Crock pot recommendations


 
I agree with both Timothy's; the crock pot is a great tool for some cooks (or reheating) and my Instapot is also convenient for its saulte capability (Colin noted this, too).
 
or someone came in while you were out and threw a ton of unrelated crap in and the resulting stuff is inedible.

That....... is a hot button of mine. I do appreciate help in the kitchen, but at the end of it all, my recipes and my food. If you want to make something here, for sure, whaddya need? I'm not about to start tossing in what I think your recipe needs.

Personally..... from the couple of times I've made pastrami, I've started with a whole corned beef and smoked it completely (like the brisket it started as.) I can see using a crockpot as 2nd stage cooking, though. Local diner makes the best corned beef, and the sauce he makes is incredible. I've turned one of his whole corned beef into pastrami with outstanding result.
 
One of the reasons I got an Instant Pot several years ago was to reclaim counter space. The crock pot was one of the things we got rid of. The first time I used the slow cooker function on the IP, I discovered that it took forever. After some playing around, I found that doing the initial heating using the Sauté function and then switching to slow cooker once the food was simmering works really well.
 
dump recipes.
This. I refuse to eat kitchen sink. Call me a bish, but ain’t gonna eat a bowl of slop.

It’s easier to make a pot of Tom Yum or Tom Kah and have better food. Chicken and shrimp and a simple soup that gets enhanced.

 
I have a couple crock pots and they are handy, 1 has a locking lid to transport, If I didn't have 1 and had a Dutch oven a single plate induction that you can run 5 degree temp movements works very well. Had 1 for years and when it died I bought another without cking properly, probably 10 degree shifts makes it hard to do a low boil or a lite simmer. will buy another at some point soon. gas stoves are hard to do some things imo.
 
a single plate induction
Sunnuva..... holy crap, I think I've just had an epiphany. We currently have a gas stove that we bought several years ago, the house came with an electric ceramic stove. The stove space is stubbed out for gas (1/2",) 120V and 240V. The 240V outlet is not being used as the electric stove has been pulled out, and the gas & 120V is now in use. I can put in one heck of a single hob induction cooker now.

Time to do some research.
 
Sunnuva..... holy crap, I think I've just had an epiphany. We currently have a gas stove that we bought several years ago, the house came with an electric ceramic stove. The stove space is stubbed out for gas (1/2",) 120V and 240V. The 240V outlet is not being used as the electric stove has been pulled out, and the gas & 120V is now in use. I can put in one heck of a single hob induction cooker now.

Time to do some research.
Sounds like Back To The Future is coming soon. Can’t wait to see what you build and how it’ll light the sky up!
 
Sounds like Back To The Future is coming soon. Can’t wait to see what you build and how it’ll light the sky up!
Well..... we are going to see the Minnesota Orchestra perform the BTTF soundtrack in a few days. I'm sure NOT going to build an induction hob, but I can swap outlets on a high amp circuit. I've tinkered with counter top hobs here (and shattered the top on one, but I digress,) and one of the frustrations I had was being limited to a 120V 15A circuit, there's only so much energy I can get. A 240V 30A circuit..... yeah, that's a bunch more.
 
Well..... we are going to see the Minnesota Orchestra perform the BTTF soundtrack in a few days. I'm sure NOT going to build an induction hob, but I can swap outlets on a high amp circuit. I've tinkered with counter top hobs here (and shattered the top on one, but I digress,) and one of the frustrations I had was being limited to a 120V 15A circuit, there's only so much energy I can get. A 240V 30A circuit..... yeah, that's a bunch more.
I exploded a microwave once. I’m done experimenting. I’ll just watch now. Excited to see your time travel machine that cooks. I’m always down for a good experiment, in someone else’s house. 240v is a helluva lot of JU ICE. Boil water in like 30 seconds.
 
240v is a helluva lot of JU ICE. Boil water in like 30 seconds.
Yeah, and it'd boil me even faster. I have a very healthy respect for electricity.

Right now, this is just pie in the sky thinking. But a commercial 240V hob (with protected edges!) has a pretty good attraction, for exactly that sort of thing. One of the big issues would be that I'm pretty sure I'd need a right angle cord end at the wall.
 
We don’t cook in a Crock Pot either. However, we own 3 of the things in various sizes with the smallest of them being kept handy in my desk drawer at work. We make and freeze a lot of our own soups in single-serve container. I can dump a frozen block of goodness into this little fella when I arrive at work in the morning and have a perfectly hot and tasty bowl of soup for lunch. The other 2 Crock Pots exist solely as hot dish “keeper warmers” for parties…hot dips, meatballs, etc. Honestly, neither one of them does a particularly great job with that either as even the warm setting is too hot and continues to cook the food. And yes, we’ve tried both digital and analog controlled models with the same poor results. I’d pay good money for a AppWarmer 9000 unitasker if such a proven device actually exists.
 
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I just remembered I have a smaller format one in a drawer in the basement (dips and so on) and a “three holer” that is great for burrito bar day with the family! Beans, chicken and some form of beef or pork all accessible and the pots can all go into the dishwasher! That one has proven very useful albeit kind of a space hog when not in use!
 
I have both 240V and gas behind the stove. Because our last stove was a Bosch dual fuel. Absolutely LOVED how that thing cooked. Still mourning not biting the bullet and spending the big $$$ to get it fixed. But time was against us as well. It broke, just when wife and to do all the Christmas baking and we had our backs against the wall. But LOVED that electric convection oven. Very efficient. Did not heat up the entire kitchen. And was VERY accurate. Unlike that LG POC we now have. I kick myself every time I fire it up
 
Wife just bought a Ninja all in one or something like that.
It is the Foodi. Used it the other day while doing a bunch of outdoor chores. Sautéed some BS chicken thighs then switched to slow cook and dumped a jar of alfredo sauce and a can of mushrooms. Let that go for about 5 hrs on low then added some penne and mozz and switched it to bake for about 15 mins. Wife loved it.
 
I'd lay odds far more house fires happen with those small counter top appliances than a regular oven
I wouldn't swear by this 100%, but I've heard that building codes recently changed again due to the danger of crock pots and other small appliances. My home was built in 2013, and the builders had to install an outlet in the kitchen island due to code concerns about people stretching extension cords all through the kitchen to the island. Now, the authorities have apparently decided that the cord sticking out the side of your island isn't much better and you need some sort of approved top-of-island configuration for an outlet.

For this reason, I do not agree with some of the other posts that crock pots are necessarily safer than the stove top or oven.
 
I leave the house like that all the time. Same way I leave the house or go to sleep with my pellet grill(s) happily smoking away with a butt or a brisket in there. With an indoor oven I feel a little better using an electric one rather than a gas one. Far preferring electric ovens to gas. But as I've noted. I've got some cast iron Dutch Ovens (Lodge, Griswold, and Le Creuset) and I gave away the crock pots. I'd lay odds far more house fires happen with those small counter top appliances than a regular oven
A pellet grill cooking away 10 feet from your house on your deck or patio is far less risk than a stove in your kitchen several feet below your bedroom. But you have a point with some small appliances like toaster ovens, air fryers... Crock-Pots not so much.
 
I wouldn't swear by this 100%, but I've heard that building codes recently changed again due to the danger of crock pots and other small appliances. My home was built in 2013, and the builders had to install an outlet in the kitchen island due to code concerns about people stretching extension cords all through the kitchen to the island. Now, the authorities have apparently decided that the cord sticking out the side of your island isn't much better and you need some sort of approved top-of-island configuration for an outlet.

For this reason, I do not agree with some of the other posts that crock pots are necessarily safer than the stove top or oven.
Building. Code did change that side of island electrical outlets are no longer permitted.

I don’t see the correlation of crock pots and electric cords though. People use blenders, mixers, and many other appliances plugged into an island outlet. Crock pots are just another appliance.
 
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