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See why.Vertical Roasters
Vertical roasters cook poultry evenly and crisp the skin all over—and you don’t have to turn the bird the way you would on a traditional V-rack.
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What You Need To Know
Vertical roasters cook poultry evenly and crisp the skin all over—and you don’t have to turn the bird the way you would on a traditional V-rack. But this technique depends on choosing the right roaster: Models that seemed flimsy created concerns about the chicken tipping over, and we didn’t like designs where the chicken sat in its own fat. We tested five models priced from about $12 to about $110, in materials from metal to porcelain to clay, using them to prepare our Glazed Roast Chicken. A few came attached to their own oval roasting pans, one was a simple tube, others had shallow metal trays and infusers for adding liquids before roasting. Our two top performers excelled in even roasting and sturdiness.
Everything We Tested
Recommended
- Cleanup: 2 stars out of 3.
- Roasting: 3 stars out of 3.
- Sturdiness: 3 stars out of 3.
With the longest shaft of the lineup, this roaster makes the chicken sit tall without any chance of getting soggy from slumping into the fat. Its open design helps the bird brown evenly and makes it easy to remove when all done. While the metal basin is slightly shallow compared to some of the other models, it catches enough drippings to make a good pan sauce. For our Glazed Roast Chicken recipe, we were able to place the roaster within a roasting pan. Cleanup was a little messy, but chicken grease scrubbed off relatively easily. Two curved metal bars that form the shaft detach from the tray for cleaning, and lie flat for storage.
- Cleanup: 2 stars out of 3.
- Roasting: 3 stars out of 3.
- Sturdiness: 2 stars out of 3.
This lampshade-shaped roaster was designed by the creator of a website called Girls at the Grill. In the oven, we put it within a roasting pan. Sturdy and solid, it kept a large 6-pound chicken from wobbling even though the shaft was only 5 inches tall. Cleanup was messy.
Recommended with reservations
- Cleanup: 1 stars out of 3.
- Roasting: 2 stars out of 3.
- Sturdiness: 3 stars out of 3.
This terra cotta roaster shaped like a bowl with a raised central shaft was sturdy enough to hold a 6-pound chicken upright. It has a pouring spout, a good feature for handling grease that pools in the basin. Cleanup was difficult and awkward due to its large size.
Not Recommended
- Cleanup: 2 stars out of 3.
- Roasting: 2 stars out of 3.
- Sturdiness: 1 stars out of 3.
Created for the grill, but fine for use in the oven, this roaster developed by the author of the bible on beer-can cooking had design flaws. The frame and tray felt flimsy, tippy, and thin, and it had the shortest shaft of the lineup for holding up the chicken. The shallow grease tray filled quickly, leaving the chicken sitting in its own fat, and making cleanup a greasy mess.
- Cleanup: 1 stars out of 3.
- Roasting: 1 stars out of 3.
- Sturdiness: 2 stars out of 3.
Considering its high price, this enameled cast-iron roaster should have performed perfectly. The roasting dish was not deep enough, and filled up quickly with chicken grease, and the 5-inch shaft couldn’t lift the chicken high enough, leaving the bird sitting in its own fat. Its hefty weight, more than 5 pounds, made it difficult to lift in and out of the oven, causing us to splash hot grease.
Reviews you can trust
Reviews you can trust
The mission of America’s Test Kitchen Reviews is to find the best equipment and ingredients for the home cook through rigorous, hands-on testing. We stand behind our winners so much that we even put our seal of approval on them.
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