While a roasting pan may not be the sexiest or most frequently-used piece of cookware in your collection, it pays its dividends a thousand times over when it’s time to cook your holiday main dish. Getting a picture-perfect bronzed, crispy skin on your holiday ham, turkey, or roast can be harder than it looks, there’s one simple way to make it much easier: using the right pan. Today, we’re here to talk about everything that goes into a quality roasting pan, so you can host your best holiday (or dinner party) yet.
What Makes for the Best Roasting Pan?
Size, shape, and material—as well as design features like a rack, handles, and a lid—should all factor into choosing a roasting pan you can use for holiday meals year after year .
Material
Roasting pans come in virtually every material you can think of: cast iron, non stick, aluminum, and even some (very luxe) versions made from pure copper. However, since the ultimate goal when roasting turkey, chicken, or virtually any kind of protein is to develop an evenly golden brown skin or crust plus juicy, tender meat, you’ll want a material with solid heat retention, even heat distribution, and a reasonably lightweight build. Our favorite pick—and one we discuss in depth later on in this article—is stainless steel, which offers the ideal mix of all these features.
Looking for alternatives to stainless steel? Carbon steel, with its relatively lightweight build and excellent heat retention, is a close runner-up. Non stick-coated stainless steel is also a decent, lightweight option, (not to mention, incredibly easy to clean), though it doesn’t brown quite as well or as evenly as uncoated stainless steel (and has heat limitations in the oven). You could also opt for durable, naturally non stick enameled cast iron—however, since cast iron is much heavier than these other options, it can be very cumbersome to lift and transport when full.
Size and Capacity
While our Roasting Pan is a little over 18 inches long to comfortably fit a 24 lb turkey, you can definitely find smaller ones to fit your needs. For smaller birds or other proteins, try a 14 or 16 inch pan: not only are these easier to lift and store, but they’re versatile enough to use for both entertaining and everyday cooking, year-round.
You can also check out our complete guide to choosing the best roasting pan size for further info.
Design Features
There are a few design aspects that separate a good roasting pan from the best one. Here are a few that make a big difference for your next big meal.
Rack
One of the most important factors in choosing a roasting pan is what type of rack it comes with—either fixed, or removable. We personally recommend going for a removable rack, which allows you to roast your meat and vegetables—and make a gravy or pan sauce—directly in the pan. You can even use it to make an entire one-pan meal.
Depth
Roasting pans are typically deeper than a sheet pan, yet shallower than a Dutch oven, helping to maximize air flow and browning while also holding large quantities of food and liquid. For even heat circulation and minimal sloshing or spilling, look for a roasting pan with a depth of around 2 to 4 inches (ours clocks in as the latter).
Handles
Sturdy, riveted, ergonomically-designed handles are a no-brainer, making it much easier (not to mention, safer) to lift and transport your pan to and from the oven or table. Ours are specifically designed to sit away from the lip of the pan, allowing for a full seal with a lid or foil.
Lid
If you’ve ever checked your perfectly golden brown turkey for doneness only to find that it’s not quite finished cooking, you know how useful a lid can be. In addition to keeping your not-fully-cooked proteins from burning, a lid can also keep your dish warm (and prevent it from drying out) while you wait to serve.
While aluminum foil can work as a makeshift lid, angled handles might prevent you from getting a tight seal: as mentioned above, our Stainless Clad Roasting Pan features specially-designed handles that mimic the straight sides of the pan, and won’t puncture the foil.
Our Picks for the Best Roasting Pan
Our favorite versatile, heavy-duty roasters.
Stainless Steel Roasting Pan
The best material for roasting pans is—in our opinion, at least—stainless steel. A highly conductive material that does a great job of retaining and transferring heat, stainless steel (in particular, fully clad stainless steel) is your ticket to crispy golden skin all the way around, with juicy, tender meat underneath. We like it for turkey, pork belly, and any other dish where crispy, crackly skin is a top priority. Ours is tri-ply for an easier lift in and out of the oven.
Carbon Steel Roasting Pan
Similar to stainless steel, carbon steel offers stellar heat retention, even heat distribution, and a durable yet lightweight build. The only consideration, however, is that carbon steel is a reactive metal, with layers of seasoning that can easily be stripped by using acidic ingredients like wine or lemon juice. This is mostly an issue if you want to build a pan sauce: while you can always decant the juices into another vessel, you’ll likely lose most of the fond that has built up on the bottom of the pan during the roasting process.
Caring for Your Roasting Pan
Proper cleaning, storage, and maintenance can help ensure that your roasting pan will perform well for years of festive, flavorful dinners.
Cleaning and Maintenance
Your care and maintenance routine heavily depends on the type of pan you’re using. In general, we prefer washing our cookware by hand to running it through the dishwasher—yes, even if it says “dishwasher-safe” on the label. Hand washing helps to eliminate (or at least reduce) the risk of warping, rusting, or corrosion, and better preserves your pan’s finish—all of which can dramatically increase your pan’s lifespan.
When hand washing, make sure to use a gentle soap and soft sponge to start out, then move on to a more abrasive method for deep stains or hardened food residue. Here’s our guide for cleaning stainless steel, broken down into three different methods depending on the severity of the mess. We have similar guides for cleaning carbon steel pans, enameled cast iron pans, and non stick pans.
Storage and Longevity
Since you likely won’t be using your roasting pan as often as a frying or saute pan—and will probably be storing it away for months at a time—it’s especially important to keep it in a cool, dry environment with plenty of padding inside and underneath to protect it from scratching (if you plan on stacking it with other cookware items, that is). Make sure to thoroughly wash and dry your pan before storing and, if your pan is made of carbon steel, give it a quick reseasoning to prevent rust. All of these steps help keep the finish on your pan intact, allowing it to perform at its best.
Ready to Shop?
It’s not everyday that you get to go full-on Fred Flintstone with a huge, beautiful piece of protein: make it count by using the best roasting pan you can find. Our Roasting Pan’s 3-Ply Stainless Clad construction lends a deep, burnished golden-brown to your turkey, tenderloin, or roast, and the pan’s nonreactive interior makes it the perfect vessel for building silky sauces and gravies.
