Hoping to be moving soon to a house with a bit more space in the kitchen and I'm seriously considering investing in a slow cooker. I hear they are great for things like stew in particular, and we eat a lot of that type of food in this family. I use a large cast iron pot now, which is fine, but it does require me to be home and actively supervising the cooking process. I really like the idea of being able to leave the food cooking away while out or overnight. They're also supposed to be good for budgeting. Cooking large batches, using up very little energy. Anyone here have a slow cooker? What are you experiences? Any tips in what to look out for when buying one?
I have had my slow cooker for many years now and love to use it for fall and winter meals like soups, stews and chili. I have also used it to make roasts and chicken dishes. In the summer, I use it mostly to make pulled pork sandwiches. I would say to consider what your needs are in a slow cooker. Are you going to be transporting it or will it always remain at home? Some slow cookers have sealable lids for transporting. I would also look for one that is large enough for your family. Think of how much food you are putting in the cast iron pot, your slow cooker would need to be large enough to hold that much food as well. I would also check out some online reviews of several different ones before purchasing one.
It's great that your family enjoys all of the stews, but there are so many more things you can do with a slow cooker! Baking, soups, etc. Here are 12 great ideas :3 Log In
I have a rival slow cooker crock pot that I love! I use it all the time. It cooks very thoroughly and the food does not stick to the edges of the cooker. The rival brand is very well respected. I've used their slow cookers for at least the past 15 years. I'll never stray from this brand name. I've made some immaculate soups, chilis and black beans with my slow cooker.
I love mine! I use it was a few times a week. It is awesome!! I cook so many things in there. Sometimes I just stick frozen meat in there and I'm surprised come dinner. Ha ha. I also make meals that freeze in a bag, and I save them. Then you put the whole thing in the crock pot! My friends and I have traded these meals around. It's fun and you get different meals! I definitely recommend a crock pot!
I would also suggest looking into an electric pressure cooker, since they can also be used as slow cookers as well (and a standard hot pot, or a steamer). They cook many dishes that would take hours in a slow cooker in a fraction of the time. The only main difference is when you pressure cook something with a lot of fat and connective tissue, it doesn't always melt down quite as much. The other thing is they make a bit of a mess of your ceiling with the steam when you release it.
I'm fond of my slow cooker but you have to get a nice one for the least amount of energy used. I also have a wonder bag. With a wonder bag, you start your ingredients boiling together and simmer for a little while in the morning. Then you lid the pot tightly and place in the super insulated bag. It sits there, no electricity use at all, and stays hot so it keeps cooking. Takes a little longer and a little more prep work than a crockpot but it's pretty cool. We originally got it for camping but I use it in the house too.
I love my slow cooker especially in the older months. Its great for stews, soups, roasts and so much more. I love the fact that I throw in all my ingredients and when I come home , dinner is ready. By far, my slow cooker is my favorite appliance in the kitchen
I've always been curious about slow cookers, but not enough to buy one. I have a pressure cooker instead, and absolutely LOVE it. What I can't get my head around is going to work and leaving your food to cook all day. Please excuse my ignorance; but is that not a waste of electricity, and does your food not turn to mush?
Its funny how different people are. I have always had a fear of pressure cookers even though I know they have improved over the years. I still can't get the horror stories out of my head from years ago about the top blowing and bad accidents happening...I know, its silly how I can't move on from that. I have always heard that it takes less energy using a slow cooker but can't quote the source of that because it was years ago. As for mushy food, not going to happen. Slow cookers are designed to cook at a slow rate and everything comes out tender and tasty, no mush!
I used to be terrified of using my slow cooker. I had visions of it exploding every time I used it, so I went out and bought an electric pressure cooker - an Instant Pot. It's AMAZING... You put things in, set it and forget it. It takes care of getting the pressure up to where it should be, and once it cooks, it turns off the heat. There's no danger of it exploding, and even a person scared of the old fashioned kind - like me - can use it. I literally use it every day.
Crock Pot's use very little electricity, despite being on for hours, since the design of the pot retains a lot of heat on its own, so the heating element is only kicking on for short amounts of time to bring it back up to temperature. Besides, some dishes simply need to be slow cooked for hours, so running an oven on low for 8 hours is still going to use a lot more energy than running a crock pot for 8 hours. I love my electric Pressure Cooker as well, and use it in place of a lot of recipes where I used to slow cook them. In some ways I would say the pressure cooker might be a bit safer. With slow cookers you need to pay attention to putting frozen items in it, because the food can remain at an unsafe temperature in it for too long as it heats up and the food thaws, allowing for bacteria and other bad stuff to develop. Pressure Cookers heat up much, much faster, so they avoid this problem.
I love using my slow cooker. I work full time and have a toddler at home so my days can be pretty busy. It is great to put my food in the slow cooker before leaving for work and have my dinner already prepared when I get home. A slow cooker is a very convenient way to have meals prepared for your family everyday.
It's funny that you're moving to a place with MORE kitchen space and you're now considering a slow cooker. They tend to be space and time savers. Hah. That said, I use mine all the time. Mine is small and now that there are 6 people to feed in my family, I could stand to upgrade. That said, you get a good one for less than $50. Here are my favorite things to make in my crockpot:Log In
@clairebeautiful thank you for sharing your favorite crock pot meals. I am always looking for new slow cooker recipes. I love coming home to the smell of my dinner cooking. A slow cooker has really been a help to me. I am looking forward to trying some of these recipes.
Thanks so much for your very detailed explanation. It may very well be something for me to consider in the future. I can see why you'd need both the pressure cooker as well as the slow cooker. I just thought you either had one or the other. I'm amazed to hear you can even bake in your slow cooker!
