On Mon, 8 Dec 2003, Dee Randall > wrote:

> Don Wiss wrote in message
>> In my looking around for a chestnut cutter and chestnut knife I came across
>> a chestnut roaster for $25. This is nothing more than a pottery (called
>> superstone) bowl with a lid. What advantages are there to using a roaster
>> versus roasting them in the oven some other way? Picture can be found he
>> http://www.eatgourmet.com/supchesroas.html

>I've been roasting chesnuts the past three days - just for treats for the
>family. I slash them, put them on a pan in the oven at 450 for about 20
>minutes. I'll be darned if I can figure out the purpose of this container
>except maybe some people don't want them to dry out as much. But of course,
>I thought roasting meant not having a cover on it.

The same item appears on several pages. I wrote to one of them. His reply:
"The earthenware roasters are a perfect vessel for the chestnuts in an
oven or even a microwave. The roaster tends to hold moisture in the
chestnuts better than the open oven."

But then any covered pan would do.

Don <donwiss at panix.com>.