Roasting Pans and Roasters for the Holiday Bird, Compared

Granite Ware calls this a rectangle roaster for up to 25 lb of poultry or meat. It is speckled black enamel on steel, with stainless steel handles.

The spec sheet gives the outside size as 20.87 by 12.88 inches and 8.75 inches tall with the lid on. Empty, it weighs 4.7 lb, which is light for a pan this size.

The lid is the selling point, and the brand says it doubles as a separate roaster. One Canadian buyer likes that top and bottom can be used independently. Another calls it two pans for the price of one.

Granite Ware describes the enamel as PFOA and PTFE free and naturally nonstick, and says the pan is dishwasher safe. Those are the brand's claims. Reviewers add that it cleans up easily, and one US buyer reports no rust yet.

The best evidence for capacity comes from a US buyer with a 24 lb turkey. It fit with nothing hanging over the sides, and there was room to baste without drips. But the lid didn't fit over a bird that size, and that buyer had to buy a rack separately.

We read that as a sensible limit. The 25 lb rating is for the pan, and a bird near that weight roasts uncovered.

Now the complaints, which are real. Three reviews mention chipped enamel. One buyer in Canada says the cover didn't fit and the enamel chipped in several places, with the black coating rubbed off inside the lid where the handle attaches.

A buyer in Australia calls the enamel badly chipped and missed the return window. A four-star reviewer found a small chip on the outside edge of both pan and lid, and chose not to worry. About 12 percent of ratings are one star.

Size is the other sore spot. A three-star reviewer says the pan is only 17.5 inches long against a stated 21. The product page itself states 19.5 inches in one place and 20.87 in another, so it disagrees with itself.

The page states no oven temperature limit. Pick this if you roast one big meal a year and want a lid. Skip it if chips would bother you, if you want a pan for the stovetop, or if you need the lid to close over a huge bird.

This is the small sibling. Granite Ware rates the covered oval roaster for up to 10 lb of poultry or meat. It measures 15.7 by 12.4 inches, stands 6.1 inches tall, and is made of alloy steel in the same speckled black.

The brand makes the same claims as for the big one: PFOA and PTFE free, dishwasher safe, and a lid that doubles as a separate roaster. The oval shape suits a whole chicken or a roast better than a turkey. Anything above 10 lb belongs in a bigger pan, and the brand's own rating says the same.

At 12.4 inches wide, it also tucks into a small oven more easily than the rectangle roaster, which is 12.88 inches wide and nearly 21 long. That is a plus if your oven is tight.

We only found two buyer reviews for this one, and both are five stars. One likes that Granite Ware now makes these roasters with a steel core instead of aluminum, and calls the size perfect, well made and easy to clean. The other uses it for roast beef and whole chicken and says it matches the page.

That is thin support. We found no critical review to read, yet about 17 percent of ratings are one star, which is higher than on the big rectangle roaster. Something goes wrong for a fair number of buyers, and we can't say what.

So what do we make of it? The pan is cheap, small and sensible, and the brand's claims match its shape. The evidence for how it holds up is weaker than for the big roaster, which has thousands of ratings behind it, against about 100 here.

Buy it if you cook for two to four people and roast chickens or small joints. Skip it if you want one pan for holiday turkeys as well, since 10 lb is a hard ceiling. Skip it too if you want a stovetop pan, because nothing on the page suggests that use.

This is the open pan, with no lid. Granite Ware sells it with a flat rack and says it takes up to a 25 lb poultry or roast.

The spec sheet gives 19.49 by 13.39 inches and 4.53 inches tall. The pan weighs 4.1 lb and has stainless steel handles.

The brand's bullets talk up the glass interior, which it calls inert and says doesn't absorb food. It also says the pan is PFOA and PTFE free, dishwasher safe, and good for baking, broiling, grilling or serving. These are the brand's claims, and we pass them on as such.

One oddity: a bullet says the pan resists temperatures up to 935° with no unit, while the spec sheet gives a maximum of 932 °F. Two figures that disagree by three degrees suggest the page was not proofread closely.

The size label is a bigger worry. The variant is named 19 x 12 x 2.7 in., while the spec sheet says 4.53 inches tall. A US reviewer with a 20 lb turkey gave one star and says this is the second time a smaller pan arrived than the one ordered.

That reviewer measured 16 inches, not 19. We have only one report, so treat it as a warning and not a pattern. But it echoes the 17.5 inch complaint on the covered rectangle roaster from the same brand.

The only other review is a five-star gift purchase from someone who loves Granite Ware pieces, and it says nothing about cooking. So we have no buyer report on roasting with this pan at all. Only 29 people have rated it, and about 69 percent gave five stars.

Why choose it anyway? The rack comes in the box, where one buyer of the covered roaster had to find one. An open pan also leaves the bird easy to baste.

Buy it if you want an open pan with a rack included and will measure on arrival. Skip it if you need a confirmed length, or if you want the lid that makes the rectangle roaster a two-in-one.

COOKER KING takes a different route. This is a 3-ply stainless steel pan with an etched nonstick surface, and it comes with a rack. It measures 18.27 by 14.84 inches, is 3.15 inches deep, and weighs 8 lb. The brand rates it for a 25 lb turkey and says it is oven safe to 500°F.

The brand also says the multi-clad build avoids heat spots and works on any cooktop, induction included. If that holds, you can set the pan across a burner and make gravy from the drippings, and one buyer did exactly that.

The brand says the etched coating is scratch resistant and fine with metal utensils, and calls the pan dishwasher friendly. Those are claims from the brand, and with only a few reviews so far we can't confirm how the coating ages.

The reviews are kind. A US buyer hunted for the largest pan that would fit a large oven and has used it several times since Christmas. That buyer calls it sturdy, not flimsy, roasted vegetables and meats in it, and found it easy to clean.

Another says it is deeper than the old pan, much easier to clean, and not too heavy. That reviewer also calls it a good alternative to a more expensive brand. A third wishes there were matching pieces, and the brand does sell a 10-piece hybrid set.

We found no critical review to read. The histogram backs the praise up, with about 83 percent of ratings at five stars and only about 4 percent at one or two.

But only 58 people have rated it, and most of the reviews are recent. A pan this new has no record of a decade of roasting seasons.

The tradeoffs are plain. It costs more than the covered rectangle roaster and weighs about three pounds more. It has no lid, so you cover a bird with foil or go without.

Buy it if you roast often, want the stovetop option, or cook on induction. Skip it if you roast once a year and a cheap enamel pan will do, or if you want a lid that doubles as a second pan.