A few years ago, Richard Sherwin was on a quest to make the perfect stuffed turkey.

In one of his culinary classes, he learned many restaurants shy away from stuffing turkeys because of the risk of food poisoning due to under-cooked stuffing.

“I had to come up with a solution,” Sherwin said.

He experimented by putting two cannoli pastry forms together, end-to-end, in a stuffed turkey.

“Sure enough, it worked,” Sherwin said.

His creation allowed the heat from the oven to be convected through the poultry so the stuffing cooked from the inside.

From there he invented the “Roasting Wand,” an adjustable stainless steel tube that is inserted into a stuffed turkey or other poultry. In 2005, Sherwin was humbly surprised to find his invention made it on an episode of the PBS hit “America’s Test Kitchen” and got rave reviews.

“Every time that show aired in a different market, I always knew because I would get orders in that market,” he said.

Sherwin’s life has almost always revolved around food. His first job was at an Italian restaurant when he was 16.

“I was making pizzas or whatever they wanted me to do in the kitchen,” he said. “Two brothers owned it and their mother worked there, and I was assigned to be her right arm. She taught me how to make cannolis.”

Currently Sherwin is liquidating his vending company and plans to open a restaurant next spring in the Lemont area.

Notable
To date, Sherwin has sold 6,500 Roasting Wands. “And I haven’t had one returned,” he said. Visit roastingwand.com for more information.

& quotable
Sherwin is excited about opening up a restaurant of his own. “I’m going to jump in with both feet,” he said.

Philosophy
When it comes to cooking, he is a perfectionist,” he said. “As long as you’re going through the effort, you may as well do it all the way.”

Favorites
FOOD Chicken vesuvio, fettucini alfredo
MOVIE “Father Goose”
MUSIC GROUP Pink Floyd
INTERESTS Cooking, gardening