The Calphalon Contemporary Stainless Steel Roaster is a superb quality roasting pan and V roasting rack that adds style and elegance to your large roasting dishes.
Ease of Use/Performance: 24/25
Convenience/Storage 23/25
Appearance/Design 25/25
How much I enjoy 25/25
Total: 96/100
The Calphalon Stainless Steel Roaster is a favorite of many kitchens and a Blue Ribbon for Excellence winner in my own. The Calphalon roaster is a professional quality roasting pan that is not only an excellently crafted piece of kitchen cookware but one that is quite affordable. The Calphalon Roaster costs about $120 and can be found on several internet sites as well as stores such as Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s and Bed Bath & Beyond.
The roasters design and general shape is what brings its great cooking and roasting ability as well as the main ingredients of a three layer pan. The aluminum core of the pan means a great even heating and cooking surface that not only does well in the oven but on the burners for great versatility.
The Calphalon Contemporary Stainless Steel Roaster pan is a nice sized stainless steel pan about 16 inches by 13.5 inches and 3 inches deep. The sides of the pan slope nicely so that heat will not collect too much in the pan area and removing food is easy. The handles are solidly riveted to the sides and large but stay cool when cooking on the stove top. The handles are a nice size and curve inward slightly and come up from the pan so that you have plenty of room to hold them with oven mitts on.
The stainless steel with aluminum core means a material that will heat evenly and not stick foods unnecessarily to its surface, almost a nonstick type. The pan does a great job with everything I tried and was very nice for general cooking that I do often as well as that occasional roasting like whole turkeys.
The pan is larger than many other roaster pans for those large birds, lasagna’s and such and is perfect for my very often prepared granola. The nice size means you have plenty of room inside for your dishes and the V roaster rack holds the food off the bottom for even cooking.
The roasting pan comes well packaged to prevent denting and comes with the roasting pan and the V Rack as well as some warranty information and a recipe. The V rack is a very nice large rack that fits into the roasting pan but can slide around on its own. The rack is covered with a nonstick coating to prevent food from sticking and works very well for large items like hams, chickens, beef and of course those turkey’s.
The Calphalon Contemporary Roaster pan is solid and does not flex at all when you try to bend the sides which goes toward the durability and long lasting toughness of the pan. The three layer metal will give a nice even heating using the quick conducting aluminum core while the stainless steel offers the non rust finish.
The pan is almost a nonstick pan with the smooth stainless steel and it worked exceptionally well for things like lasagna that may stick to a non coated or non sprayed surface. For making recipes like a roast and then pulling the pan out setting it on the burners and making gravy right in the pan it works fantastic.
The aluminum core gives the pan a pot or cooking pan quality so you can easily cook right on the burners even with an electric range like I have. I had no problem deglazing the pan to get all those good juices and bits of food that make up a flavorful gravy or sauce. Also the pan does not give that characteristic pop of the metal bending and flexing while being heated that thin roasters often have.
I had no problem roasting two large chickens and the roaster cleaned up very easily in my kitchen sink but it is also dishwasher safe. I wanted to do more of the things I would be using the pan for on a regular basis like my favorite granola, lasagna and chicken. The pan does a great job with nice even cooking for the large casserole type dishes as well as roasting and cooking meats.
The pan is also very easy to clean up and is an almost a non stick finish with the smooth metal surface. The Calphalon roasting pan does have a large indent in the center of the pan I guess to add strength to the surface and it does not add any problems with cooking. I easily browned a roast in the pan before switching it to the rack and the oven and it gave a nice brown even heat across the uneven beef roast I tried out.
The Calphalon Contemporary Roaster pan does such a nice job of several types of cooking that I feel it deserves a Blue Ribbon for Excellence. The pan does so many different jobs in the kitchen and makes a fantastic all around cooking and roasting pan that it is not just a holiday pan for the large turkeys. But of course it excels at large turkey’s as well, I had no problem roasting a 16 pound turkey to perfection in the roaster.
The Calphalon Contemporary Stainless Steel Roaster is a great buy at about $120 and gives cooking a style and ease with its aluminum core and great easy to hold handles. I highly recommend making the investment toward a high end roasting pan like the Calphalon Contemporary Stainless Steel Roasting Pan for a fantastic kitchen cookware.
