’’ Roasting Pan with Rack MCP117-16BR
$74* from Walmart $70 from Home Depot *At the time of publishing, the price was $70.
A durable, tri-ply coated Cuisinart 16’’ Roasting Pan With Rack MCP117-16BR is comparable in quality to roasting pans nearly twice the price. Our fourth year-running test shows that we cannot find another roasting pot that is as easy to use on the stovetop and bakes just as evenly in an oven. The Cuisinart’s flat cooking area makes whisking gravy or searing meat easier than in models with raised middles or ridged bottoms. The upright, riveted handles allow for secure use with oven mitts or hot pads. An uncoated stainless-steel V-rack is resistant to flaking, and will hold up a 15 pound turkey. A pan that does not have the rack can store a 20 pound turkey.
Multi. Clad Pro delivered a turkey with crisp golden skin over most of the bird, save for the hard-to-reach area under the wings. All other pans, except for the All-Clad Flared Roaster which brown the turkey around the wings, were the same. We tested each pan and found that they all roasted the turkey evenly without the need for a roasting tray.
A fully clad aluminum pan distributes heat evenly when it is on the stovetop thanks to its core. The gravy is boiled evenly across the surface of the cooker without burning or sticking. Single-ply metal roasters (e.g. Tramontina Gourmet Prima Granite Ware 20-inch Covered Oval Baker, F0510)) don’t contain an aluminum core. They also aren’t very good at heat conductivity. Localized cooking occurs in the ovens directly below the burners. This can result in pan warping and scorching. The flat bottom made it easy to scrape up and mix gravy, while other pans tested had raised middles or ridges which made sauce-making difficult.
You can also use the Cuisinart to easily cross two burners on your stovetop and brown chicken pieces directly from the burners. And when we added vegetables to the chicken and transferred the pan to the oven to roast, the squash and carrots caramelized throughout and the chicken skin turned more golden and crisp. Similar challenges were encountered with several other pans. Vegetables only became brown in the areas that came into contact with the saucepan.
Steady and straight handles make it easy to grasp the pan.
Notes on Long-Term Evaluation
Buying Options
Williams-Sonoma: May not be in stock
The Williams Sonoma All Clad Stainless Steel Flared Roaster was superior to all the rest due to its outstanding searing capabilities and roasting abilities. We found that All-Clad’s flared sides and fully clad construction allowed for the best heat circulation of all the pans we tested. We could easily pour pan juices from the bent lip, while the flat rack included (instead of a V-rack) can hold roasts or poultry of all sizes. The All-Clad is a much bigger investment than the Cuisinart, but we think it’s a worthy investment for people who want a superb roasting pan. The All-Clad pan can be used for one-pan or weekly Sunday roasts.
All-Clad’s flared sides help circulate air efficiently, which allows more radiant heat to reach the parts of your roast deepest inside the walls of the pan. All-Clad’s roasted turkey had the most intense golden color, even down to the wings. All-Clad roasted turkeys at the lowest weight, just 6.8 pounds, and its heat circulation was among the finest of the tested pans.
The competition was not able to searing the chicken in this roaster, which consistently renders and browns each piece. The All-Clad’s one-pan chicken meal had crisp skin and flavorful caramelized veggies, but the Cuisinart Multi was better. Clad Pro finished second.
The All-Clad has a flat rack instead of the V-rack that is used for poultry or long cuts of meat. Flared Roaster is available in large (16 3/4 x 13 3/4 x 2 1/2 inches) or extra-large (18 3/4 x 14 3/4 X 3 inches). You can choose the size that suits you best. The large was big enough to hold a 15-pound turkey, or one pan chicken meal. It was slightly too small for two burners to cover, but it still deglazed well. It was easy to scrape fond or whisk gravy and roux from the flat bottom.
All-Clad triply cookware has a very simple cleaning process. You won’t see any color change from heating, as other triply potware does. Water spots and cooked-on grease clean up easily with just hot water, dish soap, and a scour sponge. All-Clad stainless-steel flared roaster from Williams Sonoma is dishwasher-safe.
Sources
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What We Tested
We have the top picks in roasting pans
Anolon Triply Clad Rectangular Roaster in Stainless Steel with Nonstick Rack: Best Buy for the Budget
Green. Pan Padova Reserve Ceramic Nonstick Baking Pan 5 Two Essential Roasting Pans and Rack All Clad Stainless Steel Flared Roasting Pan
There are so many options for roasting pans. Choosing the right size and shape can make the difference in crispy or rubbery turkey skin. If you are only using this piece of cookware once per year, it is worth considering the price. We tested 12 trusted roasting pots in order to identify the most effective ones for roasting whole poultry and more.
The May 2021 update included two brand new, top-performing pans. Many items from our initial test remain popular with us. For our current favorite picks, please read on.
Let’s Find Out What Roasting Pans Can Do For You
A majority of the top-rated roasting pans that we reviewed were three-ply (stainless metal with an aluminum inner core), which ensures even heat distribution. Only one nonstick option met our requirements. Our favorite roasters had a larger capacity to hold large turkeys and could be used over 2 burners for gravy making and baking. We found that all our top-rated pans came with a rack. This was vital to ensure the versatility of a roasting pan.
In addition to how the roasting pan cooks, we also considered how much the pans weigh. A roasting pan is often used to make large batches of food. Therefore, it was important to choose a heavy pan. Size and height of the handles also came into play when choosing our favorites. Handles that are taller than average were easier to use with gloves or towels.
Amazon
This pan is both beautiful and functional. This pan has a gorgeous, shiny stainless-steel exterior and comes equipped with a nonstick rack. This pan’s standout feature is its nonstick rack. Triple-ply construction provides a tremendous cooking range, while the nonstick rack makes it easier to remove roasted foods without damaging skin. Plus, it makes for easier cleanup. You will find a channel running along the bottom of your pan that prevents excess fat from pooling underneath the meat as it cooks. Although it may take a little more effort to make a sauce over the stovetop, this is a minor inconvenience as most cooking will be done in the oven. Easy cleanup was possible thanks to the comfortable handles. This pan is dishwasher safe, and it comes with a lifetime warranty.
Best Budget Buy: Cuisinart Multi. Amazon Clad Pro Stainless Toaster with Rack
This pan was close behind the Anolon. It’s made with the triple-ply construction as well, and our chicken and vegetables were cooked evenly, and cleanup was a cinch. This pan’s flat bottom makes it perfect for making sauces for pans. Its appearance alone would make it hard to believe that the pan was one our lower-priced. It also was one of our larger pans, making it perfect for large groups.
Best Nonstick: Green. Pan Padova Reserve Healthy Ceramic Nostick Roasting Pan Amazon
How do roasting pans make a difference?
The roasting pan looks better than a baking tray + rack set up. The roasting pan’s tall walls are more likely to catch liquids or pan drippings than a baking sheet with a rimmed surface. The… Huge: Usually much larger than a baking pan, you can use the big, spacious roasting pan for making large casseroles.15-Feb-2021
Are You a Roasting Pan Owner?
A covered roasting pot will bake foods much faster than an uncovered roaster. A covered oven creates an indoor mini-oven. Cover the roaster with aluminum foil or the lid if browning occurs too fast before the meat is cooked at the right temperature.
.Best Roasting Pans
