Would you recommend a CROCKPOT ?

[TraciG]

Are they really so easy to use & does the food really taste good ?? Can you make food besides stew's in it ?? I don't know much about the crockpot so any info would be good.

A nanny at the park was saying she loves her crockpot, what size is best to buy, I looked at them on Bed Bath & Beyond website .

[kijip]

Love the crockpot. We make soup, meat dishes, green chile, pasta sauce, dal, bean, cabbage dishes etc in the crockpot and man am I indebted to the wonder that is the crockpot. I grew up in a crockpot home- there was always sauce or green chile or chili on and the whole place smelled great. When I had my own kitchen, the first thing I purchased was a crockpot. I don't honestly know that I could live without it. :)

I say start with a medium sized one and not the huge one. Don't know the sizes as mine is old enough that all the lettering is worn off. Too small and it is not worth it, too big and you have too much food unless you have a big family to serve or a huge deep freeze.

don't forget that you can freeze portions of what you cook in the crockpot to heat up later either in the crockpot or on the stove.

[TraciG]

Thanks

[missym]

We use our crockpot all the time. The Yahoo Slowcooker group is a terrific resource for recipes and tips.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/slowcooker/


Missy, mom to Gwen 03/03 and Rebecca 09/05

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[s7714]

I use my crockpot at least once a week. All sorts of dishes, but rarely stew/soup. ;) Chicken dishes, roasts and chili are the three most common things in my house. I've seen recipes for even making things like chocolate cake in them, but I haven't had the guts to try one of those out yet.

I have currently have a Hamilton Beach 5 Quart cooker, which seems to be just right for most recipes I've tried. Previously I had a Rival 6 Quart, which was a bit too large for many recipes, and it also liked to burn things on the keep warm setting. Before that I had two different West Bend units that were both pieces of junk, but that's another story...

I always plan to use my slow cooker on days that we'll be out late or really busy near dinner time. That way all we have to do is walk in the door and dinner is ready to go!

Jennifer
Mommy to
Miss Pure Energy 3/03
Miss Antsy-Pants 6/05

Our bones may be brittle, but our spirit is unbreakable.
Osteogenesis Imperfecta www.oif.org

[blueeyedb]

I love my crockpot! It means that I can make dinner at my own pace during DS's morning nap and not have to worry about it later. My crockpot also has a removable insert, so if I were motivated enough, I could make dinner after DS goes to bed and just pop it in the base the next morning. I would really recommend the insert as it makes clean up much easier!

There are a ton of great crockpot cookbooks out there that have recipes for many, many different things, not just stew/soup. I have even made dessert type things in my crockpot and they always come out really well.

They are fairly inexpensive and IMHO a real workhorse in the kitchen. Well worth trying out!

[kijip]

Good point about the removable insert. I consider it indispensible on mine. I was rather surprized that some don't have that.

[aliceinwonderland]

My MIL swears by this too. She sets hers in the morning and has dinner ready when home. But, is all food basically reduced to mush (no nutritional value) due to prolonged cooking?

I have a phobia my house will catch on fire--yes I know it's irrational, I can't use electric blankets for fear burning to a well-done too--but have considered a crockpot for a long time, just for batch cooking on weekends. Thanks.