We picked out the tins that helped makes an even roast, crisping skin and added a crunchy edge to the spuds without burning on the sides or warping when we carried the food from oven to counter. Every tin in our final selection scored well for browning without sticking.
If you’re looking for long-term use, you won’t regret buying a quality pan – just check the generous guarantees some manufacturers offer. (We did a ‘drop test’ on pans, to check for dents and chips. All those listed passed without damage.)
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Most manufacturers prefer you to hand-wash roasting pans, always allowing them to cool before immersing in water to avoid metal buckling or cast iron cracking. Many of our selection can be placed in the dishwasher.
Some of the pans we looked at were not recommended to be used on direct heat, so no gravy making on the hob for those, but others could happily warm on induction rings and even be placed directly on barbecues and grills.
Food writer and appliance tester Lesley Jones tested all our best roasting tin picks. A freelance journalist with thirty years of experience, she tests consumer electronics, homeware and kitchen essentials for The Independent, i Paper and the Evening Standard. For more on roasts, read our guide to the best Sunday lunch gadgets, top roast dinner hacks or our favourite roast recipes. You can also find expert buyer’s advice on hundreds of products by visiting our reviews section.
The best roasting tin at a glance
- Best for multi roasting: ProCook Heavy Gauge enamel roasting tin set, £37
- Best classic roaster: Le Creuset Signature cast iron roaster, £215
- Best investment roasting tin: Staub 3.5l roasting dish, £134
- Best budget roasting tin: Salter Metallics 38cm roaster, £11.99
- Best for Sunday roasts: Lakeland large roasting tin with pouring lip, £16.99
- Best roasting tin for crisping: Nordic Ware oven crisp baking tray, £37.95
- Best for long term quality: Samuel Groves Mermaid 12” hard anodised roaster with classic handles, £70
- Best for versatile cooking: Le Creuset non stick toughened rectangular roaster, £159
The best roasting tins 2023
ProCook Heavy Gauge enamel roasting tin set
Best for multi roasting
We liked the practicality of this set of three tins from ProCook, all of them fitting snugly into the other for perfect cupboard storage. It was the dream team for a family roast – the largest tray for a rib of beef, medium for roast potatoes and honey-glazed roast carrots sizzling nicely in the smallest.
These tins were easy to pull from the oven, with deep recesses under the rims that were generous enough for oven-gloved hands to grip. The heavy-gauge enamel meant there was no denting in our drop test, and no buckling when transporting trays from oven to counter.
The finished dishes scored highly too, with our chicken traybake cooked to perfection in the medium pan. Potatoes crisped nicely and the thighs were evenly roasted. There’s a very generous ProCook guarantee of 25 years on these tins, so this is a great buy if you want no-frills, functional roasters.
Sizes:
27 x 20 x 5cm
36 x 26 x 5.5cm
40 x 35.5 x 5cm
Maximum temperature: 260C
Dishwasher friendly: yes
Hob friendly: yes
Guarantee: 25 years
Available from:
ProCook (£44)
Le Creuset Signature cast iron roaster
Best classic roaster
A colourful oven-to-table dish, this cast-iron roaster is a kitchen classic. But does it still rank amongst the best ways to crisp, roast and bake?
Short answer – yes – the form and function combo of these dishes is hard to beat. In a choice of standard and modern colours, they look great on the table, and available in a range of sizes too.
You’ll undoubtedly curse the weight of them at some point (even a 33cm roaster comes in at nearly 4kg), but it’s the heft that gives them an even bake and the ability to retain heat at the table, making them the perfect choice for traybakes.
Cast iron with enamelled coating, the pans can be used on all types of hob and come with a lifetime warranty.
Size: 29, 33 or 27cm
Maximum temperature: 250C
Dishwasher friendly: yes
Hob friendly: yes, induction included
Guarantee: Lifetime
Staub 3.5l roasting dish
Best investment roasting tin
Staub pans are made of cast iron that has been poured into a sand mould – hence the slightly rough feeling of the interior surface. Although this pan is not a non-stick roaster, we found that chicken, garlic and potatoes crisped nicely to its enamelled interior, with great heat distribution and no hotspots.
This one of the heaviest we chose for our final selection (although still a kilo lighter than the Le Creuset cast iron). This one scores extra for keeping dishes hot for far longer than thinner, metal tins, so it’s ideal for moussaka, lasagne or oven-to-table dishes.
That goes for chilled dishes too, of course. There’s a lifetime guarantee from Staub if it’s properly looked after. Never heat the pan dry (without oil) in the oven and never pour cold water directly onto it when hot as that could cause damage. Hefty pan, hefty investment, but this one is going to be in use for ages.
Size: 38 x 20 x 7cm
Maximum heat: 260C
Dishwasher friendly: yes
Hob friendly: yes, induction included
Guarantee: lifetime
Salter Metallics 38cm roaster
Best budget roasting tin
This is a cheap and cheerful roasting tin that’s for oven use only, so it can’t be transferred to the hob for making sauces and gravy.
With its PFOA-free non-stick coating, you’ll find it easy to slide things around during a mid-roast check, and we found that everything we cooked in this tin was evenly browned.
The light champagne colour of the tin made it very easy to spot the bits that needed cleaning, but we’d be careful not to scratch this one with a tough scourer or use metal utensils as it could damage the finish.
As a pan for all types of oven dishes, it performed well, and the lighter finish looked classy in the kitchen. Salter do a whole range of cookware to match, too.
Size: 38 x 24 x 5.5cm
Maximum heat: 220C
Dishwasher friendly: no
Hob friendly: no
Guarantee: no
Lakeland large roasting tin with pouring lip
Best for Sunday roasts
For a budget tin, this one has good features – a generous capacity, easy-to-clean and a non-stick surface.
The raised bumps on the bottom of this roaster make heat circulation more efficient, and ‘roughed up’ roast potatoes as we tossed them around in hot oil, helping to give them a crunchy finish.
With deep edges, this would be a good choice if you decide to roast meat on a bed of potatoes or other veg, though it’s not hob-friendly, so you need to transfer to another pan to make sauce or gravy.
That’s easy, though, thanks to the wide lip in one corner, which made pouring juices into a saucepan easy. Great quality for the money.
Size: 42 x 27.5 x 8.5cm (including handles)
Maximum heat: 240C
Dishwasher friendly: yes
Hob friendly: no
Guarantee: 3 years
Nordic Ware oven crisp baking tray
Best for crisping
One of the lightest and thinnest of the pans in our final selection of roasters, this bright American-made tin comes from a company usually known for its bundt tins and baking accessories.
With a removable wire rack, this tin is useful if you wanted to place meat on top of that and layer the pan with veggies underneath.
However, this model scored for crisping. Pre-heated to 200 degrees, heat is evenly distributed, and it roasted potatoes perfectly. A shallow, circular trough in the centre of the pan meant that we did check and move them around from tie to time as oil could gather there, however.
Coated chicken wings cooked on the rack were perfectly crisp all the way around too, with the residual juices not too tough to clean up afterwards.
Size: 38 x 29 x 3.2cm
Maximum heat: 200C
Samuel Groves Mermaid 12” hard anodised roaster with classic handles
Best for long-term quality
From a classic range of British bakeware favoured by chefs and professionals, this Samuel Groves Mermaid roaster will become a staple in your kitchen.
It’s made of tough stuff, with the hardened aluminium outer coating more rugged than stainless steel, and it’s fine to use metal utensils as they won’t score or scratch.
When you first use this tin, give it a wash and then apply a fine coating of oil with some kitchen paper before baking for ten minutes at high heat.
Seasoning bakeware this way will improve its non-stick qualities and make a quality pan like this improve as it ages. Your roast potatoes will be a dream for years to come! For that reason, this is not one for the dishwasher, but the extra effort is well worth it.
The high, wide handles on this roaster meant it was another that demanded space in the oven – we removed the higher shelf to accommodate it. There was room for a leg of lamb and potatoes for four, however, and our one-tray roast was easy to remove from the oven for basting.
Size: 32 x 22 x 7cm/ 11.5cm inc handles
Maximum temperature: 240C
Dishwasher friendly: no
Hob friendly: yes
Guarantee: lifetime
Le Creuset non stick toughened rectangular roaster
Best for versatile cooking
On the base of this traditional-looking roaster you’ll find a circular panel for conducting heat efficiently when making hob-top gravy and sauce, or gently heating the pan before oven use in the stove.
This can be placed on all types of hob including induction, though Le Creuset specifies that the boost function on these shouldn’t be used.
This pan was a pleasure to cook with. Solid and top quality, but without the hefty weight of the more traditional pans we tested from Le Creuset, it’s made from toughened cast aluminium rather than cast iron which we lightly seasoned with oil before roasting.
It was quick to heat up, gave even and through results whether roasting a leg of lamb or a tray of Mediterranean veg. The generous side handles did sit above the rim of the pan, though, so we had to do a bit of shelf adjusting for this one to ensued it slotted into place in the oven.
Size: 41.5 x 28 x 11cm
Maximum heat: 260C
Dishwasher friendly: yes, non-lemon tablets recommended
Hob friendly: yes
Guarantee: lifetime
How we tested roasting tins
We tested using an all-in-one roast combination of chicken thighs, potatoes, garlic (the high sugar content of which makes the unpeeled cloves prone to sticking), lemon wedges and herbs. We looked for an even finish and crispy skin. We judged each roasting tin on several criteria:
Non-stick-ability: Our most important criteria – whether the tin stood up to it’s non stick claims.
Handle: Handles or a lip can make moving the tin in and out of the oven easier, but handles that are too high use up valuable oven space. We discounted handles that were either too small, too high or seemingly pointless.
Flameproof: Ideally the tin could be used over a gas flame to reduce juices to a gravy or sauce.
Maximum temperature: The tin needs to be able to handle high heats over and over again, otherwise it’ll buckle and render itself useless.
Durability: As ever, we subjected tins to the Good Food ‘drop test’ to mimic the effects of long-term kitchen wear and tear. Anything that dented didn’t cut the mustard.
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