The fan is good for better and even heating by convection.

It's a good thing.

dcarch

I hope it's still available.
NESCO Roast-Air Ovensî: In a class by themselves. We took our classic Nescoî Roaster Oven and added a convection fan in the lid. What does that do for you? It speeds up the cooking and browns your food even better than before. Roast the juiciest, golden-brown turkey you've ever seen! The Roast-Airî lid is also available as an accessory if you already have your own Nescoî.

AFAIK the Roast-Air is still available and you can still buy the adapter kits to convert the 6qt and 18qt to "Roast-Air" convection. I bought a converter kit years ago. It's kind of strange because they used the same fan unit for a 6 qt as for the 18 qt. From what I've seen they now build it into the lid on the larger units and I think the lids are now attached on those. While I see the advantage of it, I also see disadvantages, but that's beside the point.

Although as said many times, I am a fan of the Nesco⢠brand, there's other brands that are great. My mother had an old, old Kenmore that I really liked. My sister conned me out of it so I bought the Nescos.

First, here's what a basic 6qt Nesco looks like:

Now here's what the 6qt looks like with the Roast-Air lid and fan:

And FTHOI, here's what the 18qt Roast-Air lid looks like:

If you're one who must have the crispy dark skin on poultry, the Roast-Air lid is perfect.

There's other electric roaster units out there. Lots of them. I can't say for sure but I've never seen or heard of a convection feature on any brand but Nesco.

I don't use the fan part all that often but I'm glad I bought it. I also bought an extra cookwell for it. I got the non-stick and I'm very happy I did. The second cookwell keeps the unit going. I can keep food in the one and put in the frig while I use the other cookwell to make something else. And for that matter you could even put the cookwell into the oven if need be but that kind of defeats the purpose of it.

Mine doesn't have the fan, but I think I would like one that did.

You passed up a perfectly nice Nesco, sadly. I'd snap up one in a minute if I found one with the fan secondhand.

Yeah, just what I need, ANOTHER roaster. I have my 18 quart and my 6 quart, Elery has an 18 quart and we gave his 6 quart to his daughter. If I need it, both my girls have 18 quart ones too, for family parties, LOL, we have a bunch of 'em!

Annie

Annie

Oh well. I originally had thought it would take a couple days, as it did, to get detailed responses. I doubted correctly that I had that long to make a decision. After reading your responses, I didn't think that you all had covered the item I had seen (although its been a couple of months. So I finally had the sense to go to the NESCO website which I should have done in the first place. It wasn't that easy to find, but when I stumbled into the 12 qt roasters, it was reasonably likely that that was what I could have picked up. I see that at least by price, they are the most expensive. The convection is the default (or only) unit. Oh well: could'a would'a, should'a: next time maybe! I see from the website that the 18 qt units still 'look' like they did in 1950.

Here's a view of another style.

I guess cost is a relative thing. Of course the Roast-Air versions would be more expensive than the standard units but Nesco brand isn't necessarily more expensive. Depends on where and when. I bought additional units for gifts for something like $24 for the 6 qt standard unit where the other brands were more expensive. The 18 qt standard unit was on sale around Christmas time for $35-$39. Were I buying a bigger unit than the 6qt I'd probably go in favor of the 18qt and get the adapter kit. Seems to me they ran something like $40 or so.

Don't necessarily give up on finding a used one. Several people have bought them and didn't read the instructions to burn it in so they gave them away. Several people have reported getting new units or nearly new this way. Or people used it once or twice, and gave it away for whatever reason.

Yes cynic, the unit looked like those you posted above, and said Nesco right on the front. That's why I asked about the various nesco models. I was under the impression that Nescos were more solid or insulated in the tops as well as the bottoms. The top looked very cheesy to me. It took me the longest time today to determine why you thought I didn't know it was a nesco. I finally realized my post title did it. I had meant 'different models' and you thought 'clones'.

Thanks for the warning about 'burn in'. I will have to check on line about that if I ever find a second hand one again since it likely wouldn't have a manual. And very slick HTML you've got going there.

You're welcome. Actually the burn in is simple. Many electrical components come with a coating on it and needs to be run a while to burn it off. With the roaster, I'd suggest putting it outside or something. Sometimes it can give off an awful smell. Not sure if they'd changed that now or not but the one of mine was a terrible smell. You should coat the cookwell with oil to season it, like many pans and put it in there and turn it on high for a couple hours. I believe they recommend 2 hrs or until the smell is gone. There might even be a little smoke but not much. My one seemed to take forever. I had it in the garage so maybe I smelled something lingering and the other didn't seem to take long at all. Just a few minutes. Also, with the non-stick and enamel cookwells you should season them regularly, similar to a cast iron pan.

Compared to the old Kenmore my mother had the top seemed real flimsy but frankly they're tougher than they seem. I've dropped the lids and stuff and no damage, plus the light weight is an advantage.

I don't have a roaster, but if I did, I would fashion an insulated jacket to go over the top cover. I would use heat resistant fabric for the jacket such as what they use for smokers.

With a jacket, you save money on electricity and the cooking will be more even.

It is often said that a roaster will not heat up your house as much as your regular oven. I don't know. A regular oven is very well insulated, and a 18 quart roaster puts out as much heat as a hair dryer.

dcarch

I remember when Nesco intro'd the convection fan 6 qt on QVC...it's been at least twenty years ago. At the time, you could retro your Nesco by buying just a Roast Air lid. Don't know how long it was around but don't think that it's an option now, for the 6 qt.

I see a lot of 6 qt Nescos around at rummage sales. I own three, just picked up a barely used one for $3 for my neighbor. Have yet to see one with the convection feature at a rummage sale. Either they work great & no one wants to part with it OR there just aren't that many of them around.

The lids on all of them, even the two ancient ones that I own, are 'flimsy'...but they get the job done. (interestingly, the lids on the ancient Nescos are less substantial than on the later generation models.) Mostly, I don't see the need for any type of insulated top-the top reflects most of the heat back into the cooker...however, I have, on occasion, used a thick folded terry type towel on the cover, being careful that it doesn't touch the cookwell--that part gets Hot. Usually, when I do it, it's when the ham or whatever is just a bit too large for the cooker & the lid won't fit. So I tent with foil, pop the lid on best it will sit & then add the blanket on top.

Dcarch--the beauty of the Nesco, in keeping your kitchen cooler in the summer--is its portability. When I lived in OK, both Nescos, the 6 & 18 qt, got toted outdoors onto the porch in the summer. The other bonus is that they heat up quickly so you tend to have them generating heat for less time than you do with a stationary oven.

I have 4 Nesco roasters. I also have 18 quart convection one with the fan. The one I use the most is my 6 quart round one. What I like about them is that I can use it on my covered porch. I have the largest size that they make that I bought in a garage sale still in the box. I use it for large group cooking. (band) The smallest one is 4 quart and its not coated with the non stick coating. Harder to clean. They are great when your oven is not big enough for larger food items like a turkey. Even though I have not roasted a turkey I have done a large ham. All turned out good. Even though I have enough roasters I would not turn down a bargain. Give it as a gift to someone.

Getting worked up over putting insulated jackets on a roaster oven... I think maybe better to go to a drive through. First you can cause a fire hazard with the wrong materials but more importantly you interfere with the venting so you'd probably have a pretty sloppy "jacket" there after a couple hours of cooking.

And from my experience, conventional ovens are NOT well insulated! LOL why don't people run their ovens if they are? Granted, the self cleaning ovens are said to be better insulated than a non, which would make sense but heating a 5 cubic foot area vs maybe a 1 cu ft area, common sense says which will heat up the room faster and use more electricity and I won't go into the gas argument.

I've never had any problem of uneven cooking with any electric roaster I've used. Do they give off heat? Of course they do, as do slow cookers, as do ovens, as do toasters, as do light bulbs, as do televisions, as do computers, as do refrigerators, as do freezers... (they're heat producing items so they don't give off cold!)

Mine are 20+ years old and although the lids are lightweight, I'd hardly call them "flimsy". Lightweight does not mean flimsy to me. Now I *have* seen "flimsy" lids on some of the competitor brands and as I said I can't speak to the ones made today. I haven't looked at them up close and in person. Also the fan unit I have is surprisingly heavy. If the lid was flimsy it wouldn't hold the weight very well.

Golly, I suppose I should have been a bit more explicit. Maybe this will help!

...however, I have, on occasion, used a thick folded terry type towel on the cover, being careful that it doesn't touch the cookwell--that part gets Hot.Usually, when I do it, it's when the ham or whatever is just a bit too large for the cooker & the lid won't fit. So I tent with foil, pop the lid on best it will sit & then add the blanket on top.

If you're ultra goosey, you can make an insulating blanket using a bat of unfaced* fiberglass insulation crimped into an aluminum foil 'pillowcase' or sew one up in some Nomex. Or use a bigger cooker. I'm without a proper oven right now, the 18qt Nesco down in the basement is my other choice and the toaster oven is otherwise employed when I bake ham. So I make do.

Soggy hasn't been a problem in my experience, cooking a ham too tall for the lid to rest properly on the cookwell.

*unfaced fiberglass insulation is the kind that has no paper on it