Test Products: Romertopf Vertical Chicken Roas

Romertopf Vertical Chicken Roaster

Every now and again, manufacturers and their representatives send me products to try out and see if we like them.

What I like most about this practice is that I sometimes get fairly imaginative kitchen items before they hit the stores.

For probably 20 years or more, we’ve been using Romertopf clay pots to make chicken. It’s simple: you soak the halves of the clay pot in water; drain water and put in chicken and vegetables, then put the closed pot in a cold oven and heat to about 350 for 90 minutes, two hours, or more…up to a point, it doesn’t really matter. This is a very forgiving way of cooking: the meat stays moist because it’s enclosed, and it probably won’t burn (unless you keep it in the oven a really long time).

So we were less than enthusiastic when Romertopf sent us another chicken cooker, this one basically a ceramic pillar mounted in a ceramic tray. One look at it, though, and Carolyn said, “Hey, that would cook from the inside out. Let’s try it.”



We tried it and, lo, it worked just beautifully. The chicken came out moist and with a crispy skin that you almost never get with a regular clay pot. We accidentally kept it in the oven a little too long, but it was still way moist and delicious.



So, are we tossing the Romertopf clay pot? Absolutely not. A key advantage to that kind of enclosed moist cooker is that you can load all kinds of vegetables in there with the chicken.

Although the instructions say you can also put potatoes, carrots, etc., in the base of this vertical chicken roaster, there’s not much room there for anything. You could put some in there, but not much, and we usually prefer a lot of vegetables with dinner.

Both clay pot and vertical roaster have their place in our kitchen, and I can see value in making a whole pot of chicken and veggies as well as just one perfectly done chicken that can be served with a salad.

Conclusion: cool tool.

How do you think it would compare with sticking a beer can up the chicken's butt and setting the whole thing in a pie pan?

nr706 wrote:How do you think it would compare with sticking a beer can up the chicken's butt and setting the whole thing in a pie pan?

Less painful for the chicken.

nr706 wrote:How do you think it would compare with sticking a beer can up the chicken's butt and setting the whole thing in a pie pan?

In addition to stevez's astute point ( ), I think it's easier to use this ceramic device, which is probably less trouble to clean than a pie pan, won't tip over like a chicken on a beer can, and doesn't require cans of beer (which are rarely seen in our house) -- and, perhaps on the downside, it imparts no beer flavor to the chicken.

I've been doing chickens on tube cake pans that are teflon coated for years.
Not as good as in a real smoker, but cheap and easily cleaned.

Meathead, the Amazing Ribs guy, http://www.amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/debunking_beer_can_chicken.htmlhas an interesting article on "beer can" style chicken cooking.

David: Did they provide you with the Suggested Retail Price?

mrbarolo wrote:David: Did they provide you with the Suggested Retail Price?

Sorry, no, they didn't, but I found one on ebay for $36.64 (which seems higher than I thought it'd be):
http://compare.ebay.com/like/251058894836?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar

ppezalla wrote:Meathead, the Amazing Ribs guy, http://www.amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/debunking_beer_can_chicken.htmlhas an interesting article on "beer can" style chicken cooking.

Good to see I'm not the only one who is a bit puzzled by what problem beer can chicken is trying to solve. I've tried it once (myself) and a couple of times at a friend's place, and completely missed what was supposed to be so wonderful about it. I mean, it wasn't bad chicken or anything, it didn't improve on any standard technique. Just set the oven at 450, dry chicken thoroughly, throw it in the oven for just under an hour and you have the best damned roast chicken ever. Crispy skin and everything.

David Hammond wrote:

mrbarolo wrote:David: Did they provide you with the Suggested Retail Price?

Sorry, no, they didn't, but I found one on ebay for $36.64 (which seems higher than I thought it'd be):
http://compare.ebay.com/like/251058894836?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar

They are $30.39 at Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Romertopf-Reco-12 ... B0009VTSJE

I find these things FAR more useful for duck-roasting than for low-fat fowl - they work great for rendering the fat without making a gigantic mess. Mine is a heavy-duty stainless-steel one that I bought at Home Depot (!) years ago for about five bucks. I generally prick the duck's skin all over, quarter a squeezed orange or tangerine and add a couple of segments to the cavity (along with a couple of smashed garlic cloves and/or a quartered shallot), insert the contraption while the duck is on its back, and upend the whole production in a roasting pan. You could certainly skip the aromatics if you want pure unflavored duck fat to reuse later.

But I sure as hell wouldn't pay $30+ for a hard-to-store breakable unitasker!