Vertical Poultry Roaster? Why?

12 years ago

SWMBO is more of a sucker for odd kitchen tchotkes than I knew. She came home with a "vertical poultry roaster". It is a circular metal pan, with a wire frame that inserts into an upright chicken. You've seen these things, on TV at 2 am.

Well, tonight we had our first chicken roasted standing up. Other than not laying down on the job, I wasn't sure what the bird was doing differently. However, it came out very juicy and evenly browned. Maybe it was the vertical roasting, maybe it was being stuffed with apples, I dunno.

What do you think are the reasons to roast your chickens vertically, or horizontally, or diagonally? What difference does the bird's orientation make?

Comments (13)

coconut_nj
12 years ago
It's a good idea and I think it does do a good job. All the fat in the skin from the neck and upper breast melts and bastes the bird as it cooks. Also since it's upright, the bird does tend to cook pretty evenly, and of course you get nice browning on the back for those who like to used the browned skin with the carcass for stock.
Islay_Corbel
12 years ago
Whether or not it works, it does sound like fun!
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colleenoz
12 years ago
I think a lot of the appeal would be that you get nice brown crispy skin all around with a vertical roaster, whereas when you lay them on one side or the other the underneath skin gets a bit soggy.
teresa_nc7
12 years ago
I've had one for 20 years or more and I agree with all the reasons given above. Mine is just the upright support, no pan attached underneath. I put it in a metal pie plate to catch the fat. I do think that chicken roasted this way is juicier, more flavorful, and it roasts faster than sitting in a pan. But it can splatter and mess up the oven a little.

I also love the 5 hours at 250 degrees Sticky Chicken....and Jacques Pepin cold non-stick pan "fried" chicken thighs... and BBQ chicken... and stir fried Chicken-in-a-Garden.....and...... well, you can see where this is leading. ;o)

Teresa
Jasdip
12 years ago
Teresa, might chicken be one of your favourite meats??

I made Sticky chicken once, and it was laying in fat. I had to drain the roasting pan, which I've never had to do before. Might have been coincidence, or the bird, but I haven't made it since.
arley_gw
12 years ago
I have six wire racks (like the one at the link) which hold chickens vertically; very useful when I'm smoking a bunch of chickens in my smoker.

Only drawback is that the chickens take on the look of fat guys sitting around a table, like that famous photo of Churchill, FDR and Stalin at Yalta. (Okay, I'll get back on my meds. Promise.)

Here is a link that might be useful: vertical chicken roaster
lindac
12 years ago
It's like beer can chicken without the beer....it's like rotissary chicken without the motor. self basting, grease draining, even browning yummy chicken.
Linda C
jessyf
12 years ago
We've been lusting after one of these for 'schwarma' - lamb.

Here is a link that might be useful: schwarma wiki
colleenoz
12 years ago
Ah, doner kebabs, food of the gods, and a must after a night out drinking :-)
We were astounded in Germany to see how popular they were,. easier to find Doner kebabs, pizza or sushi in Berlin than German food! We saw delivery trucks all piled up with fully loaded rotisserie rods each like a meat carpet roll all wrapped up in plastic.
skeip
12 years ago
And if you put all your favorite root vegetables and lots of garlic and onion in the pan underneath the chicken they cook in all that lovely schmaltz and are absolutley delicious!!

Steve
dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
12 years ago
What is the best position for doing the chicken? Depends, depends, and depends.

Depends on whether your oven is electric, gas, electric convection, or gas convection. They all have different thermodynamic impacts on how the food is cooked.

Depends on the personality of each of the above. One convection oven will cook differently then another convection oven.

Depends on your preference. Do you want a uniformly browned skin? Or the best meat texture. Which part of the chicken you don't mind getting overcooked?

I don't see there are any inherent universal advantages of vertically cooked chicken. Certainly not in a convection oven.

dcarch
annie1992
12 years ago
Well, Elery being the gadget oriented kind of guy he is, has a vertical electric rotisserie, Cuisinart brand, which means it is currently sitting in my kitchen. (sigh)

It makes a perfectly good chicken, we haven't used it for anything else other than a turkey breast. I'm not all that crazy about chicken, frankly, and refuse to eat the skin, so poor Elery only gets chicken wings when we go out. It's kind of hard to "de-skin" chicken wings, LOL. But I digress...

Mother loves the darned thing. She likes crispy chicken skin and there's no part of the chicken skin that's sitting unroasted, she's a happy woman with all that crispy skin just for herself. I'll bet she'd love one of those vertical roasters.

Annie
cooksnsews
12 years ago
I used to roast my chickens vertically. Then I renovated my kitchen and got a new range. With a new generation of technological advances, many ovens have become very short from top to bottom. Doesn't matter if you're baking cookies, but when roasting poultry vertically, it is easy to brush the top of the oven.

So now I "butterfly" my chickens and roast them flat.

Vertical Poultry Roaster? Why?

Comments (13)

coconut_nj

Islay_Corbel

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