Thanks everyone. I will take the advice...low and slow. I think with that much meat, 6 briskets, it could take as long as 3-4 hours. I may use a large dutch oven on top of the stove for a couple of the briskets. I think trying to cram them all in the Nesco may not work. I'm planning on refrigerating the meat and slicing it the next day. I'll take it to work in several zip locks, and then reheat in the nesco with some of the cooking broth doused on top to moisten. I will cook some small new potatoes in the broth in a crock pot and ditto with some cabbage. Every year I organize a Green Food Day on St. Pat's. It is fun. People bring in all kinds of cakes, cookies, dips, and veggies. Donna, your recipe sounds good. I will try that one for my family.

A 4.5 lb. chicken is 1.5 lbs. heavier than the 3 lb. chicken used in the recipe that I posted. You should definitely NOT cook it less than the 5 hours and it may take MORE time because you are cooking a bigger bird. To be safe, you should check the bird with a meat thermometer after 5 hours at 250F in the meatiest part of the thigh. The temp should be up to 180F and if it is not up to that temp, I would put it back in to roast for another 30 minutes, then check the temp again. Poultry should always be throughly cooked and have no pink juices flowing when stuck with a fork or tip of a sharp knife. Please be careful to check the temp of the bird before you take it out of the oven and pronounce it done.

Ohhh, thanks, Moni! It's easy to be gracious with guests like you and Mel! My niece emailed that she and her little boy will be here. She said, "Your place is my favorite part of Christmas." DH & I decided we'd better get into the Christmas Spirit and quit thinking of all the preparations that we think need done. No one will notice anyway. It's just for family fun, as you said, lots of card and board games played, and lots of food to eat! (They always bring lots!!) Thanks, Vickey_MN. So, I can make the soup part the day or night before. Yay! Good to know! I won't be making noodles. I'll use Ream's frozen ones, but I can put them into the roaster with the soup that morning??? I probably should have extra broth/liquid on hand as well in case it gets too thick??? Leslie/KS... who needs lots of help in the kitchen....my least favorite place to be

First, I NEVER will use cooking spray anymore. I ruined my porcelain cookwell with that garbage, along with some bakeware. It destroys the seasoning on the cookwell and puts a shellac-like coating on there that needs to be essentially sandblasted to remove. Hideous stuff. Use oil. It really is not a big amount of effort. Or put the oil in a sprayer if you must have "spray". Heat the cookwell and oil it, you'll cut down the sticking tremendously just like the old porcelain roasting pans. One of the biggest mistakes made with an electric roaster is not seasoning the cookwell properly. Sadly, few if any recipes mention this. The recipe you have there I have a big disagreement with and that is to use butter only. Butter will burn at high temp. Either use oil or at least mix oil with the butter to raise the burning point. I think you'll be happier with the results. Caramelizing onions is essentially a pretty basic operation. You take onion, fat and apply heat to it for a "long" time (relatively speaking). The Nesco will apply heat nicely. You could also take the cookwell and use on the stove and put it in the oven if you're used to doing it that way, or put it back into the heatwell to finish off.