7 Turkey Roaster Benefits That Make Cooking Easier and More Delicious
Using a turkey roaster can be beneficial for large gatherings, freeing up oven space, cooking food evenly, and reducing overall cooking time. However, it may be expensive, challenging to clean, bulky, and require additional liquids, potentially leading to overcooked turkey.
You know that you will begin to think about using a turkey roaster around the Thanksgiving holiday. That is when approximately 46 million turkeys will be consumed, and your family is likely to have one as well.
Therefore, it seems relevant that you might want to know about a turkey roaster, if it is worth your while, what the pros and cons of getting one are, and more. If that sounds like the path that you are on, then please read on to learn about some of the pros and cons of using a turkey roaster.
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Pros of Using a Turkey Roaster
Turkey Roasters Are Great For Large Gatherings
One of the most important things to remember about a turkey roaster is that it is the ideal way to cook a turkey if you are intending to serve a large number of guests. Most people are interested in serving a crowd when it comes to Thanksgiving (or a handful of other holidays), so it just makes sense that they would want to use a device that they know can accommodate such a large crowd.
Turkey roasters are where it is at when it comes to performing the sacred duty of creating a large turkey feast.
Freeing Up Space
An important thing to remember about using a turkey roaster is that you may free up space in your oven that you can use to prepare side dishes. Since most people are likely to make several side dishes as part of their Thanksgiving meal, it is nice to know that they can do so without invading more of their oven space than necessary.
In other words, the turkey roaster can allow them to cook the turkey that they will consume while leaving the oven free and open so that they can use it to cook the other parts of the meal that are so important to them.
Roasters Cook Food Evenly
Large dishes such as turkey need to be cooked in a precise manner for best results (especially if you are paying for a premium turkey (or haven’t thawed it). If you manage to cook them evenly, they will taste better, and people may be more inclined to come back to your home for another meal again in the future.
If you want to be a great host and have people come back, you may want to consider using a roaster. A turkey roaster is the best way to get that perfectly even cook that you are looking for. The heat in a roaster (notably an electric one) is constantly circulating, and this means it gets just to the spots where it needs to hit the turkey right when it needs to hit them.
That is much more ideal than attempting to deal with an oven that is unable to cook your food for you in the manner that you need it to. Think about that carefully as you consider the options that are open to you at this time.
Using a Roaster is Easy
Why make life any harder than it has to be? Many people appreciate the fact that an electric turkey roaster is the ideal cooking tool to get the job done right.
They know that it is essentially a plug-and-play system that they can adapt to and learn in no time.
All you have to do is place the turkey in the roaster, add some water or chicken broth, and then set the temperature to what you want it to be. If you do those three things, you will be all set.
Reduces Overall Cooking Time
One thing that many people appreciate about their turkey roaster is that it shaves a little time off of their holiday meal. We all know how long it can take to prepare a meal like this.
Equally daunting is the fact that many families expect the meal to be served at a particular time and in a particular fashion. The cooks in the kitchen are under a lot of pressure when it comes to making a meal in this fashion.
Fortunately, the turkey roaster can take at least a little of the burden off of the shoulders of those who are preparing the food and allow them to save a little time on the preparation.
The average time savings when cooking a turkey in the roaster compared to cooking it in the oven is approximately 30-40 minutes.
That may not seem like a big deal, but when you think about how that time can be put back into use working on some other dishes that need to be prepared for the meal, you can start to see why it is indeed very important.
Safe to Use
You might have some little helpers working with you in the kitchen when you are making your holiday meals, and that will likely be a very fun experience for them.
However, you also want to ensure that those children remain safe when they are working in the kitchen with you. That is why it is so useful to have a turkey roaster.
They are considered to be exceptionally safe to use, and that means that even children can be trusted around them.
You don’t necessarily get that same level of safety confidence when using something like the traditional oven, so make sure you keep that in mind as you work through the pros and cons of using a turkey roaster for cooking.
Cons of Using a Turkey Roaster
They are Often Expensive
The great qualities that turkey roasters come with aren’t without their own drawbacks such as the price tag associated with them.
Electrical roasters are known for being very expensive and requiring an electrical outlet. You will have to factor in the extra electricity pull that they require.
This could add a little to your electric bill at the end of the month, and that is something to look out for as well. Here are the most popular roasters on Amazon with their pricing.
A Challenge to Clean
One of the least favorite things for most people to do after they have finished making a large meal for many people is to think about the process of getting it all cleaned up.
We all wish that we could simply skip this step and get on to the resting (perhaps napping) that we would like to do after a large meal.
When using a turkey roaster, the prospect of the cleanup process can be even worse than usual. They are known for being a challenge to clean.
The juices that gathered in the roaster during the cooking process may remain there for a long time to come, and it can be very hard to get all of that out of the way without some heavy-duty scrubbing.
You probably would rather skip out on this aspect of the process if you could, and that is why you need to remember that turkey roasters are such a challenge.
Don’t get it in your head that they are all upsides. There are drawbacks like this that you need to be aware of.
Bulky and Unwieldy
Planning on taking your turkey roaster with you somewhere else to start the cooking process? You can give it a try if you want to, but you should anticipate that this might be more of an uphill battle than you had imagined.
The problem with turkey roasters is that they are often very unwieldy because of the way that they are designed. They are massively bulky, and this makes them a bit of a challenge to haul wherever you need them to go.
You should anticipate having to carry something heavy with you if you are thinking about bringing your turkey roaster over to a friend’s house to cook your turkey.
Don’t forget that you need to bring all of the cords that go along with it so you can plug those into the wall to generate the power necessary to start cooking your turkey.
The long and the short of it is that you are going to have a rather large object that you have to haul around with you until you get to a place where you can finally plug it in and get it taken care of.
Make sure you consider this before making any more decisions about if you will ultimately purchase a turkey roaster or not. There is a lot that needs to go into this decision.
Requires Additional Liquids
You will have to supply the broth (or water) that goes into the roaster to cook something in it. Unlike your oven where you can simply place the turkey in and allow it to do its thing, the turkey roaster will require you to place broth or water into it to make it work.
This is yet another step that people will have to take to get their desired outcome. You should anticipate that you will have to add these extra elements so that you can make the food that you want.
Some might consider this to be a small extra step, but it is worth mentioning because it is something that you don’t have to worry about when it comes to an oven.
It is Easy to Overcook the Turkey
Unfortunately, one of the biggest drawbacks to using a turkey roaster is the fact that it is very easy to accidentally overcook your turkey.
The roasters are set up in such a way that if you are not carefully monitoring them at all times, you may find yourself in a situation where your turkey gets overcooked.
This is particularly dangerous when you are trying to make a big Thanksgiving meal as you are likely monitoring many different types of food that you are cooking all at once. How are you supposed to balance it all out?
You should set multiple timers when working with a turkey roaster to make sure you don’t overcook anything.
Even then, it is easy to simply make a mistake in judgment and end up with burnt turkey. You need to be particularly careful when using a turkey roaster in this instance.
As you can see, there are upsides and downsides to cooking with a turkey roaster. You have to choose for yourself based on your own specific needs and desires for your Thanksgiving meal how you will prepare a turkey and what you will use to make it happen.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a turkey roaster worth it?
As long as you are going to properly maintain your turkey roaster, and as long as you are careful when you use it, there is no reason why you shouldn’t consider getting a turkey roaster. They are wonderfully useful cooking tools as long as you follow the instructions for how to use them correctly.
Are electric roasters good for turkeys?
An electric roaster is certainly a great way to cook a delicious turkey. It will draw some power to use it, but the additional charges on your electric bill shouldn’t hurt you too badly. Mainly, you will want to make sure you don’t overcook your turkey at any point. That is easy to do if you aren’t careful with your electric roaster.
Is a roaster better than an oven?
As far as taste is concerned, a roaster is generally better than an oven for cooking a turkey. You get to save oven room for the other dishes that you intend to make, and you are likely to get a better flavor out of the turkey when you do this as well. It is a win-win for you.
Do you put water in a roaster oven when cooking a turkey?
Yes, you will need to put water or broth into the roaster oven when you are cooking the turkey. Which one you choose to use is up to you, but you will need to include some kind of liquid like this. It is the best way to get the full flavor that you are looking for out of your turkey.
Most likely, you are going to want to add a significant amount so that you can enjoy the rich flavor that those liquids bring out. If you don’t add enough, you are going to risk having a very dry-tasting turkey that is not going to be appealing to anyone. Always keep that in mind.
