Do we have any WagnerWare experts who might be able to advise on the approximate age of a roaster I picked up at a thrift store yesterday?  There are no serial numbers on this kind of cookware, but an on-line search last night revealed different styles of racks, which may help to determine the period of manufacture.

In one of the pictures below, you can see that the rack on mine has round holes about the size of a nickel.  I've seen racks with elongated openings as well.  The 13qt. size racks have flat sides, whereas the smaller roasters (8qt.?) have oval shaped racks.

I paid $18 for the roaster (model 4267M).  I figured maybe they went for $50-$75 on eBay, etc. but was amazed to find price ranges from $100 to $350!  I intend to clean up and use this roaster, not turn it around for a profit.  I'm wondering if it would produce results with a turkey that are similar to roasting in an electric roaster, which I found amazingly moist and delicious.

But meanwhile, I'm curious about how old my roaster might be.  Thanks to anyone who can provide a ballpark estimate.

As usual, some full-of-itself software thinks it knows better and turned my pictures sideways.

Thanks for the links to some useful information.  Additional research indicates the 13qt. roasters were designated 4267M and 4267P.  I assume "M" predates "P" but still can't find anything specific about manufacturing periods.  I'll keep digging around.

I've added pictures I lifted from on line listings.  The shot of a set of models 4263 through 4269 shows the other style of racks that were used.  I wonder if this has anything to do with "M" or "P" designations.   In the other shot the bottom of the roaster looks the same as mine.

Greg, I saw pictures of Magnalite roasters that used (or were retrofitted with) a standard oval shaped trivet that appears newer and thinner.  We had a smaller 8qt. Magnalite Professional roaster (late '80s vintage) that came with one of those thinner trivets.  I must have given that roaster away when we moved a few years ago because I've looked and looked in the basement and it's nowhere to be found.  This older, larger 13qt. size has more potential for use since it will provide an alternative to the power-hungry GE roaster oven.  I'm looking forward to cleaning up the exterior and maybe seasoning the interior, which is apparently something WagnerWare recommended.

Tom, I did read about WagnerWare's claim that these vintage Magnalite roasters can be used as stove-top ovens since the sides radiate heat in addition to the bottom.  I'll have to think about something to experiment with on top of the stove.  Maybe there's a vintage Magnalite recipe book out there somewhere.

As for acidic foods, regardless of the cooking vessel, whenever my mom made pasta sauce, she would add a bit of baking soda to the sauce as it heated in order to neutralize the acid content in the tomatoes.  The sauce would bubble up as the small amount of soda was stirred in.  Maybe this would help with concerns about aluminum.  I can't tell you how many times my mom used the aluminum deep well insert on her '49 Westinghouse stove for making sauce.  I read that the amount of aluminum that acid foods could impact is far lower than the what government health agencies consider dangerous, and it's not like I'd be using this roaster daily anyway.

I also have a set of vintage WagnerWare Magnalite saucepans with bakelite handles.  They all have their lids and are sizes "Petite Gourmet" (4680), 2qt. (4682), 3qt. (4683), and 4qt. (4684).  I like these because the bakelite handles stay a lot cooler than metal ones on a gas cooktop.  I saw them at a thrift store several years ago and grabbed them.  They were priced individually, so I was happy to keep the set intact.  Grand total for all four pans was $27.  New and inferior Chinese versions of the same set were going for more than ten times that price last time I checked, not including tax and shipping.

I have my grandmother's Magnalite 5-quart Dutch oven which is over 70 years old. It has been a part of so many great meals over the years. It was one of the first things I took when we were allowed to choose items from her home before the estate sale.

Our Dutch oven has the same script stamped into the bottom as yours does, and a metal handle on the cover like yours.

Tom, thanks for those instructions.

It's interesting that the timing for a pork roast isn't much longer than in a pressure cooker, but usually when I'm doing a pork shoulder, it's larger than six pounds.  During the warm months, "roasting" in my big Guardian Service pressure cooker (Presto clone) helps to keep the kitchen cooler, but once the colder months return, I can see this new Magnalite roaster being a go-to item for such things.

I think I'll season the roaster first, then polish up the exterior.  Again, the seasoning operation will happen when heating up the kitchen won't make the AC system's job harder.

I should mention that the Savers thrift store where I found this roaster is located in a city adjacent to the most expensive real estate market in the nation.  It has been in the same building for decades, and some of my favorite finds were made there back in the early '80s:  my 1950 Admiral "consolette" TV with bakelite cabinet (brought back to life with a simple "re-cap" for cheap by a local repair guy almost 20 years ago), my super rare 1950 Western Electric model 500 telephone, and now this roaster that is so highly prized by so many, at least according to what I've read on line.  I used to work nearby, so I would visit this store often.  I think it's worth the drive to start checking it out again once in a while. 

"In 1965, researchers found that rabbits injected with an extremely high dose of aluminium developed toxic tau tangles in their brains. This led to speculation that aluminium from cans, cookware, processed foods and even the water supply could be causing dementia. The ability of this high dose aluminium to induce tau tangles, increase amyloid levels and contribute to the development of plaques has been shown in laboratory experiments on animals.

"Importantly, these results were only seen with extremely high exposures that far exceed the levels that can enter the body through food or potentially through contact with aluminium cookware.

"Since this study was reported, much research has been done on the relationship of aluminium and Alzheimer's disease. As yet no study or group of studies has been able to confirm that aluminium is involved in the development of Alzheimer's disease.

"Aluminium is seen in the normal, healthy brain. It is not clear how aluminium is getting into the brain from the blood. The levels currently seen in peoples brains hasn't been shown to be toxic but an ageing brain may be less able to process the aluminium. Although aluminium has been seen in amyloid plaques there is no solid evidence that aluminium is increased in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease. No convincing relationship between amount of exposure or aluminium in the body and the development of Alzheimer's disease has been established.

"Aluminium in food and drink is in a form that is not easily absorbed in to the body. Hence the amount taken up is less than 1% of the amount present in food and drink. Most of the aluminium taken into the body is cleaned out by the kidneys. Studies of people who were treated with contaminated dialysis have shown an increase in the amount of aluminium in the brain. This was believed to be as a result of inadequately monitored dialysis which then led to encephalopathy related dementia. Methods of dialysis have since been improved and doctors are better able to predict and prevent this form of dementia.

"One large recent study did find a potential role for high dose aluminium in drinking water in progressing Alzheimer's disease for people who already have the disease.

"However, multiple other small and large scale studies have failed to find a convincing causal association between aluminium exposure in humans and Alzheimer's disease."