Scared of my slow cooker

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Replies

  • aeloine
    aeloine Posts: 2,163 Member
    BRILLIANT thread!

    I PANIC at the thought of using a slow cooker.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    edited September 2017
    amtyrell wrote: »
    If you are gone for 12 hours most recipes are for 6 to 8 hrs I set my crockpot to turn on such that the time I get home it is perfect cooked. Black bean soup, pulled pork or chicken, chilli are all favorite choices. Also homemade stock

    The beauty of a slow cooker is that it is almost impossible to overcook something. If I am going to be gone longer than the 8 hours, I don't worry about it because the food will keep. I am more worried about the safety of food sitting out for a couple of hours before it starts cooking.

    (My grandfather had a restaurant so my Dad was a stickler for food safety. He trained me well)
  • Tulip9
    Tulip9 Posts: 143 Member
    They sell bags for the slow cooker. Totally worth it. It helps so I barely have to rinse the pot before putting it away!
  • DX2JX2
    DX2JX2 Posts: 1,921 Member
    cathipa wrote: »
    Don't fear the crockpot! I'm using mine today to make bean soup. Mine has 4 settings (4 & 6 hour high and 8 and 10 hour low). It goes to warm setting when the time is up. Never have had a problem with burning.

    One tip - you shouldn't cook dried beans in a slow cooker (especially kidney beans). It doesn't get hot enough to get rid of certain poisonous toxins. Dried beans should only be cooked via normal stove/oven or pressure cooker.

    Canned beans are fine in a slow cooker.
  • DX2JX2
    DX2JX2 Posts: 1,921 Member
    aeloine wrote: »
    BRILLIANT thread!

    I PANIC at the thought of using a slow cooker.

    I'm more afraid of my pressure cooker. I still wince every time I have to get close to it on the stove.
  • JenHuedy
    JenHuedy Posts: 611 Member
    I love my slow cooker, but there are only a few recipes I find acceptable on work days. Even with the timer, things like chicken or lean pork loin turn into unpalatable mush during any cook time over 6-8 hours. I prefer soups/stews and recipes that use tougher, fattier cuts of meat like pot roast or pork shoulder on long cook days. Beans are the BEST! I like to save chicken and lean pork for quicker cooking methods that work better the grill or oven.
  • You should be scared. There is a reason why the Colonials referred to the Cylons as "Toasters" after all.
  • jayemes
    jayemes Posts: 865 Member
    You should be scared. There is a reason why the Colonials referred to the Cylons as "Toasters" after all.

    That's why I don't have a fracking toaster oven.
  • kikicooks
    kikicooks Posts: 1,079 Member
    DX2JX2 wrote: »
    cathipa wrote: »
    Don't fear the crockpot! I'm using mine today to make bean soup. Mine has 4 settings (4 & 6 hour high and 8 and 10 hour low). It goes to warm setting when the time is up. Never have had a problem with burning.

    One tip - you shouldn't cook dried beans in a slow cooker (especially kidney beans). It doesn't get hot enough to get rid of certain poisonous toxins. Dried beans should only be cooked via normal stove/oven or pressure cooker.

    Canned beans are fine in a slow cooker.

    While I do agree kidney beans should not be slow cooked, pinto beans work well, I make "refried" beans in mine.
  • RaccoonDragon
    RaccoonDragon Posts: 14 Member
    edited September 2017
    Here are my two easiest ones.

    Generic pulled pork good for pork tacos, pulled pork sandwiches, adding to rice and beans, I sometimes will eat it wrapped in lettuce

    Put a Pork Shoulder in there
    Pour in some white wine maybe a 1/2cup, just pour some in there whatever you do it'll be fine. (make sure you have some for yourself too)
    add a chopped onion
    add a few scoops of pre-diced jarred garlic
    Salt
    Pepper
    Dont worry about stirring anything... it will look like you need to... if you want to go ahead and do it.
    Set on Low for 9 hours or however long you're gone (it will be fine)
    Remove meat from liquid and pull it into shreds with a couple forks
    Devour

    Spicy Italian Beef great for sandwiches and (Freezes really well)
    Get a Beef Roast however big you want, you are an adult. (I usually use about a 5 lb rump roast)
    Put in Slow cooker
    Poor in an entire jar of giardiniera (mild or hot depending on how spicy you like stuff)
    Set on low for however long you are gone
    Come home and scoop some on a bun.
    Eat until you regret it.


  • CarolPre
    CarolPre Posts: 1,840 Member
    edited September 2017
    If you are afraid to leave it cooking while gone, maybe do a trial run on a day when you're home to watch it. I couldn't live without my slow cooker. We use it mostly for cooking roasts or BBQ ribs, but I've made all kinds of stews and soups in it too.

    Also, invest in some of those slow cooker liners to help with clean up.
  • mjbnj0001
    mjbnj0001 Posts: 1,062 Member
    CTcutie wrote: »
    Make sure it shuts off/has a timer - or I think you can buy a regular timer to plug it into! ...

    My regular slow cooker came with a second, small cooker intended to keep dips and such warm for parties. It is also a good size for an oatmeal breakfast. No built-in timer, so I used an outlet timer. Worked perfectly - started 3-4 hrs before I woke to cook, turned off and the unit/contents stayed warm until I ate. Took a few daytime experiments to get the timing parameters set ok. Stopped using this combo because the unit is a pain to clean . Someday I'll get a small unit, withtimer/automatic functions for breakfasts or lunch [soups, etc.]; until then, for quick oatmeal, there's the microwave.

    Suggest you follow everyone's advice and get a quality unit with included built-in timing functions to rest easy.
  • mjbnj0001
    mjbnj0001 Posts: 1,062 Member
    Tulip9 wrote: »
    They sell bags for the slow cooker. Totally worth it. It helps so I barely have to rinse the pot before putting it away!

    These are great! Too bad there isn't a Nobel Prize for Cooking. Whoever invented these bags would get one.
  • mjbnj0001
    mjbnj0001 Posts: 1,062 Member
    DX2JX2 wrote: »
    aeloine wrote: »
    BRILLIANT thread!

    I PANIC at the thought of using a slow cooker.

    I'm more afraid of my pressure cooker. I still wince every time I have to get close to it on the stove.

    Love the pressure cooker, and we have one of the traditional "jiggle top" stovetop ones. I'm increasingly tempted to look at the Instant Pot or other newfangled models "that do 'everything'."

    I stove the pressure cooker next to the slow cooker so they can fight it out over whichever I'm going to use on a given day (mostly in the cooler seasons when I'm not outside grilling).
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    mjbnj0001 wrote: »
    DX2JX2 wrote: »
    aeloine wrote: »
    BRILLIANT thread!

    I PANIC at the thought of using a slow cooker.

    I'm more afraid of my pressure cooker. I still wince every time I have to get close to it on the stove.

    Love the pressure cooker, and we have one of the traditional "jiggle top" stovetop ones. I'm increasingly tempted to look at the Instant Pot or other newfangled models "that do 'everything'."

    I stove the pressure cooker next to the slow cooker so they can fight it out over whichever I'm going to use on a given day (mostly in the cooler seasons when I'm not outside grilling).

    I had separate slow cooker, pressure cooker, and rice cooker. Couple of years ago, my pressure cooker died, and I got a Black Friday/coupon discount for a Fagor multicooker that performs all of those functions. It works really well and I find that I use the pressure cooker more and more for slow cooker recipes--taste is the same, but it takes less time.

    I keep the slow cooker around because the multicooker is not big enough for things like chili. It's an 8 quart size, but I make a LOT of chili ;-)