I should start using my crock-pot for cabbage rolls! I make those on a regular basis and have always baked them in the oven. Mine gets too hot to use as a warming pot - it keeps things at a boil.

The only thing I regularly cook in my crockpot is plain applesauce or cranberry applesauce.

Otherwise, I use it to keep things warm (made through other methods) for picnics or potlucks. I'll use it for items like sloppy joes or Italian sausage with sauce, peppers, and onions for sandwiches.

Ruthanna, I forgot, I also use it for apple butter and for caramelizing onions when canning!

Lars, they come out well, and you wouldn't have to turn on your oven. My crock pot on low doesn't boil, but it gets plenty hot!

Annie

I've only used real recipes in my crock pot, and wasn't happy with them, but I don't think it was due to the lack of packets. I think it's a weird crock pot, and I need to see if it would be good for melting wax or some other non-food use. Meantime, with my "new" kitchen (newer than the crock pot), I can set any slow cooker temperature I'd like on my oven and I have a warming drawer that also does the requisite temperature, and if I want to slow cook I use a heavy pot and a built-in appliance.

Slow cooking is awesome!

I never have cooked anything with a packet of or a can of whatever. No need to, if the recipe is well seasoned.

I do use the crock pot for pot roasts, stew, soups, rouladen, carmalized onions, goulash, both beef and pork, cabbage rolls, pasta sauces and bean dish, like chili or cassoulet, and au gratin potatoes. It is great if I away for the day, or if I want to cook another meal on the stove that day. Perfect for keeping dish hot for parties or pot luck events.

I do not like chicken done in the crock, it seems to come out mushy, stringy/overcooked to me.

I think the reason people sometimes associate the crockpot with inferior meals is because some people try to make the wrong things in it, such as trying to do Asian style stir-fry like food with meat and veggies. That is just a terrible use for the crockpot, in my opinion.

I like the crockpot. The morning is often an easier time for me to prep ingredients and often at 5 o'clock I am not all that interested in making dinner (I really need a more traditional life of the big meal in the middle of the day). I can set things up and when I am not at my best, there is still food for the family. I have done overnight steel cut oats (I do them with a water bath for best texture). I also like it for polenta. It is great for cooking down bolognese sauce or other things like apple butter. I am fond of using it for beans. I like to buy 2 hens or 6 chicken quarters to put in, cook the meat off the bone for freezing and then add the bones back for making stock. It is generally great for chicken and dumplings, too. I am thinking of trying a French toast casserole in it next and will definitely try rice pudding soon. I think it is also good for making chicken tikka masala.

The only thing I do not like about the crockpot is the smell. Cooking all day long infuses the house with wonderful aromas which I appreciate until after I have eaten, but the smell lingers. Part of the problem is my house is sealed pretty tight.

Baked beans for sure! I use a recipe that calls for five to seven different types of beans, in addition to bacon, brown sugar, dry mustard, and a sliced onion...

Another great one is a bone in pork shoulder, a sliced onion, and a can of root beer...best pulled pork ever!

But truthfully, a cast iron dutch oven on a simmer burner or in a low oven all afternoon will yield the same results...

I make a particular pork roast in it regularly. Molasses, soy sauce, ginger, garlic etc.

Just the other day I used it for roast beef, with a rub of spices and cocoa and coffee. Then simmered in coffee and beef broth, balsamic vinegar, etc. It was oh-so tender.

I also make caramelized onions, it takes hours and hours. Easily 10 hours or more.

The usual chili, stews etc.

I make something my mom always called roll-em-ups.

It's reaaaally thin round steak (I buy the stuff that says "milanese" on the sticker) seasoned with salt and pepper on both sides. Then, on each slice of steak put 2 or 3 pieces of bacon,depending on how wide it is,and then roll it up like a jelly roll. (Hence the name)

Put the rolls into the crock pot and cover with sliced onion, and some beef stock. Cook on high for 6 hours.

I always take the roll em ups out carefully as they are fall apart tender and then thicken the gravy that's left in the crock pot with a cornstarch and water slurry and then put the rolls back in.

This makes the world best gravy,and it's just sinful not to make really buttery mashed potatoes with it. The roll em ups are very filling and rich and everyone I have made them for loves them.

Yay for crock pots and moms old recipes!!!!

Thank you everyone. Iove mine because I can put it on and go out. I would never leave a pot on the gas and go out. SO many lovely ideas!

My biggest slow cooker hit is Williams-Sonoma's recipe for chicken marsala. I don't mess with the recipe and there is a lot of prep work, as one would expect with a made-from-scratch dish.

I like to serve it with chantilly potatoes, roasted green beans or zucchini. I make focaccia to go with it. Served 6.

For my chantilly potatoes, I make my mashed potatoes using a ricer, then add the cream, etc; pile the mashed potatoes into an oven safe oval gratin pan/dish to lightly brown. This gives a nice little crunch to the top that adds so much, IMHO.

dyhgarden, I've never heard of Chantilly potatoes. That sounds good!

So good -- I mentioned the gratin dish, but failed to mention the parmesan on top.

I love my slow cooker for briskets -- start off in the morning, add the brisket, water or broth, maybe some tomato sauce, some mirapoix veggies, and go off to work for hours and hours and hours -- come back around 10 hours later, add some chopped potato, a fresh chopped onion, and maybe mushrooms -- cook another 45 minutes on low -- and enjoy!

Lamb shanks, for a shorter period of time (weekend for instance) works wonderfully. Or if you get a stewing hen (a chicken past her prime in the egg laying department) and you don't overcook, works wonderful. Pork shoulder. I prefer this before it shreds up completely, but your mileage may differ.

I've also gotten to make various bone broths in the crock pot.

You can also make great vegetarian stews in one.

I just saw a couple of recipes where the cream is whipped and folded in. Is that what you do?

Suppose you cook something in the slow cooker for 6 hours, versus in the pressure cooker for the equivalent time (45 min?). What will the difference in flavor, texture, color, moisture, etc be?

Interesting question, Jon. I don't own a pressure cooker as I'm a wimp and they scare me. LOL Lars?

I used a pressure-cooker for over a decade when I was in my 20-30's .. only one time that it blew up the gasket, squirt hot soup ALL OVER THE CEILING, since I left it on high-heat for just a bit long. It was a major ordeal getting a ladder to clean the ceiling !!

Then I used slow-cooker for the next decade in my 40-50's ... I like it OVER the pressure-cooker in terms of flavor, and texture of food. I bought a brand-new pressure-cooker last year ... my sister raved about this Presto model. Still disappointed with the pressure-cooker compared to slow-cooker (I have 3 pressure cookers and 1 slow-cooker).

1) Pressure cooker makes beans and veggies into mush ... it's really hard to get the time right.

2) Pressure cooker change the flavor of food into odd flavor. I cooked VN-beef-soup with star anise, coriander ... etc. It stank up the pot, had to wash it 4 times to get rid of the old-spice flavor.

3) My kid likes black-eyed peas .. we like it firm-texture. But the pressure-cooker turned that into mush, plus IT CHANGES THE FLAVOR of food, you don't get the wonderful aroma like slow-cooker, you get some weird & off scents.

4) Pressure-cooker changes the aroma of meat .. it becomes stinkier if you don't time it right. I never hurt myself using the slow-cooker, but I burnt my finger twice when I lift the pressure-cooker into the sink to pour cold water over it.

5) The broth of slow-cooker is more flavorful than pressure-cooker. Meat gets a sweeter taste with longer-cooker, plus bone releases minerals & making it a sweeter broth with slow-cooker. SLOW COOKER wins in all aspects: sweeter-broth, better flavor, better aroma, and perfect texture of veggies & beans.

I'm just the opposite. I much, much prefer a pressure cooker over a slow cooker.

I want my beans to be soft. I've tried cooking them in a crock-pot and they don't ever seem to get done enough to suit me.

There isn't much point in using a PC for black-eyed peas because they cook quickly enough to suit me with just a kettle on the stove pot.

As far as clean up, the PC is a lot easier than the particular slow cooker that I own.

I love pot roast & stew cooked in the PC because of the way the flavors blend together giving you the taste of all-day cooking in only minutes. Never had a problem with the veggies over-cooking. You just have to pay attention to the time charts that coordinate to the #'s of pressure and the method of steam release. There isn't really any (or much) margin for error. Get a timer and pay attention to it.

I've never associated PC's with stinky food. Maybe because Mom used a PC and I grew up associating the aromas from the PC with some yummy food.

Both PC's & slow cookers have a place in the kitchen, I suppose. But I could easily live w/o a slow cooker. The main reason that I hang onto the Crock Pot is because mine was a gift from my dad.

Off topic but since it's already been mentioned: Carmelizing onions---I have an oil-core electric skillet that I love to use for carmelizing onions. Oil core skillets cook very evenly--no hot spots--and you can very precisely control the temperature...makes it ideal for reducing onions to candy. And, it's a lot faster than the crock-pot method.

John Liu

Suppose you cook something in the slow cooker for 6 hours, versus in the pressure cooker for the equivalent time (45 min?). What will the difference in flavor, texture, color, moisture, etc be?

*** From StrawChicago: To answer John Liu's questions, here's my experience. With slow-cooker, I always soak beans 1st, then boil in high heat, to break up the outer-layer, before putting in the slow-cooker. I have a removable slow-cooker, so cleaning is easier.

I find cleaning the pressure cooker is a hassle: can't get rid of the smell stuck in the pot, have to wash the rubber-seal, plus clean the vent with a toothpick.

1. I cooked firm beans like chick-peas in pressure-cooker, versus slow-cooking on stove for 2 hours (after soaking it overnight). The chick-peas became slimy, weird flavor in pressure-cooker, versus wonderfully fragrant with slow-cooking, plus perfect texture (no sliminess).
2. I cooked pork bones & pork meat in pressure-cooker, the texture is mushy, and the broth has this "bitter" taste, plus the bone-broth stank up. I cooked the same in a crock-pot, the sweet onions became caramelized upon prolonged cooking .. wonderful aroma, and clean & sweet tasting broth.
3. Veggies are loser in pressure-cooker, limp & mushed-up & bitter-taste. Veggies are winner in slow-cooker: better texture & sweetness. Nothing can beat the broth from slow-cooking, where the flavors mingle together.
4. Rice was a big loser in pressure cooker. Can't get the texture right.
5. Spices became much stronger & weird flavors in pressure-cooker ..I believe the chemistry of spices become altered upon high-heat. The high-heat of pressure-cooking really mess up the natural flavors & texture of food. Nutrients get zapped in high-pressure cooking.

My working-sister cooks from a pressure-cooker everyday. She's lean & exercise daily, yet came down with diabetes. Honestly food taste "life-less" with pressure-cooking, and I did some research to see if nutrients are destroyed. Here's from a government abstract:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3292239/

Results

Overall, regardless of the cooking method, with or without previous water soaking, the highest zinc concentration was found in the cooked bean grains. However, pressure cooking and previous water soaking diminished iron retention in the cooked grains.

A: To answer your question, we consulted Kantha Shelke, Ph.D; a Chicago-based food scientist and spokesperson for the Institute of Food Technologists. Here’s what she told us:

• Pressure cooking can reduce heat-sensitive nutrients (e.g., vitamin C, folate) and bioactive phytonutrients, such as betacarotene, glucosinolates (helpful compounds found in cruciferous vegetables) and omega-3 fatty acids, that are beneficial for human health.
• With vegetables and fruits, the heat-sensitive nutrients (e.g., vitamin C, folate and bioactive phytonutrients) are generally most susceptible to degradation during pressure cooking

http://www.eatingwell.com/healthy_cooking/healthy_cooking_101_basics_techniques/what_is_the_effect_of_pressure_cooking_on_nutr

I don't use the slow cooker for much. I was married 30 years before I bought one. I use it to make pulled pork. I buy a shoulder of pork and cook it in liquid, often just water and BBQ sauce. Then I trim and shred the meat and mix a little of my favorite BBQ bottled sauce with some of the cooking water, pour it over the platter of shredded meat for flavor and moistening, and serve it with wonderful rolls and more sauce for those who love BBQ sauce.

I'm going to make two identical dishes in the pressure cooker and in the slow cooker, and compare them.

John, I think that's a great idea. I like my slow cooker AND my pressure cooker, for different reasons and applications. My pressure canner gets the most use, but that's a different animal altogether.

Annie

I made a basic pork pot roast. Pork shoulder (600 g per dish), potatoes, carrots, onions, broth, rosemary, Dijon mustard, etc. Browned the pork then dumped everything in the cookers and started. Unfortunately I wasn't bright enough to consider that the PC would be done in 1.5 hours while the slow cooker would take 6 hours. And that, while I was out, my son would gobble up most of the PC dish, leaving mostly dregs for me to reheat. So, that all said, the slow cooker version was better. But the experiment was flawed. I'll have to repeat it this week. At least I have some leftovers.

Browned the pork then dumped everything in the cookers ...PC would be done in 1.5 hours

1.5 hours in the pressure cooker is much too long for a roast that weighs only 600 g. When I make a meat & vegetable dish in the PC, it is a two step process...The meat gets pressure-cooked for X am't of time, quick release and add vegetables, re-pressurize & cook for however long the veggies need. Total cooking time for a pot roast is 45 minutes or less, depending on cut & size of meat. (Assuming cooker at 15 psi.)

But you probably meant that the total prep & cook time was an hour and a half.? Just wanting to clarify this so that readers who aren't familiar with pressure cooking don't get a false picture of the time saving aspect of using a PC.

I did cook for 1.5 hours in the PC. Of course, the roast was "done" a lot sooner, but I was going for a texture similar to pulled pork. The slow cooker version was cooked for >6 hours on "high" setting to get the same texture.

But what did the veggies look like? I would think that the potatoes would have turned to mush...russets sure would but maybe you used whole red or some other waxy potatoes? Heck, you may not know because DS got to it first; I sure know how teen boys can go thru food. I seriously thought that feeding two of them was going to bankrupt us!

This was the slow cooker version. 6-7 hours.

This was what was left of the PC version when I got home. Veg and potatoes were soft but not mush.

Both look yum! I am surprised that the veggies didn't fall apart. I'm always afraid that I'll overcook them into potato & carrot sauce. Guess I can relax a bit now seeing your results.

I agree ci_lantro, they both look delicious to me. I'll be watching for the next results.

Annie

Note the difference in color of both the meat and the carrots...

I'll take the slow cooked version, thank you...

I agree, the slow cooked version is far more appetizing.

I really believe that slow cooking allows the flavours to develop that pressure cooking doesn't. Looks good, Jon.

Great pics, John, the slow-cooker version has vibrant colors. I have been using pressure-cooker for 2 decades .. and had seen how pressure-cooking destroyed the colors & taste.

With my 2 older pressure-cookers the pressure didn't build up to a high-point of destroying the taste, but last-year purchase of new Presto-cooker, the pressure builds up to a much higher temp, that destroyed the taste & flavor, even when I followed the directions exactly.

Slow-cooker BEATS stove-top in terms of flavor. I cooked beans & ham for a zillion times with stove-top .. then one time I made that in slow-cooker instead. Wow !! the taste was many times better, it was wiped out.

Last week husband made 15-bean soup with ham, except he did that on the stove (quick soak method where you cranked up the heat, then let it soak for 1 hour, then high heat again). Beans are slimy, no uniformity in tenderness, very little flavor.

Haven't used my slow cookers in a long time due to DH not really eating anymore. However, when I did, I preferred to do my pulled pork in the big one and overnight steel cut oats in the little one.

Madonna

I'll keep making comparison dishes in the PC and SC. This is interesting to me. Usually I use the PC for specific ingredients that would otherwise need very long cooking times - meats, dry beans, stocks. I don't normally use it to make a "one-pot meal". I never use it for veggies, doesn't seem worth the bother.

Seems like things would get ruined by overcooking in either application.

Well, you can overcook with any cooking method. Many a veggie has been ruined in a saucepan!

To answer your original question Islay: I like my slow cooker for chuck roast-just use 1/2 cup water and roast for 8 hours on low. I don't even need to salt or season. It is delicious (we do have great beef). I also use for pulled pork, BBQ beef, turkey breast and swiss steak. I have one of those pans you can put inside your cooker and bake cakes, etc. I did try that years ago with banana bread and it was quite good. I also love my pressure cooker. It seems like I am more apt to use my slow cooker when I want to put something in and forget about it; the pressure cooker is more hands on, so I have to be in the mood and have the time to be there with the PC.

I'm going to try cooking turkey thighs in my slow cooker today - I will have to start them when I go home for lunch, and then there will not be that much time before dinner, but I will see how it comes out. I plan to make split pea soup with the broth and save the turkey meat for enchiladas, although some of it might go into the soup. It's definitely not soup weather (mid 80s even at sunset), but I want the soup anyway. I wonder if split pea soup is good cold.

I'm posting on this thread because I want to refer it it later, for information on using the slow cooker, as I have very little experience with it, even though I've had one for years.

I have a whole chicken in mine now, sitting on the balled up aluminum foil. I will just pop it in the oven when I get home to crisp up skin and then make a gravy with the juice in the crockpot. I use my crockpot about once a week.

I put my two turkey thighs in at about 1:15, turned the crock pot on high, added a cup of water and then added bay leaves, thyme & oregano (from my yard), an onion, five cloves of garlic, some celery, half a parsnip, and enough water to cover. After half an hour, I pulled the turkey up to the top because I was afraid it might get burned cooking on the bottom, and so now it is sitting on vegetables. I left the crock pot on high because I would like for it to be done by 6:00 or so. I get home about 5:10, and I will check it then and turn it off if the turkey temperature is high enough. I may or may not have enough time to make the split pea soup, as I do not know how long it takes to cook the turkey, but it seems like 3-4 hours on high should be enough. I think the chicken I cooked before got done in less time than that. My crock pot seems to cook fairly hot, and so maybe I should have set it on "low". It only has three settings, and I think the "keep warm" setting is still quite hot.

That seems a lot of water?

I actually have a Slow Cooker recipe book, I wish I could just like scan it on or something xP

My crock pot does not hold very much water, and so covering the ingredients with water did not amount to very much. The broth came out fairly intense, and so it actually needed more water. I took the turkey thighs out after 3-1/2 hours (approximately) and let them cool enough to handle, removed the meat for later use, and returned the bones and skin back to the pot for another four hours or so. I whacked the thigh bones in half before returning them.

I made the split pea soup with in my pressure cooker with some of the stock, half an onion, 1/2 pound of dried split peas, one clove of garlic, about a cup of chopped celery, a couple of cayenne chilies (from my yard), some of the small pieces of turkey meat, and some vegetable soup base. After 12 minutes, they were more than done. The cayenne from my yard this year is particularly hot - it is a volunteer plant growing in a pot that used to have a Habanero chili in it, and I think it must be a hybrid of cayenne and Habanero. The chilies look like cayenne, but they are hotter than Habanero, and so I have to be careful when I use them. They dry on the plant, and so I can just harvest all of them and store them inside for later use, but I will have to label them as extra spicy.

The good thing about the crock pot is that I can store the pot in the fridge, and so the excess stock is still in the pot. I'll probably freeze it, since it takes me a while to get around to using it, and I need to wait for cooler weather, which is not due for a while.

Yum, Lars. I love split pea soup and yours sounds delicious, although I'd have to go easy on that cayenne, I'm a wimp.

Kathy, I use mine about once a week too, we just had some sauerkraut and sausage today, cooked in the crockpot while I was out taking care of stepmom's annual housing paperwork for her assisted living apartment.

Annie

I threw my slow cookers out after using the Nesco electric roaster about 3 times. And bought a second Nesco too.

cynic, I have Nesco roasters too, a big 18 quart and the smaller 6 quart, Elery and I agree that the smaller Nesco is the most valuable appliance in the kitchen and it gets used a lot for things like pork roast, chicken, sometimes beans. The crockpot gets use also, though, as does the oven when I want to make a brisket that's too big for the 6 quart but not big enough to warrant bringing in the big roaster. I use 'em all, except the rotisserie. We thought we'd use it when Elery got it but we just don't very much. I've never used it, but Elery does occasionally.

Annie