Recommend Your Slow Cooker

[Anonymous]

I am embarking on the road to taking up cooking for my family and suspect that a slow cooker might be a necessary piece of equipment. Any recommendations on brands and models? I'd also appreciate any advice that you can give on what size might be needed for a family of five.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am embarking on the road to taking up cooking for my family and suspect that a slow cooker might be a necessary piece of equipment. Any recommendations on brands and models? I'd also appreciate any advice that you can give on what size might be needed for a family of five.

Wait, do you need it for the car?

[Anonymous]

We now have a Hamilton Beech that we love:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001AO2PXK/ref=oss_product

We used to have a Cuisinart 6 qt and hated it. Everything burnt, probably b/c the low setting was too high and it cooked too fast. We eventually cracked the insert. A new insert, with shipping, was about the same price as a new Hamilton Beech.

I'd suggest looking at some recipes and determining what size you would want, 4 qt or 6 qt.

[Anonymous]

I have that slow cooker (the Hamilton Beach) and everything burns in mine. Any tips out there to prevent burning? Should I cook one less hour on low - add more liquid?

[Anonymous]

I got the Crockpot brand one from Costco (http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11492259&search=slow%20cooker&Mo=1&cm_re=1_en-_-Top_Left_Nav-_-Top_search&lang=en-US&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&Sp=S&N=5000043&whse=BC&Dx=mode+matchallpartial&Ntk=Text_Search&Dr=P_CatalogName:BC&Ne=4000000&D=slow%20cooker&Ntt=slow%20cooker&No=0&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Nty=1&topnav=&s=1) and love it. Hasn't burned anything, cleans up in a breeze. It's big enough for our family of 5 for sure. I used to have a smaller one but couldn't get large cuts of meat in there without overflow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have that slow cooker (the Hamilton Beach) and everything burns in mine. Any tips out there to prevent burning? Should I cook one less hour on low - add more liquid?

Stephanie O'Dea (http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/) has some good recommendations for preventing this.
* Always pick the lowest setting and the shortest cook time. So if the recipe says, 6-8 hrs on low, set it for 6 hrs on low and let it go to warm.
* Make sure the pot is full enough. Different recipes are for different size pots. Put a layer of foil on top of the food if the pot is not 2/3 full.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the tips and link!