Do I put water on the bottom of my hamilton beach roaster?

Are you trying to keep things warm, like with a warmer tray? then it will be fine if you add water, and this can also keep the food a little moister from the steam. it is not neccesary to add water but you can. Water will leave a deposit line inside the unit when it heats up and starts evaporating, this won't hurt anything and you can clean it with some cleaner and a scrubber. If your a cooking with it, then you don't want to use water, just put the food in the insert and cook it like that.