are you guys cooking the meat first?
Not low enough!My crockpot actually has a real low setting @ 175 - 180F.
To this end, avoid Rival. Any new branded Crock Pot will overcook the shit out of everything on the warm setting. Other brands of slow cookers do not seem to suffer from this so much, such as Hamilton Beach. An older one from a thrift shop or yard sale, as long as the glazing is intact, will be fine, though, and is likely to have a true low setting (<150F).get one that switches from "hot" to "warm" after X hours.
Changed my life!
Because said user has never had slowly cooked food from an old proper Crock Pot, and then tried a new one . 180F is basically poaching!Why?
Wow, thanks for the sensible response.
I half expected 'CROCKPOT IS GOOD NOOB' reaction. Good to know I"m not really missing anything that a pot + slow heat + equal hours of cooking can't already solve.
To this end, avoid Rival. Any new branded Crock Pot will overcook the shit out of everything on the warm setting. Other brands of slow cookers do not seem to suffer from this so much, such as Hamilton Beach. An older one from a thrift shop or yard sale, as long as the glazing is intact, will be fine, though, and is likely to have a true low setting (<150F).
Because said user has never had slowly cooked food from an old proper Crock Pot, and then tried a new one . 180F is basically poaching!
To this end, avoid Rival. Any new branded Crock Pot will overcook the shit out of everything on the warm setting. Other brands of slow cookers do not seem to suffer from this so much, such as Hamilton Beach. An older one from a thrift shop or yard sale, as long as the glazing is intact, will be fine, though, and is likely to have a true low setting (<150F).
Because said user has never had slowly cooked food from an old proper Crock Pot, and then tried a new one . 180F is basically poaching!
so a new Crock Pot is a bad purchase?
I've been wanting to buy a slow cooker for a while, unfortunately the selection is.. well, shitty here in Denmark (the domestic brands only make sous vide cookers)and Crock Pot is the only brand I can find domestically. I can however order one from amazon(uk) but then I'd need to know which other brand to look for (seems like I'd save 50% compared to prices here in Denmark).
halp :'(
I came in here ready to give crackpot advice... I need to learn how to read better
Parks & Recreation?we have all been to P&R...:awe:
Those are two great sites for crockpot cooking. Another system to look into is Once A Month Cooking (OAMC), which is basically doing make-ahead freezer meals (make the meal from the raw ingredients, put in a Ziploc freezer bag, then pick one from your inventory and cook it as you get hungry). Do some google searches for "make ahead meals", "slow cooker", "crockpot", and "once a month cooking" to get recipes, you'll be amazed at the kind of meals you can prepare in such a simple appliance! Here's a couple resources to get you started:
http://onceamonthmeals.com/once-a-month-mom-slow-cooker-meals/
http://www.pinterest.com/2stinkingcute/oamc-freezer-meals-once-a-month-cooking/
There are also some really good books available, here's one I have:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Gourmet-Sl...dp/1580087329/
The nice thing with the slow cooker is that it's extremely low effort to cook in, and you can time things to be ready when you get home (some crockpots have a delay feature and since everything cooks for hours and hours, you can set it up to be ready for dinner time after work). Here's one of my favorite recipes:
BBQ Root Beer Chicken:
6 boneless/skinless chicken breasts (frozen or not)
2 bottles of BBQ sauce (I usually get 2 different flavors to mix it up a bit, Kraft is good - one sweet, one savory)
12 ounces of Root Beer (flavor cooks out and just leaves it sweet like pulled pork)
Whatever spices you have on hand (garlic powder, onion powder, Kosher salt, parsley, etc.)
Cook on low for 5 hours, then pull it all out and shred with two forks (leave the liquid mixture in the pot). Throw it back into the crockpot for another hour. This is basically like an ultra-tasty version of pulled pork, very sweet, but using healthier chicken and way less effort than smoking the meat.
I also sometimes just do plain chicken with some garlic salt sometimes - same idea, shred it up, and then throw it in Ziploc bags. Use it on sandwiches, mix it in with some mashed sweet potatoes for a quick lunch meal, fry it up with some olive oil, etc. For the same price as those little pre-made chicken strips you get in the deli, you can get a huge amount via DIY and do shredded, strips, etc.
Chili is also awesome in the crockpot, of course. The long cook times at low temperatures really infuses the flavor in the food. Ground beef chili, ground turkey chili, ground chicken chili, vegetarian bean chili, all kinds of stuff you can make!
Korean beef ribs are also great:
http://joelens.blogspot.com/2010/04/korean-style-short-ribs-crockpot.html
BBQ Root Beer Chicken:
6 boneless/skinless chicken breasts (frozen or not)
2 bottles of BBQ sauce (I usually get 2 different flavors to mix it up a bit, Kraft is good - one sweet, one savory)
12 ounces of Root Beer (flavor cooks out and just leaves it sweet like pulled pork)
Whatever spices you have on hand (garlic powder, onion powder, Kosher salt, parsley, etc.)
Cook on low for 5 hours, then pull it all out and shred with two forks (leave the liquid mixture in the pot). Throw it back into the crockpot for another hour. This is basically like an ultra-tasty version of pulled pork, very sweet, but using healthier chicken and way less effort than smoking the meat.
I also sometimes just do plain chicken with some garlic salt sometimes - same idea, shred it up, and then throw it in Ziploc bags. Use it on sandwiches, mix it in with some mashed sweet potatoes for a quick lunch meal, fry it up with some olive oil, etc. For the same price as those little pre-made chicken strips you get in the deli, you can get a huge amount via DIY and do shredded, strips, etc.
Chili is also awesome in the crockpot, of course. The long cook times at low temperatures really infuses the flavor in the food. Ground beef chili, ground turkey chili, ground chicken chili, vegetarian bean chili, all kinds of stuff you can make!