Desperately Seeking Susie Homemaker

I am a little embarrassed to admit that I have become something of a culinary slacker. It bothers me that I am not working and yet sometimes I can't even manage to get veggies prepared for Chris to saute when he comes home from work.  I'm not sure how other moms do it, but the thought of sticking Madeline in a play yard or her exersaucer while I take sixty minutes or more to prepare a meal doesn't really jive with my style of parenting (nor hers, I'm sure). I am hoping to find domestic salvation in slow-cooker meals.

We currently have a slow-cooker that Chris inherited way back before we were married. It's a Rival Crock Pot, and it was probably cutting-edge technology when it debuted in the '70's.  It has three settings - off, low, and high. I have little experience with such devices, but I am wondering if it would be worthwhile to invest in a newer slow-cooker.  Are any of the new features (more temperature control?  a timer?) useful, or even necessary, for modern slow-cooker recipes?  And what size is good to have? 

Comments

[Angela]

I would love to say that they have added more, but no, no they haven't. About the only new feature is a "warm" setting and a timer so you can set the cook time on it. I know people that swear by their Crock Pot though.

[Becky]

I love my crock pot. It has the same settings as yours but it's only a few years old. I must admit that I only have 3 main recipes for it but they are tasty. I reguarly make pot roast. The secret is to add red wine, brown the meat ahead (always brown stuff ahead since it won't really in the pot), and use the canned diced tomatoes with roasted garlic- it's a never fail and only takes about 20 min total to prep. Also good is to cook a pork roast the night before (it works best if it's garlicy) and reserve half the cooked portion. The next day put the left-over pork into the crock pot with some watered down bbq sauce. By the end of 10 hours on low you have fake pulled pork sandwiches. The last is to sear a steak and slice it into thin strips. Throw in some garlic, worstechire (sp?) sauce, beef stock, onions, and peppers. Serve on rolls with cheese and you have something that resembles a cheese steak. It's sort of a fun culinary challenge to manipulate recipes for crock pot usage and modernize the old ones. And, it makes your house smell like heaven. You can also prep the night before so your husband can watch the kiddo and then just plop it in (the food, not the kid :-)) the next morning.

[Carrie]

The only "new" feature is the removable ceramic pot. It makes clean up a lot easier if you don't have to maneuver the outer pot and cord as you clean :)

[Patti]

Canadian Living is coming out with one of their special magazines dedicated to slow cooking! I'm very excited! They had a great recipe for ribs a while ago that we love.

[Christine]

Mine is only 2 years old and it has only off, low and high. If you were to get one, I'd get one with a dishwasher friendly pot. I wish they came with timers (haven't seen any that do).

If you find decent recipes, post 'em! There are a lot of trashy ones out there.

How about a pressure cooker?

[laura]

You know, I'd love a pressure cooker - but they're so expensive, aren't they?

[Emily]

Off and low are really all you need. Check out The Gourmet Slow Cooker by Lynn Alley -- it is the best slow cooker cookbook out there.

[kayla]

There's a crockpot blog:
http://crockpotrecipes101.com/blog/index.htm

I just discovered it, so I can't vouch for the recipes, but it looks promising.

I use a two-setting harvest-gold Rival crockpot that belonged to my mother in the 70's. It is just as efficient as its sleeker stainless steel peers. I use it about once a week. Once I cooked dried beans in it, I swore I would never cook them on the stovetop again.

I have a slow-cooker cookbook - America's Best Slow Cooker Recipes. Some recipes are great, others just so-so. See if your library has any slow-cooker cookbooks - that way you can try before you buy. I checked out that Gourmet Slow Cooker book referred to above - I photocopied a few recipes from it, but mostly they looked too high maintenance for my crowd.

[christina]

I live in Germany (I'm Canadian) and crockpots have just arrived on the market here. I bought a brand new Rival stainless steel one and it has high, low, keep warm and off. No timer, but it does have the removable ceramic insert which is nice. I think an older crock pot would do the job just as well as long as the electrical stuff is still in order.

[Lilly]

Laura, since you're at home with the baby, you could simply use the one you have and set a timer to remind you to turn the pot down or off. I would use your microwave timer since you can still use the microwave while it counts down for you. I have an updated version of the pot you have, and I agree with the person who mentioned getting one you can take the stone out of and dishwash. As you know, if you leave food too long (esp. food made with beef stock) it gets baked into the sides of the stone. I also have a new fancy-pants crockpot that's 6 qts. and it rocks. But, I have the same problem with the baked foods into the stone. I don't have a dishwasher appliance, but the dishwasher I do have keeps complaining about having to soak the stone overnight to clean the bits off. Men! Sheesh. :-) Oh, and there are a tonne of recipes out there you can adapt, but as you pointed out, you prefer to be a mommy not a chef.

[laura]

Ah, well, I've been persuaded to at least give the old Rival a chance! I scrubbed it tonight (the crock does separate from the outer unit!), and have picked out a chicken curry recipe for try out next week. Wish me luck :)

I'd also use the term "high maintenance" for some of the recipes I've looked at though - lots of browning meat before putting it in the pot! Shocking!