aem wrote:
> pamjd wrote:
>> The older models work best if you put a small amount of water. (4 cups
>> or so) between the liner and the roaster if this modelof roaster has a
>> removable liner. [snip]
>
> This sounds unlikely to me. Assuming there's a place for that water to
> go that won't mess up the appliance it would convert the roaster to a
> steamer, wouldn't it? Roasting is dry heat, pretty much by definition,
> so I don't see how generating steam can be a good thing. -aem
>


When I volunteered at a soup kitchen a couple of times 2 years ago (I
really need to do that again) we cooked a lot of things in electric
roasters. The lady who ran the kitchen had us put a little water
between the roaster and the lift-out liner for a lot of things. It
greatly increased the heat transfer. The food still cooked with dry
heat, but it was limited to about 212 degrees by the boiling water.
Without the water, the inner liner could theoretically cook at quite a
bit higher temperature, but we had them so full the food never had a
chance to roast at 350. (A typical roaster would be full of scalloped
potatoes to serve 50)

I have a big roaster that I use use to roast turkeys and briskets and
hams, and I never put water in the outer jacket. If I was using it to
cook 15 pounds of potatoes and needed them done in an hour, I might use
the water.

Bob