Cleaning a Turkey Roasting Pan

Whether it is being used for preparing a Thanksgiving dinner, or simply a family gathering, turkey's are perhaps one of the more tasty options that you can have. However, cooking this poultry in the traditional way often leaves a mess behind that can be difficult to clean if you don't know what to do. Instead of bumbling around trying to find a procedure that works, and possibly damage your roasting pan at the same time, you can simply use these guidelines. By doing so you will quickly find that cleaning a turkey roasting pan isn't impossible.

• Use the appropriate tools. It really can't be stressed enough, but by using the appropriate tools when roasting the turkey, you will have a much easier time of cleaning the turkey roasting pan. In this situation, the appropriate tool is something called a roasting rack. Roasting racks are simple grate like contraptions that will hold the turkey from the bottom of the pan, and help prevent any burning and sticking on the pan bottom.
• Pretreatments can help you avoid headaches. Taking time to pre-treat your roasting pan can help to seriously reduce the amount of work that you end up having to do when cleaning. This pretreatment can come in wide variety of ways. For example, you could line the interior of the roasting pan with some aluminum foil, or using some olive oil to coat the interior of the pan. You can basically use whatever you wish to use, as long as it meets two criteria. The first is that it will not adversely affect the taste or edibility of the turkey. The second is that is create a nice "barrier" between the turkey and the pan so that the turkey won't get a really firm grip on the pan itself.
• Keep the pan wet. By simply adding a little bit of water (if you are using a roasting rack in addition to your pan) to the cooking process you will help prevent any turkey from sticking the bottom of the pan. In addition, by pouring a couple cups of water into the roasting pan during the last hour of roasting, and removing the lid on the pan, will allow you to have some truly moist and succulent meat.
• Heat soaking the pan can be your best friend. Once you have finished roasting the turkey, you can use the hot oven to help clean the pan as well. Reduce the oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit, pour off juices for gravy, and then pour a quart or two of water along with some dishwashing soap into the roasting pan. Place the roasting pan back into the oven, and allow it to sit in the oven until about an hour after you have finished dinner. By that time anything that has stuck onto the pan should easily come off. Remove the pan from the oven (careful—it is very hot!) and wash as you normally would.