A Nine Dollar Chicken on a Two Dollar Roaster

I bought a Spanek Vertical Roaster at an estate sale last fall. I paid two dollars for it. This was a bargain, for it sells for $19.95 these days. My roaster is also an antique from 1997, and I have the worn box to prove it. The late Mrs. H-, who owned it, passed it on in pristine condition , for she seems to have been a woman who bought things and then forgot them.

When I told a friend about the roaster she told me that some people used an empty beer can to achieve the same end. I think there might be some logistical problems with that-

I basted my little chicken with butter before I pushed it onto the roaster. This might have been superfluous, for the roaster comes with a baster. One puts 4 pats of butter on the baster plate ,and it greases itself.

I was pleased with the results. The skin was crispy. The chicken was delicious. Was it the roaster, or was it the $9.00 Whole Foods Yuppie chicken raised in Poultry Nirvana and fed certified organic barnyard bugs? I guess the true test will be roasting a chicken with a less exalted provenance-