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I've been meaning to pick up a good slow cooker/crockpot for a couple months now as I love the option of putting in a pork shoulder and just leaving it for a few hours. Any particular models I should be looking at? How big should I go? Mostly just cooking stuff for 2-4 people at a time so it doesn't need to be excessive. Just wondering what features I should be paying attention to.
Someone bought me an All-Clad for X-mas a couple years ago. It's waaaaay over-priced but works incredibly well.
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As long as the pot is removable for easy cleaning, and it has an adjustable temperature knob, you should be good to go. I've never spent much on crockpots and have made some killer pot roasts. However, that All-Clad Tippster mentioned looks pretty dang nice.
We have a couple. One is ancient but works pretty well and the other is a little nicer. The nice part about having an older one is that I don't have to worry about whether we bring it home if we bring somewhere for a holiday thing etc. So I guess my advice is more and cheaper.
If you can afford it, get one that has a metal interior pot (not ceramic). That way you can put the pot on the stovetop to sear the meats and brown the aromatics, then plop it back into the cooker, add the liquids, and slow cook away. The All-Clad has this option, I think, and there are a couple of others out there as well. Searing and browning are how you get deep flavor into a slow-cooked meal, so avoiding having to dirty a second pot is well worth it.
There are even a couple of new ones out there that can sear right in the cooker itself - the temp knob goes up to like 500 degrees. That's not only easier, it also means you can do things like deep fry in it as well as slow cook. I haven't used them, but I love the concept.
I couldn't afford the above, so I have the Cuisinart 6-quart cooker and it works great for me (though I do have to dirty a pot to sear and brown ingredients every time I use it). Get a big one (like 6 quart) - may as well have leftovers, plus it's super useful on Thanksgiving for making giant vats of stuffing.
$250 is way more than I want to spend. At what pricepoint do you start getting metal interior pots? I was thinking something close to $50 but could be convinced to spend a couple extra bucks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pegleg
Spook.
Wait. Nvrmnd, I thought you said crackpot.
I was going to suggest just the opposite. A ceramic interior has way more mass and keeps a more even and well-distributed heat, especially for less expensive slow cookers. We have a $60 Crock Pot that works great for anything.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pegleg
A $10 thrift store one works fine.
The 6 quart ones are great, I have a cusinart like Pegleg and am happy with it. I have no experience with the metal ones, but I don't mind doing the initial searing (and sauteing of onions, etc) in another pan (a big cast iron, but that's another thread ;)). Really, it's only just one more pan; to do stuff like searing you still have to tend to it, it's not like you can just throw the meat in, and automatically have it sear all sides, saute onions/veggies, deglaze with liquid, and then start slow cooking.
IME, though, the cheapos cook just the same as the more expensive ones. The extra money buys you a timer, you can decide if that matters. But the bigger size is helpful.
Yeah, I have 15$ target special that works fine. If you want to spend more, get a dutch oven instead. It will function as a crock pot and then some.
Edit: also, what rootskier said. ceramic is good.
Full disclosure: There's no fucking way I would have paid for that All-Clad myself. As it was my rich MiL bought it for me & she's a bitch, so it's all good.
6 Quart Ceramic as cheap as you can find it + a 7 quart cast iron dutch oven. If you can wait, they practically give them away on black friday.
Just make sure it's got a high/low/warm temperature dial. A timer is a nice bonus. Our small $3 garage sale special gets used quite frequently when I'm making small meals.
I already have the dutch oven covered, I like the temp control aspect of the crockpot more.
I have a Hamilton Beach 6 Quart Slow Cooker.
I have been happy with it. Set temp, set time. Easy to clean.
Mid to lower price point.
dutch over for searing, crock pot for slow cooking.
And temp control on a crock pot? Isn't warm low and high 150, 200 and 250? Do you really need more than that?
I have a time/temp controlled GE that I can't believe I would have paid even $50 for. Works great. It's a crock, you really can't go wrong.
I have a 4 qt Crock Pot™ and I think it was $30. Wished I had a bigger one but have had no problems with mine so see no reason to spend a fortune on one.
I don't get the whole crock pot thing. they don't do anything you can't do with an enameled, cast iron lidded pot and a low oven. To me they're just another one-trick pony cluttering up the kitchen cabinets. Ours lives there. Not even sure why we have it. And I do a lot of slow cooking.
I think 8 hours of gas is probably more expensive than the low electricity of the element? My gas bill is fucking expensive.Quote:
Originally Posted by oftpiste
That, and a crock pot won't heat up your house in the summer the way an oven does.Quote:
Originally Posted by systemoverblow'd
Yep its a safety comfort and cost thing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Phildo_Baggins
I am not going to leave for the day with a pot on the stove.
Crock pot before you go to bed, or in the morning before you head out to do whatever.
Stove or oven naw
Also I think the Cock cooks more evenly over a long period of time.
No hot spot and burn in the bottom.
Dude. Put it in the oven.Quote:
Originally Posted by MTT
I've been saying the same thing in crock pot threads here for years. I would maybe hesitate to leave a gas oven on all night due to potential CO issues, but my oven is electric so it's a moot point for me. If you have an electric oven the only reason to own a crock pot would be to keep something hot on a buffet line.Quote:
Originally Posted by oftpiste
Electricity isn't cheap either, but it depends on your oven and where you live. Gas rates vary widely by region, it's dirt cheap here. Modern ovens are very well insulated and self-cleaning ones extremely so. Keeping one at 250 degrees doesn't take much energy.Quote:
Originally Posted by systemoverblow'd
Unless you have an old very poorly insulated oven keeping one at 200-250* doesn't really heat up your house.Quote:
Originally Posted by Phildo_Baggins
That's why you simmer in the oven, not on the stovetop. Also, if you think you can't burn something in crockpot I have carbon-ized batch of oatmeal for you to try....Quote:
Originally Posted by MTT
I crock pot will consume less electricity than an oven. Do you deny that dantheman? All that extra power has to go somewhere, and eventually it ends up in your house.
Also, I can't take my oven and use it to heat up food an hour before lunch at the ski hill, but I can do that with a crock.Prepare everything the night before so you are just warming it up, pull in to the parking lot around 11, flip on the inverter & crock, drink a beer, ski another run or two, and when I come back, warm pulled pork.
Of course ovens and stove tops make better food, but the "flip a switch and walk away" convenience of a crockpot is appealing.
That's the one we have. One of the few things on our wedding registry that I use.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tippster
Hint- smoke a boston butt for about an hour or two, just to get the smoke on it, and pop the butt in the crockpot for the rest of the night.
Nobody knows but you, and it tastes perfect.
This^^^^Quote:
Originally Posted by Pegleg
I happily use both my crock pot, my dutch oven, and several other methods for slow and medium cooking... all have different pros/cons.
Shut your filthy mouth. No one should ever do this. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by warthog
But you'll know warthog. And you'll have to live with yourself afterwards. When you're brushing your teeth before bed you'll have to see yourself in the mirror. Do you think you'll be able to look yourself in the eyes after perpetrating such a heinous act of deception on your friends and family?Quote:
Originally Posted by warthog
Sorry, I got a little carried away there. I'm a fan of dutch oven cooking but if you must use a crock pot then be sure to get the kind that allows you to heat the internal vessel on the stove first so that you can saute or sear in it before adding liquid. Otherwise how can you build any layers of flavor?
buy a pressure cooker.
By searing in a nearby cast iron, sauteing the veggies and whatnot in it, then deglazing with the liquid, and putting it all in the crock pot, that's how!Quote:
Originally Posted by Cruiser
TERRORIST !!!Quote:
Originally Posted by riser3
Having kids affects everyone differently. I just dont have the time anymore. I am at peace with the deception.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cruiser
Honestly that's what I do, despite the fact that one of the selling points of that all-clad is the cast aluminum liner that's supposed to go from cooktop to crockpot. I just hate searing stuff in non-stick pots.Quote:
Originally Posted by Danno
Again, I didn't pay for the thing. I also like the large size and nearly rectangular shape - seems to fit large pieces of meat better than the round(ish) ceramic one we had and dropped.