Thanks texasredhead for your help. I believe the ones in the oven are crisp, but I don't know if that is as important as being moist. Do you cut your up before dinner. Some of my friends have told me their family cuts up the turkey before dinner, rather than carving it at the same. Of course, I know it makes a pretty presentation to see the big tanned bird. Thanks for your help.

I am totally distraught and grieving profusely. I was trying to do my usual overnight cooking of the turkey and dressing in my vintage Westinghouse Electric Roaster last night for the office potluck today. I just made one last Sunday night for our Foster parent Dinner Monday night. The turkey, as usual was so moist you could cut it with a fork and amazingly delicious. I plugged it in and turned in on 275 and felt it start to warm up immediately. Very content I headed off to bed. At 2:00 a.m. when I got up to feed our little 8 month old foster boy it didnÂt seem warm enough so I turned it up to 300. At 3:30 when I was taking care of our 4-1/2 year old foster daughter with downs syndrome it still wasnÂt hot enough so I went to 350. But at 6:00 when I got up to get ready for the day and it was cold I panicked. My most glorious and indispensable mandatory kitchen appliance was not working. I had to rush around and dig through cookbooks to find out how to cook a turkey the old fashioned way in a regular oven with an aluminum foil tent over a baking pan. The turkey I had bragged about for weeks was a big disappointment to me although everyone else said it was wonderful. Two finally admitted that it was not near as moist and tasty as last yearÂs bird. HELP! Can anyone tell me where to get this thing repaired or find an adequate replacement with the removable tray, two tire baking rack, removable lining, metal stand with two shelves and a clock in the door, but most of all, the glass tray in the self basting lid? Thanksgiving will never be the same till I have my Westinghouse Electric Roaster for the turkey and the Christmas Ham and the New Years Pork roast and Kraut.

My mom bought one at Target or WalMart. It probably isn't the same as the old one, but I would imagine would work just as well.

We use the old Westinghouse roaster every year for our turkey and it comes out very moist. When we have had guests in the past, they simply could not believe how juicy and tasty the white meat is. We typically do a 20-22 lbs turkey and cook it at 325 at a rate of about 12-15 mins/lb. We were never able to duplicate the juiciness (? is that a word?) or the overall taste with a regular oven. The only downside is you don't get the totally perfect golden finish, which is why I baste it often to get closer to that type of finish. Don't forget the aluminum foil strips on the sides where the drumsticks/wings touch the side of the roaster. They help to keep it from drying out.

As to where to get one fixed, I'd probably look for a mom and pop repair shop that's been around awhile, though those are hard to find these days. You can also find old ones for sale on ebay from time to time.

For the record we have two passed down from our mother's that were made in the fifties. We use them for turkeys and gumbo, believe it or not.

Cheers,

Larry

You could also try Craigs List at
http://dallas.craigslist.org/
Someone there might be able to repair or sell the Westinghouse Roaster. Boy, hope I don't have a blow out on my roaster tomorrow night!!!

Another way to get a very juice turkey is to brine it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

OK, for the record, I used grandmother's old Westinghouse Roaster and also brined the turkey. We had a 18.5 lb turkey and I stuffed it with oyster dressing. The roaster instructions were to cook to 195 degrees, which I did, although oven temperatures online seem to be less. I wanted to make sure it was well cooked, particularly with the oyster dressing. I did not baste, got busy and forgot. The turkey was wonderfully moist. Next time I will not brine and use the roaster. It will probably still be more moist than oven cooking. It was not golden brown as in the oven, but it was delicious and the presentation was also good. I rubbed it down with olive oil and finey chopped fresh rosemary, thyme, sage, and put the remaining springs with bay leaf along side the turkey.
A great Thanksgiving was had by all! Blessing to you all!!!

I just got the westinghouse roaster at a thrift store. Trying turkey in it tonight. . . does anyone know a source for the owner's manual, either online or by mail?

We were given a Westinghouse Roaster Oven , for a wedding present, in 1950. Our first Thanksgiving dinner was prepared perfectly in this oven. Today, sixty-two years later, we still use it every year to prepare Brunswick Stew for our children and grandchildren. We've only had to replace the power cord at one time.

Boy, they don't make them like that anymore, do they?

I have an 18 quart Nesco and I love it, as well as a 6 quart Nesco. I do turkey in the big Nesco and although the skin does not get as crispy, it's good enough for me. I carve in the kitchen, so the presentation is not important to me either.

I do brine turkeys, though, as I buy the farm raised birds from a local farm and the heritage breeds are drier and do not have the overblown breast meat that the broad breasted white ones raised commercially do.

Be careful about brining a commercial bird, BTW. That "flavor enhancer" is salt and water and brining one that's already salty can give you a very salty end result.

Annie

What a sweet story, Dick1925. Welcome to the cooking forum.

I am a newcomer to electric roasters. I'm still working out the kinks but I do like it.

Eileen

There's a lot of different brands out there. I can't understand people buying slow cookers with the small roasters available. The roasters are workhorses and functional.

I'm wondering if there's anything wrong with your unit other than the power cord. Do you have another to try? I doubt you can repair it. This time of year you can buy them new quite cheap. Granted, they're not as heavy as the old ones, but I've seen 18-20 qt units as cheap as $17 on clearance. Target has one right now for about $40. I'm certain that many places will put them on sale during the holidays. Menards almost always has (an off-brand) one in the $25-$30 range on sale. Regular price on the 18 qt Nesco at Menards was about $58. And that's cheaper than a LOT of slow cookers!

I haven't seen the Westinghouse brand lately but if you're not dead-set on the same brand, you'll find a roaster easy enough and at a decent price.

I picked up an old westinghouse roaster at a garage sale for $15. I planned to use it this year for the Thanksgiving turkey. I tested to see if it would get to and maintain temp. It did, and quickly, but the power cord kept making a somewhat distressing electric buzzing noise and when I turned it off and unplugged it the plug to the wall and cord were hot to the touch. Not sure if thats normal, so I probably wont get to use it. May try a new cord at some point.

DD, you could try cleaning up the prongs on the roaster--they're probably rusty/ corroded--and getting a new power cord. Measure the distance between the prongs when shopping for a replacement. New cords are readily available. Amazon/ eBay/ hardware stores.

This is a common problem with nearly all the old roaster ovens unless you're lucky enough to score an old oven that is in almost new condition.

I have never had a Westinghouse Roaster, but do have a Nesco and some other brand, can't think of it now. I was going to bring one in from the garage to cook the turkey in, but one daughter insists she is going to take it to her house and fix. I can't argue with that! She is also going to fix the ham and some other things. If you don't get it going, there are others for sale now in the stores and probably not as good as the old ones, but they do work well.

Sue

I use mine all the time. i use a bag for turkeys