Question
Eugenie Drayton
When roasting vegetables, is there a rule of thumb for choosing a glass dish or a metal roasting pan?
Answer
90% of the time I use a, uh, metal roasting pan standard, uh, kitchen, half sheet pan with either a sill pack or a piece of parchment paper. Um, that's just the habit that I have. It's fast, it's easy cleanup. Um, in a commercial kitchen, being a professional chef, I just got used to not really having a lot of glass around because it tends to be a hazard for cookware. Um, I also find that the metal roasting pan heats up really quickly, transfers heat really well. They're light, they're inexpensive. I have about a half dozen of them that I use on rotation. Um, and most of the time with what I'm roasting, I can reuse that piece of parchment paper. If I'm, if I'm roasting without oil or without any strong ingredients, it's just some broccoli on a pan or whatever with some onions, I'm not even gonna wash that piece of parchment. I'll just use it again the next day. 'cause I'm not worried about anything foodborne, uh, coming out of that in a 400 degree oven with some veggies. Um, glass dish is fine if that's what you have. You might have a little bit more, uh, you know, these, some cleanup on it or whatever, but that's perfectly fine. I would just say the most important thing for roasting veggies is, you know, don't crowd the pan. Um, get the pan or get the oven nice and hot. And if you have a convection option, use convection because that's gonna help with air circulation. It'll help with even heat distribution. It'll help having all the crispiness and exterior texture, uh, to your liking.
