It’s getting close to that time, again gang. We usually roast our 18-20 lb turkeys in the oven, but I recently saw a great deal for an electric turkey roaster. I’m not sure about these though. What should I look for in a roaster, and how are the results? Anyone with any experience wanna chime in?
Are you talking about a stand-alone electric oven like this?: http://www.nesco.com/products/Roaster-Ovens/18-Quart-Roaster-Oven/
We have several of them between the Wimminfolk in our family, and yes, we do use them for Holiday meals. However…use it to cook your stuffing and sweet potatoes or other side dishes, not the turkey. There’s just not enough room or insulation on top for radiant heat to brown the turkey. It will roast fine, but it will look gross. And we’ve been unsuccessful in all our attempts to get it browned in the big oven and finished in the Nesco, or roasted in the Nesco and finished in the big oven. We’ve made many attempts over the years, and suffered many an unsatisfactory bird as a result.
So yes, it’s great for making Turkey Day easier to manage as an extra oven. It’s just not particularly well suited to any turkey larger than a chicken. but freeing up space in the big oven to make room for the turkey is just as useful.
As for what to look for, I’m not sure. I have my great grandmother’s Nesco, and it still works a treat. Mom has a new Hamilton Beach (I think) and it’s fine. Grandma has a newer Nesco, and it’s great, too. Can’t say as we really prefer one over the other for cooking. For cleaning, the Nesco 2 piece style where you can lift the whole oven liner compartment* out, like a giant crock pot, is easier. Mom’s isn’t removable, and it’s a bit of a pain to clean.
*Nesco calls it a “Cookwell”, apparently.
I was going to chime in with exactly what WhyNot said about the lack of browning but the utility of having another cooking option for side dishes.
I bought a Hamilton Beach model after this thread but I haven’t done a trial run yet.
I’ll also add that if you ignore this advice and use it to cook your turkey because, of course, every picture of an electric oven in the ads features a lovely browned turkey peeking out the top…you can slice the turkey in the kitchen and no one will know it didn’t brown right. You miss the Normal Rockwell presentation at the table moment, but it does still taste wonderful. 
I’ve got one like this and it does a wonderful job of browning. The only problem is you have to use it outside or in a garage.
I am 55 years old and my family has never made a turkey in anything other than a Nesco. Only Nesco brand will do. I am the official Nesco keeper and pass it along to whoever is in charge of Thanksgiving.
Turkey comes out moist and delicious. The skin does not get crispy. The bird is the consistency of the broasted chicken you get at the grocery. The trick to a brown skin is continous basing with butter and Gravy Master. The butter keeps the bird extremely moist, gives it flavor, and the Gravy Master makes it brown.
The bird is stuffed, plus another dish of stuffing is made in the oven. When the turkey is done, both stuffings are combined since the oven stuffing is a bit dry and the bird stuffing is very moist.
My family has this down to a science.
I’m chiming in and saying that the turkey comes out delicious, but you won’t get any of that crispy skin. In my family without the skin you might as well not have a turkey, but if you won’t miss it, use the roaster.
I’ll second this. We normally deep fry a turkey every year, but my aunt got one of these two years ago and we used it. Did a superb job on crisping up the bird, and the meat was tender and moist.
Thanks so much for the pointers. Not to toot my own horn (ok, toot toot), but I’m kinda renowned for my gravy, so I don’t think using this on the turkey is going to work. I really dig the idea of using the roaster for our side dishes, though.
My dad usually fries us a turkey or two using different injections. One year was bourbon and orange juice, which I really dug, but he won’t repeat. He don’t hold to that new fangled stuff, though. He just uses his propane burner and a giant crab pot outside. He hasn’t managed to burn down the house yet, fingers crossed!
What.
Can you use it for anything else? I’ve thought about getting one, but I have a pathological aversion to unitaskers. And very little storage space.
What!?