I recently had to replace our first Norpro Roaster. The seam where the "beer can" cup is held together began to split on the old one. I initially thought it was premature, until I looked at our order history and the old one was over four years old. As much as we use it, that means it roasted roughly 100 chickens. I'm happy with that longevity.I've made beer can chickens and once did a beer can turkey in the smoker. If you like roasted chicken in the oven, this is the gadget for you. It is easy to use and delivers consistently good results. The product is well made, it holds the chicken upright without any risk of tipping, and assembles and disassembles quite easily.Someone said it does not come with instructions. To quote a coworker, "let me Google that for you." There are dozens of beer can chicken recipes, of which I'll share my favorite below.Tips:- Oil the metal uprights. It helps get the chicken off the gadget more easily.- If it is still tough to get off the uprights, the best tool I have in the kitchen it to use the kitchen sheers to release the top of the chicken by cutting down a few inches- Use a baking sheet underneath this. I personally place this in a disposable pie tin, and put that on a baking sheet. There will be some splatter as the chicken cooks, but most of it stays in the pan of the roaster- I like to use chicken broth rather than beer. I've just had better luck with it, and it keeps the chicken very moist. I like to add some minced garlic to the swill.Basically, you will find two types of recipes online. Some call for a 325 or 350 degree oven. I stumbled onto one that called for 425 which I have used. My oven has a convection roast cycle, and I set the oven at 440 (which it steps down to 415). I usually use about a 5 pound chicken. I rinse and pat dry the chicken, then rub some olive oil on the bird. On top of that I sprinkle on a chicken rub (I've used various kinds). When the oven is up to temperature, I put the bird in with a wing side facing the back, which in my oven is the convection heat source. I let it roast that way for 20 minutes, turn the roaster and bird 180-degrees so the other wing side is facing the heat source for 20 minutes, then turn so the back of the bird faces the heat for 22-23 minutes, then turn it 180-degrees so the breast side is the last to face the heat for another 22-23 minutes. The results have been consistent: crispy skin, perfectly cooked inside, and juicy every time.If you don't have a convection oven, just set it for 425, and if your heat source is not coming from the back, you can probably not turn the bird. Feel free to experiment with the liquids in the cup.Incidentally, the quality of the unit that arrived two weeks ago is identical to the quality of the one that lasted 4+ years and 100 or so chickens. It is one of my favorite kitchen gadgets.

I bought the Norpro Vertical Roaster with Infuser in February, and have since used it at least once a week. I love a good roast chicken, and this gadget helps me make the best. It is of excellent quality stainless steel, very sturdy and well designed, and it all goes in the dishwasher.There are a few tricks to using it, though. For one thing, you MUST place it in a larger pan, both to catch some drips from larger chickens and also to make it easy to transport in and out of the oven. I place mine on a 12-inch Calphalon Everyday Pan, which has two loop handles for easy carrying. The only flaw in the design of the vertical roaster is that the bases too small to carry, especially after it fills up with chicken drippings.For truly perfect, juicy, crisp skinned chicken, I follow the Cook's Illustrated recipe for Peruvian Roast Chicken, although I use a spice rub of my own devising rather than the one in the recipe. The basic recipe is this: creat a spice rub (I use a combo of sweet and smoked paprika, sumac, garlic, a variety of dried herbs, salt and pepper, mixed with olive oil to make a smooth Paste); wash and drythe chicken inside and out; loosen the chicken skin and slide the spice rub under the skin, back and front, and then all over the outside skin.; place in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours, up to 24 hours (okay, I've done less and it still comes out delicious, but the long chill tightens the skin for crispier skin and lets the spice rub penetrate the meat); heat the oven to 325; add some wine or beer to the infuser cup; assemble the roaster and place the chicken on it and then put it in the larger pan and roast for 45-55 minutes (50 is good for a 4 lb chicken); remove the chicken from the oven to rest while you increase the heat to 500; when the temperature hits, put the chicken back in the oven for a total of 20 minutes, turning it 180 degrees after the first 10 minutes. When you take it out of the oven you must let it rest on the roaster for 20 minutes before removing it. So the whole process takes about 1 1/2 hours.Removing the chicken can be tricky, but I found the easiest way is to enlist your significant other or another dinner guest to simply hold down the base of the roaster securely and then you lift it by the drumsticks. Once I figured this out there was no problem getting it off.You will have the juiciest, most flavorful chicken ever. My dinner guest last night was so impressed that he plans to buy the Norpro for his girlfriend back in California who loves to cook.

I'm quite pleased with this purchase. The stainless steel is sturdy and the roaster is well-built. I didn't have any misalignment problems while assembling it. The base could certainly be bigger, however. It's not tippy, but the drain-off from our first 6-lb roaster chicken easily overflowed the base. We had an additional pan underneath to which we added water to keep the smoking and sizzling down. To be honest, we'll always include a pan underneath the roaster even if it didn't overflow. We find that the pan significantly aids in getting the roaster in an out of the oven. The chicken was very moist throughout.I followed one of the recipes in the reviews which called for cooking at 325 degrees until the breast meat reaches 140 degrees. Then, remove the bird and increase oven temp to 500 degrees. Put the bird back in the oven and cook until the breast meat reaches 160 degrees. I was surprised by how evenly the skin crisped (I rubbed the bird with olive oil before cooking) and how juicy the meat was, even though breast meat temps hit 180 degrees (hey, it was a first try).One tip. I didn't spray the roaster before cooking the chicken, so it did stick to the vertical supports a little. It was precarious trying to pull up on the chicken to release it without spilling the juices in the base. Instead, I pushed down firmly on the chicken, which broke it away from the supports and allowed me to easily pull it off.