Crock pot cookers

[Anonymous]

I've never used a crock put but I'm thinking its our best chance at eating something that isn't pizza for dinner again. Can you all recommend a good crock pot cookbook? Any 'features' that are must haves in buying one?

TIA!

[Anonymous]

there are lots of posts about this in the food forum.

[Anonymous]

You can search for any recipe online just add slow cooker or crockpot to whatever you are thinking of cooking. One of my favorites is a fresh turkey breast, a half is big enough with a can of whole cranberries,Ocean Spray, and a packet of dry onion soup mix. You mix those together and spoon over the breast, cook for about one hour on high to get it going then 3-4 hours on low. It is a great. Basically get one large enough for that and you can put any main dish and veggies in for the day and come home to a cooked meal. Ribs are fall off the bone in the crockpot.

[Anonymous]

I make anything that benefits from a low and slow cooking time in a crock pot. I don't use recipes --- I just cook what I normally would in the crock and slightly reduce the amount of liquid I would normally use. Here are some of the things that I have had good success with: bean soups, chili, spit pea soup, various tough meat cuts (chicken, lamb, beef, veal...) braised with tomatoes, onions, garlic, wine, carrots, and celery, pork shoulder with BBQ sauce, ribs with BBQ sauce, polenta, rice pudding, baked beans, wheat berries, barley, steel-cut oatmeal. I find that most things don't take as long as the majority of "recipes" call for. I.e. most recipes will tell you to cook a chuck roast for 8-10 hours on low - you will likely have mush if you followed this direction. I find that most things are done after 4-6 hours on low. For best results, I find that browning meats is important to the quality of the braise, but you can skip this if you want.

[Anonymous]

Beef roast in my beloved Le Creuset french oven.

1.Brown huge roast in the pot on the stove, add garlic, herbs, curry, whatever flavorings you want.
2. Cover with water (I add bouillon too), transfer pot to 200F oven, cook for at least 4 hours, more like 6 if the roast is 2 pounds.
3. 1-2 hours prior to the end of cooking, add whole potatoes, large chunks of celery and carrots. Time depends on size of chunks.
4. The original recipe requires at this point that the cooking liquids be concentrated separately into a gravy, which you then return to the pot. I never bother, and save all the extra sauce at the end for soup.

This lasts us a few days, and is wonderfully tasty and healthy. For low-fat versions, trim as much fat off the meat as possible before cooking.

[Anonymous]

I would buy a tall one, rather than the low and flatter ones. Mine is low, and I feel like it can be hard to cover the food with liquids.

[Anonymous]

I would buy a tall one, rather than the low and flatter ones. Mine is low, and I feel like it can be hard to cover the food with liquids.

But you don't need much liquid for crockpot cooking. The whole point is that it cooks so slowly at such low heat that things don't dry out because the foods release their own liquids and there is very little evaporation during cooking. I never have to completely cover foods with liquid. Just a bit of liquid in the bottom is usually plenty, and maybe spoon some over the top, but I don't think you need a lot of liquid for most recipes.

I also haven't really seen any tall crockpots. The larger sizes are deeper, but they're all in a round or oval casserole-dish shape b/c that's how the food cooks best in a slow cooker.