Crock pot wisdom

[Ultralight]

I was looking up a recipe for the crock pot, to use this week as a break from nachos.

When I found this blog by a woman who crocked pot every day for 100 days!

https://www.laurengreutman.com/15-things-i-learned-by-using-my-crockpot-for-100-days-straight/

She had these bits of wisdom, like the order in which you put things in and how to cook chicken and beef differently.

Do you have any crock pot words of wisdom?

[SteveinMN]

I'm afraid my bit of wisdom is to use it only for those few things (generally single-ingredient dishes) that it does well.

I love the convenience of a crock pot/slow cooker. But, over the years, I've tired of meals that aren't cooked that well because some ingredients need more time than others (so some naturally get overcooked) and of meals that basically start tasting the same to me.

Put a chicken into a slow cooker, switch it on, and walk away? Winner! Make beans in one (from scratch)? Love them that way. Tex-Mex Beef Casserole or Pork Chops with Cabbage? No thanks. The texture suffers too much for me to enjoy eating those kinds of dishes.

[iris lilies]

I'm afraid my bit of wisdom is to use it only for those few things (generally single-ingredient dishes) that it does well.

I love the convenience of a crock pot/slow cooker. But, over the years, I've tired of meals that aren't cooked that well because some ingredients need more time than others (so some naturally get overcooked) and of meals that basically start tasting the same to me.

Put a chicken into a slow cooker, switch it on, and walk away? Winner! Make beans in one (from scratch)? Love them that way. Tex-Mex Beef Casserole or Pork Chops with Cabbage? No thanks. The texture suffers too much for me to enjoy eating those kinds of dishes.
this, so much this!

the crock is very limited. What it does well it does well, but those things are few.

[Ultralight]

What it does well it does well, but those things are few.

Tell me more.

[Ultralight]

I totally understand the "limits of the crock pot" critique. I understand and dig it.

But do you think that a crock pot could produce...let's say ... ten different damn good meals?

[Teacher Terry]

Meat and potatoes works. So does my homemade spaghetti sauce.

[iris lilies]

I totally understand the "limits of the crock pot" critique. I understand and dig it.

But do you think that a crock pot could produce...let's say ... ten different damn good meals?

Depends on how you define “different.” Mine is excellent for:

bean soups and beans in general

split pea soup (different from above? You decide)

pulled pork—you then slap it on a bun

hunks of beef or chicken or ribs




That’s about it from me. You can put noodles or rice in with the hunks of meat but I never succeed in getting them cooked correctly, the noodles and rice are qlways mushy, and same with vegetables. Now, with soups, I dont mind mushy begetables necessarily, but they are not ideal.

The crock is lovely for making carmelized onions, but that isnt a meal.

[Ultralight]

Seems like everyone is saying the crock pot is good for meat, poultry, and beans. But for veggies it is a no-go.

In my limited experience, I kind of agree.

[herbgeek]

But for veggies it is a no-go.

But why would you want to cook veggies for hours in the first place? They only take a couple of minutes to stir fry, saute, grill or boil. A few more minutes to roast. The big time suck of vegetables is cutting them up, the cooking is the easy part.

[SteveinMN]

But why would you want to cook veggies for hours in the first place?
Some vegetables benefit from more than a few minutes of cooking -- the aforementioned onions, tomatoes (for sauce or, extending a bit, stewed), the classic "greens" (collards, turnip, etc.), and potatoes (a slow cooker essentially is a portable 250-degree oven). But, again, the use cases are few.


But do you think that a crock pot could produce...let's say ... ten different damn good meals?
By itself, I would say it could not. Ten meals? For sure. Damn good ones? Unlikely, IMO, unless you were willing to use the end product as part of the entire meal. I would add to IL's list:

- baking a chicken or turkey parts in the slow cooker (the skin does not come out crispy but the white meat doesn't come out dry, either);
- chili (largely a open-the-cans [or the -freezer] dump-and-go);
- carnitas (should be finished in the broiler/oven to dry out and become a bit crispy)
- other cuts of meat which call for long, slow, moist cooking (ribs, beef cheeks, venison, maybe goat; doesn’t preclude finishing them under a broiler, too)

[JaneV2.0]

I never owned a crock pot--I don't like leaving something cooking for hours--and I'm not sure I've eaten anything cooked in one, either. But I'm all over my Instant Pot.

[bae]

People have been trying to convince me that an Instant Pot is incredible.

What can it accomplish for me? I normally now cook the boring old-fashioned way.

[JaneV2.0]

People have been trying to convince me that an Instant Pot is incredible.

What can it accomplish for me? I normally now cook the boring old-fashioned way.

I don't want to twist your arm; you're probably fine with what you're doing. I like mine because:

It makes perfectly peelable hard-cooked eggs.
I don't have to baby-sit my food anymore.
It replaces several bulky appliances (slow cooker, rice cooker, steamer, saute' pan...)
It speeds up the process--especially with foods like stock/bone broth. artichokes, and meat dishes.
Clean up is fast and easy.
I hear customer service is responsive (based in Canada, I think).
Reviews are uniformly good--even those written by skeptical foodies.
I've had mine for years, use it several times a week, and have had nary a problem.

[bae]

What sorts of things to you routinely cook in it?

I ask, because I am a sucker for cool-sounding new kitchen appliances/gadgets that seem useful, but find I end up using them rarely as they end up being too specialized and not worth hauling out for the 2-3 things they do well.

I have an 18 year old rice cooker that has earned a place on the countertop, and gets used very often though. I have been expecting it to die at some point, and was wondering how well the Instant Pot manages rice.

[Teacher Terry]

I bought a bread Machine and used it for about a year and got sick of it. The thrift stores are full of bread Machines. I rarely use my device that cuts all the vegetables fast but when I do use it the time saving is huge.

[JaneV2.0]

What sorts of things to you routinely cook in it?
...

I do a lot of soups/stews. I cook the afore-mentioned eggs, warm food up, make custard, brisket and other meats, broths...I have made rice and pasta dishes, artichokes. The last dish I made was Thai green curry with chicken and peas and a peanut garnish.

I know about the impulse-bought appliances. I've bought at least three contact grills in the last twenty years...

[SteveinMN]

I am a sucker for cool-sounding new kitchen appliances/gadgets that seem useful, but find I end up using them rarely as they end up being too specialized and not worth hauling out for the 2-3 things they do well.
(Disclosure: already owning a pressure cooker [two, actually], a steamer, a frying pan [more than one], and a slow cooker and having no need for a rice cooker, I do not own an Instant Pot.)
The virtue of an Instant Pot, it seems to me, is its ability to serve as more than one countertop appliance. Some people who are uncomfortable using a "non-automatic" pressure cooker or slow cooker also seem to like the set-it-and-forget-it versatility of an Instant Pot. I can't speak to the Instant Pot's performance, I would guess it falls between at-least-basic competency at all of its proposed uses and "it's a miracle it can do it at all". I hope others who can make the performance comparison will do so.

If you regularly use more than two or three of the appliances an Instant Pot replaces, and can live with the constraints of having your rice cooker occupied with, say, stewing meat instead of cooking rice at that moment, then it might be worth checking out. They're well under $100 on typical sales days.

[JaneV2.0]

I've used a manual pressure cooker, and couldn't get rid of it fast enough. They provide higher pressure than most of the IPs (Later models provide equivalent pressure, I think), but I didn't like the fiddliness of it. They were a big hit with my grandmother, though.

I've done away with the "constraints" mentioned in your post by having a couple to cover any contingency.

[iris lilies]

What sorts of things to you routinely cook in it?

I ask, because I am a sucker for cool-sounding new kitchen appliances/gadgets that seem useful, but find I end up using them rarely as they end up being too specialized and not worth hauling out for the 2-3 things they do well.

I have an 18 year old rice cooker that has earned a place on the countertop, and gets used very often though. I have been expecting it to die at some point, and was wondering how well the Instant Pot manages rice.

our rice cooker gets heavy use also.

Our instapot, one I stumbled upon at a thrift store, seems to do ok at cooking rice. I say “seems to” because it lives at our weekend house and I hsvent used it a lot, it took a few tries to get measurements right.

I am not a gadget girl and while I suppose
I could toss out the slow cooker that also lives at our weekend house to use the i stapot exclusovely, that means I would have to read directions and learn new crap. Ugh. Nope.

[JaneV2.0]

...
I am not a gadget girl and while I suppose
I could toss out the slow cooker that also lives at our weekend house to use the i stapot exclusovely, that means I would have to read directions and learn new crap. Ugh. Nope.

There is a learning curve involved with the IP, and I boiled everything I cooked for the first year or so, but I don't mind learning new things--especially when the incentive is good food with minimal effort. I'm far from an expert, but I joined a couple of helpful FB groups and did some homework, so I'm pretty competent now.

[Ultralight]

I made pulled chicken in my crock pot. I had it for dinner the first day and took some for lunch the following day. It was good as sandwiches the first meal. The lunch at work I had it cold on a piece of cornbread. Quite good! Very cheap meals. I had a side of veggies that I choked down.

[Ultralight]

Crock pot wisdom: Don't accidentally type in "cock hot" in google when looking up recipes.

[beckyliz]

Crock pot wisdom: Don't accidentally type in "cock hot" in google when looking up recipes.

BWAHAHAHA!!!