Not a phobia, just feel it dries out the meat. I much prefer my pressure cooker (livin' on the edge...).

Anonymous wrote:i just dont get what is so "convenient" about the slow cooker. It seems like i have to precook half the ingredients before they go in anyway.

You are doing it wrong. I don't precook anything, don't even sear the meat first.

i just dont get what is so "convenient" about the slow cooker. It seems like i have to precook half the ingredients before they go in anyway.

I'm only mildly afraid of an explosion due to not using enough food/liquid.

The real reason I don't use them is because my household consists of one person and that would be too much food.

Love,
Somebody who doesn't like leftovers.

I am maniacal about not running space heaters, unplugging them when off, etc. when people are not in the room.

Yet I happily use my crockpot all the time!

I think it's really what you grow up with. My parents were maniacal about space heaters also -- our whole family practically views them as potential cinder boxes reach to burst into flame at any moment lol -- but we all use crockpots!

Anonymous wrote:I just think lots of those on DCUM have control issues. If they aren't there how can the slow cooker possibly function properly without them? Helicopter chefs.

This made me actually LOL!

I think in the past there was lead in the ceramic inserts.

Anonymous wrote:When I was in high school, one of my teachers told me his son's house just burned down after he had left the dryer on and left for work. I now turn off all my appliances when I leave the house!

Dryer is one I don't like to leave on.

When I was in high school, one of my teachers told me his son's house just burned down after he had left the dryer on and left for work. I now turn off all my appliances when I leave the house!

I admit to being nervous, too. I'm one of those people who is very careful about unplugging things that could theoretically cause a fire, like space heaters, hair dryers, toasters, etc. Then again, I'm also pretty good about unplugging "vampire" things like chargers when they're not in use.

I will run the washer, dryer and dishwasher when I'm out of the house or asleep. So apparently I'm not a complete lunatic.

I did not know many have this problem.

I do have a friend who has it but she is a nervous nelly bout almost everything in life! She is scared of her own shadow, basically!

I'm not that big of a slow cooker fan, but it's because I don't like searing meat in the morning. I have no problem leaving a slow cooker on while I'm gone, or running the dryer or the dishwasher while I'm out for a little bit or after I go to sleep.

I just think lots of those on DCUM have control issues. If they aren't there how can the slow cooker possibly function properly without them? Helicopter chefs.

I'm a slow cooker fan, but I don't find those stats very reassuring.

I noticed this phenomenon a number of times on DCUM. Latest was person wondering about "safest" insert, and previous thread had people fretting about leaving the slow cooker on while they were away from the house.

I'll admit to being a rabid slow cooker fan, but I'm just curious as to where all this fear comes from. Is it just people not growing up in a house that used one?
Just satisfied my curiosity and looked up this report:
http://www.nfpa.org/~/media/Files/Press%20Room/OScookingequipment.pdf

slow cooker are lumped in with "portable cooking or warming devices"
this category accounts for only 5% of fires
of THAT amount, only 3% are attributed to slow cookers, most likely because of something obvious, like frayed electric cord (you could have a lamp do that) or really obvious user error (not filling up the pot with the right amount of food/liquid). Keep in mind, you would have to really REALLY mess up on not putting in the right amount of food/liquid--it's not high precision accuracy we are talking about here.

So, have I converted anyone? They really are an amazing time and energy saver.