Thread Number: 73866
/ Tag: Small Appliances
Pork roast in a Vintage electric roaster - cooking question/advise |
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Post# 975751   12/27/2017 at 13:33 (2,305 days old) by RevvinKevin (Tinseltown - Shakey Town - La-La Land)   |   | |
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Post# 975754 , Reply# 1   12/27/2017 at 13:45 (2,305 days old) by RevvinKevin (Tinseltown - Shakey Town - La-La Land)   |   | |
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I now have two vintage roasters, a early 50's Westinghouse and a late 40's Nesco. Yesterday at Costco I bought a 5.2 lb pork rib roast (bone in) and figured this would be the perfect excuse to use one of these roasters (since I haven't yet). My questions are: #1. Should I place the roast on the rack or put it directly in the bottom of the (removable) pan? #2. Whether in the pan or on the rack, should I add liquid and/or veggies? I'm planning to serve pan roasted potatoes, applesauce and salad with this roast. Thanks! Kevin |
Post# 975757 , Reply# 2   12/27/2017 at 14:17 (2,305 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)   |   | |
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I’ve never used one of these electric roasters myself, but I’ve made a lot of roast pork in my time. I always put some onions, celery and carrots in the bottom of the roasting pan when I roast any large cut of meat. This gives the pan juices a rich flavor and also helps to make the juices nice and brown, so you’ll have a great, rich tasting gravy. As far as adding any liquid to the bottom of the pan, when I roast meat in the oven, I always put about 1/2 to 1 cup of water in the bottom of the pan with the aromatic vegetables. You could also use the same amount of either white wine of chicken broth instead of water. I made a small boneless loin of pork for our Christmas dinner and I browned it on all sides first before I put it in the oven. Depending upon how large your bone in roast is you may want to brown it first, it does help give it lots of flavor.
I’m sure your roast will come out great! Eddie |
Post# 975758 , Reply# 3   12/27/2017 at 14:19 (2,305 days old) by RP2813 (Sannazay)   |   | |
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Post# 975760 , Reply# 4   12/27/2017 at 14:29 (2,305 days old) by RP2813 (Sannazay)   |   | |
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OK Kevin, per my GE booklet you should place the roast in a shallow pan. If you have the rack assembly for your roaster, you can place the shallow pan on the lowest rack position, or just put the pan on the bottom of the cooking well insert. There is no advice to add liquid.
Roaster should be set to 350 and cooking time is around 30 minutes per pound.
Preheat roaster first with vents closed, then after the meat is in the roaster, open vents fully.
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Post# 975772 , Reply# 5   12/27/2017 at 17:07 (2,305 days old) by perc-o-prince (Southboro, Mass)   |   | |
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At 350 for 30 min/lb, wouldn't that be well done? Remember when that booklet was written. I usually take my pork to 145-ish and let it slide to 150. Aprox 20 min/lb. Chuck |
Post# 975786 , Reply# 6   12/27/2017 at 18:42 (2,305 days old) by RP2813 (Sannazay)   |   | |
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Post# 975903 , Reply# 7   12/28/2017 at 17:12 (2,304 days old) by RevvinKevin (Tinseltown - Shakey Town - La-La Land)   |   | |
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Eddie: Thanks, all those suggestions sounds wonderful! Yes if I were doing this in the regular oven, I would add veggies and some sort of liquid to the roasting pan.
Ralph: Thanks for taking the time to look up that info in your GE roaster recipe book, very much appreciated! I will use the rack and may add some liquid.
Chuck: I agree completely about the cooking time! Back then they cooked pork (and other things) to death and I definitely don't want to do that with this roast!
My Miele wall oven has an "auto roast" mode where you start the roast in a cold oven (with the temp probe), it heats quickly (w/convection) to 450 for 20-30(?) mins, then reduces to my preset temp, i.e. 350. Once the internal temp of the roast reaches the desired, preset temp, the oven shuts off. I've only used it a few times but the roasts have come out perfect every time! I think I'll try that with this roast in the Westinghouse roaster, start it at 450 for 20 mins, then reduce to 350 until it reached 145 inside. I have an external thermometer with a wired probe I'm going to use.
Thank you all again! I'll let you know how it turns out!
Kevin |
Post# 976177 , Reply# 8   12/30/2017 at 17:06 (2,302 days old) by perc-o-prince (Southboro, Mass)   |   | |
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Just confirmed we're having pork roast for NYE. I'll stuff it with apricots, apples and raisins. First time stuffing with fruit for me, though Rich had it eons ago. Happy cooking! Chuck |
Post# 976276 , Reply# 10   12/31/2017 at 09:26 (2,301 days old) by RevvinKevin (Tinseltown - Shakey Town - La-La Land)   |   | |
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I plugged in and turned on the Westinghouse roaster to preheat it. The light went on and it started heating up. I checked it after 15 minutes and noticed the plug itself where it connects was getting very warm. As it was heating I was expecting the little red light to turn off once it reached temperature, but it didn't. So I tried re-adjusting the thermostat a few times over the next 10 minutes and noticed it would go off and back on as I turned the knob back and forth past 250°. I then used an infrared thermometer to check the temperature inside and along the walls it was showing 423°, yet when I turn the thermostat down it would still turn off at 250°. Feeling the thermostat was not working correctly, I abandoned using the roaster and just put the roast in my Miele oven with its "auto roast" feature. Surprisingly the roast was done in about an hour and 10 minutes instead of the two hours I was expecting. Kevin |
Post# 976327 , Reply# 11   12/31/2017 at 13:46 (2,301 days old) by RP2813 (Sannazay)   |   | |
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Honestly Kevin, I think the Miele was the right choice all along. Other than the novelty factor, there wasn't much of a case for using the old roaster.
I've used my GE roaster for exactly four things on widely spaced occasions: Corned beef and cabbage for a big St. Patrick's Day group (more than once), last year's Thanksgiving turkey (freed up my single oven for sides), banana bread (outside on a hot summer day), and apple pie (see: banana bread) and it did a great job on everything. It's nice to have as a back-up or alternative, but my range's oven is so much easier to use, and it cleans itself.
Sounds to me like your roaster is a project . . . for somebody (else?). |
Post# 976330 , Reply# 12   12/31/2017 at 13:57 (2,301 days old) by SudsMaster (SF Bay Area, California)   |   | |
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Thermostats (and thermometers, for that matter) seem to have a finite lifetime. Glad you detected a problem with yours and switched to a more reliable method.
I've been roasting for decades, using the high initial temp for about 15 minutes, and then a much lower temp for the duration. The idea is to use the high initial heat to sear the outside and help lock in juices, and then the lower heat to avoid toughening the meat. Usually I roast this way with chicken and turkey, even when I'm doing a rotisserie, which tends to sear the outside anyway. The exception would be a counter top chicken roaster that doesn't have a thermostat. But those seem to come out OK anyway. In any case, I usually throttle back the temp to 325 or lower for the longer cooking time, at least for poultry. For pork, usually I get a pork "butt" (shoulder blade) and slow cook in a crock pot with a temp probe to an internal temp of 180F. The internal gristle gets softened by the long slow cooking and actually tastes sort of sweet. I understand this is similar to the method used by old time pork BBQ roasters, who cook the pork for hours, slowly, until it reaches the high internal temp, albeit in a big roaster, not a crock pot. A pork rib roast is probably more tender than a blade roast to begin with, and doesn't require the long slow cooking method. |
Post# 976359 , Reply# 14   12/31/2017 at 18:19 (2,301 days old) by RevvinKevin (Tinseltown - Shakey Town - La-La Land)   |   | |
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Thank you Chuck, yes I couldn't agree more, he's been a really great companion for the last 5 years............. oh wait..... you meant the Westinghouse roaster. Right.... yes, thank you. haha.
I was really hoping to use the roaster because I haven't used it since I brought it home last year. While I have plugged it in and turned it on, this is the first time I let it heat up. Oh well, I'll just have to add it to my "to-do" list. Maybe I'll have better luck with the Nesco roaster, though as it's older, I won't hold my breath.
I didn't think to take any photo of the roast until after it was too late, but my honey snapped a couple just after it came out of the oven, to send to his family back home. (attached) I didn't realize it until after it came out of the oven, but they (Costco) cut it along the bone and added shredded onions inside, before tying it up.
Kevin |
Post# 976366 , Reply# 15   12/31/2017 at 20:07 (2,300 days old) by RP2813 (Sannazay)   |   | |
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Post# 976416 , Reply# 16   1/1/2018 at 09:22 (2,300 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)   |   | |
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Stater Bros. receipt. |
Post# 976431 , Reply# 17   1/1/2018 at 11:54 (2,300 days old) by Revvinkevin (Tinseltown - Shakey Town - La-La Land)   |   | |
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Post# 976438 , Reply# 18   1/1/2018 at 12:28 (2,300 days old) by perc-o-prince (Southboro, Mass)   |   | |
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Oh my......!!!!!!!!! |
Post# 976444 , Reply# 19   1/1/2018 at 12:45 (2,300 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)   |   | |
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That roast looks like it came out perfectly Kevin. Roast pork is one of my most favorite meals. We always had Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage when my Mom made roast pork.
I’m glad you decided to use your Miele oven instead of the electric roaster. For an expensive, tender roast like this a conventional oven is a better choice. Though I’ve never used an electric roaster myself, I think that they would be better for turkey, chicken and less tender cuts of pork and beef. Eddie This post was last edited 01/01/2018 at 13:51 |