Using an electric roaster
 

My mil always used hers with the turkey bag. And hers is done in a few hrs. My brothers wife made one yesterday a 20lb. They put it on 250 the night before and said it cooked about 12 to 15 hrs. They stuffed it put foil on top covering the pan and then put the lid on it. Has anyone cooked it that low? I would like to get a roaster but I usually only have a 12lb turkey. Was wondering how well or long at that low temp for a small turkey.

We use a roaster for our second turkey on thanksgiving. It always comes out great although the skin doesn’t brown but we don’ t care since we have the oven one too. Our roaster came with an instruction book and that’s what we use. We find the turkey gets done really fast in the roaster. Google roaster recipes for more ideas. Sometimes we rub kitchen bouquet on the skin just for appearance.

It is important to give a short, 15 min of very high heat then turn it down to around 225-250 degrees and let it cook all night this way. This will kill any bacterial in the poultry and keep it safe when cooking at the lower heat it only needs to be singed. I did it this way for years when cooking a large turkey, 20-25 lbs, The bird will be nice and moist. Turning the bird up at the end and uncovering it will brown it up nicely too.

Question .... are the times and temperatures for these tabletop roasters not the same as a traditional oven?

I really do not know, nor have I had any direct experience with them.
However, whenever I've heard others speak of them, that was the intonation that I got.
That there was no "conversion" from one to the other.

Maybe someone can clarify for me.
Please? and Thanks!

I use a roaster for baking a turkey. I prepare the turkey, no stuffing inside, place in roaster and I follow the directions for oven cooking on the turkey label. It's always been at 350 degrees and time depends on weight of turkey. I never cook one overnight. I never had a reason to do that or the want to. My grandmother would cook her turkey overnight but that was because she needed the oven for other cooking the next morning.

From a chef's perspective, it is unsafe to stuff a turkey that is only going to be cooked at 250 degrees no matter how long you cook it for. That stuffing, which sucks up juices and blood from the turkey, is staying in the Danger Zone far too long.

I know people will tell me that they've done it this way for years and no one has ever gotten ill. I say... "So far..."

Watson

I agree with Watson, people have done this and haven't gotten ill but why chance it, especially with the elderly or those with compromised immune systems.

I bought an electric roaster but I don’t care much for how turkey turns out in it. Mine roaster has 3 section liner so I use it to keep side dishes warm. I actually do my turkey in my old roaster in the oven on the day before. I debone it, add juice & rewarm it on Thanksgiving. Nobody complains & if they did - too bad because I like having the mess over & done with. Drippings can be saved for gravy. I use the envelopes of gravy mix, it’s easy, turns out good & nobody knows the difference. Mom always made the best, moist turkey with a cooking bag. She roasted it with the breast down so I do that too.

We always cook ours all night at 250. My husband loosens the skin on the breast with a wooden spoon handle and stuffs the breast under the skin. He also stuffs the inside of the bird. He puts bacon grease in the dressing and it bastes the breast as cooks. Usually I have salad and etc ready the day before, so all I have to do is spuds and gravy. Saves a ton o time.

My MIL always did her meat and poultry (stuffed) at 250 either all day or overnight - usually about 10 - 12 hours. And no - no one ever became sick - that she knew of.
My mom struggled to cook chicken or turkey to her satisfaction but I remember it as great!
Apparently my grandma used to cook several "roosters" or hens at the end of their egg laying days by giving them a good coat of flour, salt and pepper and roasting them overnight in a tightly covered roast with an inch or so of water in the bottom in "low" oven - and they were wonderful as well.
So now I sprinkle the bottom of the roaster with flour, start my fowl in high heat till I can smell the roasting bird, then turn the heat down and cover it tightly. Takes about an extra hour if you are figuring 30 minutes per lb - just because I like my chicken done till it falls off the bone. And I'm not afraid to cook it ahead - I take it apart and layer it in a casserole or the roaster, cover it with the skin and chill very well. The drippings are set aside and chilled as well. Then about two hours before I want it, I melt the fat off the drippings and pour over everything, cover it tightly and then heat at 275 - 300. I might also add about a quarter cup of stock to it as well. The fat goes back into the meat and it is so-o-o good. I also use the bones to make more broth so I can have lots of gravy and for stock to add to the dressing which I like to do in either the oven or a slow cooker.

My mother-in-law did catering as a side job, and her roaster had more than plenty of use over the years. When she passed away the roaster was the thing everyone fought over. My husband won out being the oldest child. It must be 40 or 50 years old and looks every bit that age. I'm thinking it should be retired, but we still use it on holidays when some of the kids and their families come home.

I have used an electric roaster for years to cook a turkey. Usually 20-23 pounds, so it requires me to oil the turkey and cover it with foil and then put the top on. The top of the roaster doesn't sit flush, as probably the one I have is made for 15 pound birds. I put the bird on a rack and then on a couple of stalks of celery so it doesn't stick to the pan, maybe I'll add liquid and then let it go! Frees up the oven to cook all the other things I want to cook, including stuffing. I also mash the potatoes early on and put them in a crockpot- on low/warm. Need to watch them so they don't get too starchy from overcooking. I have most of the mess cleaned up before dinner is served- buffet style...got it down to a science.

I have an old roaster. It must be from the 50s. I use it every holiday season. I have cooked a turkey in it before, but prefer to cook the sides in it instead and save our oven for the bird. It's also great for keeping things warm while everything is coming together at the end.

The only problem with it is that it's really a huge, energy hog. It was made before, "energy efficiency," was even in our lexicon. We're off the grid and on solar and propane. We do fine 99.999% of the time, but when we plug that baby in, whooosh...there goes our back up electricity. Thank goodness we don't pay for our power! It would cost a fortune to keep that roaster on all day to cook a turkey.

~ C