Toowoomba, Qld Grandmother Launches Hagane Home Spatter-Proof Roasting Pan On Kickstarter

It was such a thrill to speak with Tom Gillespie at The Chronicle about my "invention." 

He wrote a lengthy article about how the Hagane Home Ultimate Roaster came about and the steps we took to bring it to market. 

Here's an excerpt from the article:

"A Queensland grandmother's frustration with dirty ovens has led to a groundbreaking invention that's already attracted thousands in crowd-funding support. Here's how it works.

Sick of cleaning out her oven after making a crispy Sunday roast, Louise Barrett felt there should be a better way to cook beef, lamb or chicken without an oven bag.

"The juices come out of the meat and the fat also comes out of the meat, so when the two meet in the bottom of the pan, it spits," the Toowoomba grandmother said. 

"But you need that air circulating to keep the roast crisp on top (and) I really couldn't bear the thought of the oven getting grotty.

"I thought I'd go looking for a spatter guard to go in the oven, and of course didn't find one, so then I thought, 'right I'll get onto that.

...

Ms Barrett is about to send off the first shipment of her Hagane Home Ultimate Roasters to customers, after successfully funding (part of the) manufacturing through a Kickstarter campaign.

The pan, which is named after the Japanese word for the steel it is made of, has been engineered to allow air to crispen the roast while preventing the fat from escaping and dirtying the inside of the oven. 

"That's why we've got these little vents (on the lid) that are angled and only very thin, so that the chance of the fat spitting when it hits the liquid in the bottom of the pan is minimised," Ms Barrett said.

"You can still get air circulating through, especially when most of the ovens these days are fan-forced, so you get th air around the meat, but you don't get the spitting out over the oven. 

"Also, I've found that (the vented spatter guard cover) keeps the roast moist (and juicy)."

Ms Barrett said the pan can also work on all cooktops, including induction."

You can read the full story here.

The article was published on 29 October 2025.