Confessions of a Slow Cooker Virgin
Until last week I was a slow cooker virgin. This fact tends to surprise most people. For one thing, doesn't everyone have a slow cooker? And, of all people, how could I not have one? After all, I have a startlingly well-equipped kitchen, I prep for a cocktail party like Martha Stewart, I've made a wedding cake, I make my own chocolates, and I've even taken to making my own homemade marshmallows. Slow-cooker cred seemed to be missing from my resume. But, no longer!
As the working mom of a crazy-busy toddler, I am always looking for ways to get dinner on the table faster and more easily. Enter the slow cooker. I was enthralled by the idea of putting a bunch of stuff in the pot before going to work, and coming home to an already-prepared dinner. It was like having a live-in chef! And, one week in, I am ready to give that chef a raise! I LOVE my new slow cooker. In fact, it is bordering on obsession at this point. Every night I come home thinking about all the things I could fill the pot with for the next day.
When picking out my slow cooker, I have to admit to needing a little help. I was a virgin after all. I was immediately drawn to the Cuisinart 4-quart slow cooker. Not just because it's a bestseller, but because I trust the brand, and honestly, I like the modern styling of the appliance. I mean, if it's going to sit on my counter for hours on end, it's gotta look good, right? Yes, slow cooker vanity.
One friend wondered if the 4-quart size would be big enough--Cuisinart does offer several sizes, including a 6.5-quart. How would I know--I'd never used a slow cooker, remember? Smartly, she asked if I liked to have a lot of leftovers, or just some. I'm definitely the "just some" demographic--I get tired of eating the same thing day after day. Plus, we're only a family of three. As it turns out, the 4-quart size has been just perfect so far, plus it seems like most recipes are geared for this size.
The cooker does have a few things going for it, aside from its good looks. I like that you can set the digital timer for however long you want to cook, and when it's done, it just switches to warm. The high and low settings give you some flexibility in timing. Also, it came with a great little cookbook with basic slow cooker recipes and tips for a first-timer like me.
To get ramped up on slow cooking, I've been putting myself through Slow Cooker Boot Camp this past week, testing the many recipes submitted by our readers. Thanks for all your submissions! My slow cooker is simmering away right now, and we'll be posting our favorite recipe next week.
Got slow cooker tips for a beginner like me? I want to hear them! Please add a comment and give me some advice!
--KitchenMaus
Jim on January 22, 2009 at 04:46 PM
Buy a cookbook and go. Do the simple stuff first, spaghetti sauce, stew, ribs, etc. A simple recipe is to drop in a dozen chicken legs and thighs in the pot with a sliced up onion and a 16 oz bottle of your favorite Bar-B-Q sauce. In 8 hours on low, the meat will melt off the bones and in your mouth.
Jim
Dr. Kenneth Noisewater on January 22, 2009 at 05:03 PM
Stole this from Alton Brown:
Before bed, put in 5 cups of water, 1 cup of steel-cut oats, 1 cup of your favorite dried fruits (I like blueberries, cherries and currants), stir it a bit with a wooden spoon, then put the cover on and leave it on overnight.
In the morning, you'll have AWESOME oatmeal, I usually like adding some butter and maple syrup...
Wacky Hermit on January 22, 2009 at 05:34 PM
Any meat you cook in the slow cooker will entirely discombobulate itself from the bones. So don't cook something with small bones, like a whole chicken, in the slow cooker. But do cook things like bone-in pork roasts, because you'll be able to just reach in and pull out the bone at the end.
Tbird on January 22, 2009 at 05:36 PM
Google slow cooker recipes. There are hundreds out there. From soup to dessert. Best chocolate cake I've ever eaten was cooked in a slow cooker. Slow cooker pot roast can't be beat. Best thing about it is you can just throw in the ingredients, turn it on low, and forget about it for six hours.
Buford Gooch on January 22, 2009 at 05:56 PM
For best flavor, when cooking both meat and vegetables, make sure to put the meat on top.
chm on January 22, 2009 at 06:06 PM
I've cooked this Food Network pot roast recipe (hat tip: Alton Brown) in my slow cooker five times now. It's fantastic, really tasty! And it actually tastes better a day later as a leftover. Forget Alton's "pouch" instructions and drop it in the slow cooker.
Pot Roast
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown
Prep Time:
30 min
Inactive Prep Time:
0 min
Cook Time:
4 hr 0 min
Level:
0
Serves:
3 to 6 servings
Ingredients
* 1 (2-pound) blade cut chuck roast
* 2 teaspoons kosher salt
* 2 teaspoons cumin
* Vegetable oil
* 1 medium onion, chopped
* 5 to 6 cloves garlic, smashed
* 1 cup tomato juice
* 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
* 1 cup cocktail olives, drained and broken
* 1/2 cup dark raisins
Directions
Preheat the oven to 190-200 degrees F. Place a wide, heavy skillet or fry pan over high heat for 2 minutes. Meanwhile, rub both sides of meat with the salt and cumin. When the pan is hot (really hot) brown meat on both sides and remove from pan. Add just enough vegetable oil to cover the bottom of the pan then add the onion and garlic. Stir constantly until onion is softened. Add the tomato juice, vinegar, olives, and raisins. Bring to a boil and reduce the liquid by half. Create a pouch with wide, heavy duty aluminum foil. Place half the reduced liquid/chunk mixture on the foil, add the roast, and then top with the remaining mixture. Close the pouch, and wrap tightly in another complete layer of foil. Cook for 3 to 3 1/2 hours or until a fork pushes easily into the meat. Remove from oven and rest (still wrapped) for at least 1/2 hour. Snip off 1 corner of the foil pouch and drain the liquid into a bowl or measuring cup. Add some of the "chunkies" and puree with an immersion blender. Slice meat thinly, or pull apart with a fork. Serve with sauce.
chm on January 22, 2009 at 06:14 PM
Clarification of my previous comment on the Alton Brown Pot Roast recipe: drop it in the slow cooker and set it to low (for about 4 hours).
Don Winans on January 22, 2009 at 06:43 PM
Can a dutch oven like LeCreuset substitute for a crockpot by setting the oven to 200 degrees?
Jim Miller i on January 22, 2009 at 07:00 PM
Read the Mark Bittman article from the NYT (29 January 2003) Good general advice as far as I can tell, and three recipes.
I've made the first recipe, "Pasta with tomato sauce and ribs" several times, always with excellent results.
JorgXMcKie on January 22, 2009 at 07:04 PM
Before my Mom died a couple of years ago, she said she thought the Pulled Pork I made in the slow cooker (using her basic recipe) was better than the one she made the harder, old-fashioned way.
Basically, quarter an sweetish onion (Spanish ones work nice), drop them in the bottom of the cooker, cover your pork shoulder roast with your favorite rub (Basically mine is 4T Hungarian Paprika, 4T brown sugar, 2T each Kosher salt, cracked black pepper, ground cumin, chili powder [I use a really hot one], dry mustard, ground coriander, and 1T cayenne pepper -- you can use other stuff to taste), put the roast in the slow cooker with a mix of 4C apple cider, 1C malt vinegar, 1T red pepper flakes, 1T sugar, 1/2 Dave's Insanity Sauce, and black pepper to taste.
Put on low for at least 6 hours. When you get around to it, take the cooled roast and pull it apart with two forks. Serve on white hamburger buns with vinegary cole slaw.
Dipping sauce is optional. You can use the liquid from the cooker for dipping.
kiwikit on January 23, 2009 at 04:20 AM
I got sold on one of these by previous internet sales pitches, bought a crock pot, and rediscovered what I'd known for using the things years ago. Everything it produces tastes the same and not good. For people who like crispy food and medium rare meat, this will not satisfy.
kiwikit on January 23, 2009 at 04:21 AM
I got sold on one of these by previous internet sales pitches, bought a crock pot, and rediscovered what I'd known for using the things years ago. Everything it produces tastes the same and not good. For people who like crispy food and medium rare meat, this will not satisfy.
TME on January 23, 2009 at 08:46 AM
1. Spray the inside of your slow cooker with cooking spray before putting in food for easier clean-up later.
2. While you don't have to brown meats before putting them in the Crockpot, browning greatly increases appearance and flavor. Ground meat, however, -must- be browned before slow cooking; the slow cooker won't be able to kill any germs and bacteria in the ground meat fast enough.
3. Dairy products break up in the slow cooker, don't add them in until the last half hour at the most unless you've got a recipie saying otherwise.
4. Make sure meat is thawed/browned before slow cooking; frozen meats take forever. Cut veggies into small pieces too.
Joanna on January 24, 2009 at 01:16 PM
"Can a dutch oven like LeCreuset substitute for a crockpot by setting the oven to 200 degrees?"
Definitely! I'd set it to 250 (200 is awfully low for most ovens to maintain). A good rule of thumb is that you need 1/3 of the time that the slow cooker needs. So, for your typical 8-10 hr recipe, you need 2.5-3 hours. I find that the vegetables don't break down quite as much in the oven.
peter on January 25, 2009 at 10:42 AM
If you're going to get into a lot of slow cooker recipes, don't forget this time saving miracle:
http://www.amazon.com/Reynolds-Aluminum-00504-Cooker-Liner/dp/B000RUAV16
Liners. A simple miniscule mm thick piece of heat resistant plastic that *will* save time at clean up.
plumbing on February 19, 2011 at 10:44 PM
There are cookbooks to guide you. You don't have to worry about those things.