2017 | No. 100

Resources: A Long-Handled Chestnut Roaster

So You Can Stand Back from the Fire

By Edward Behr

New short-handled chestnut roasters for stovetops are fairly common online, and there’s a surprising number of antique chestnut roasters, the kind with a round pan and a long handle, offered especially by European sellers. Nearly as expensive is a new roaster from the Bromwell Company, made at its plant in Indiana; its rectangular sheet-metal box comes with a cover and a long, heavy-gauge wire handle, which is just slightly floppy. The tin version of that roaster is $150, while the stainless-steel version is an additional $50, plus shipping (though I did see the stainless-steel model on sale earlier this year for $60). The company dates from 1819, and apparently the chestnut roaster was an early product. It’s identical to the Bromwell popcorn popper, and like some other roasters with holes only in the top, you can use it for either purpose, whether you light a fire or a stove burner.

Much sturdier and much less expensive is a basic “black” carbon-steel chestnut roaster, again, which like the skimmer described in AoE 99 (and see below) comes from the Italian company Paderno. Essentially it’s a long-handled frying pan with holes; there’s no cover, but the handle is strongly riveted. The pan is about 27 cm (10½ inches) across and the overall length is about 93 cm (over 36 inches). The US Paderno website has it for $30.40, plus a flat shipping cost of $4.99 to the 48 contiguous states. (A short-handled model costs less, but for roasting chestnuts it has no great advantage over a regular cast-iron frying pan, which you probably already have.) Paderno USA, Los Angeles, California, padernousa.com, tel 877.778.2711 ●

From issue 100

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