Slow Cooker Advice

[kraftykraft]

I am thinking about investing in a slow cooker for the upcoming winter. I even have some tasty sounding veggie recipes. Does anyone have a favorite brand or type of slow cooker they would recommend using? Any advice for using one? Thanks a bunch!

[karenM]

I've always used CrockPot slow cookers, and never had a problem. Mostly I just cook soups these days. In the instruction manual, it does have a little warning about cooking dried legumes. It seems you have to be careful about not starting them off with acids (like tomato sauce) or sugars, because that somehow hardens the beans. They recommend boiling the beans first, but I always throw them right into the cooker WITH tomato products, and they turn out perfectly soft.

Good luck and happy slow-cooking! :)

[dahlia]

I think mine is Rival but I'll have to check... Please share your tasty sounding recipes!

[ilovemydragon]

I have a Rival smart pot with the timer and auto warm mode. I couldnt live without it in the winter.

[piratebean]

If you're going to buy a slow cooker, I would *highly* recommend that you get a copy of Robin Robertson's "Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker" (ISBN 1-55832-256-6). It's an awesome book. And while it says 'vegetarian' in the title, most of the recipes are vegan or can easily be made vegan. (Maybe having 'vegetarian' in the title sells more copies? Who knows.)

She discusses the various virtues and vices of different types of slow cookers. In the end, she recommends the kind that are 5.5-6 quarts (the bigger oval kind), with a programmabale timer/keep-warm feature, with a removable insert (for easier cleaning, yay!). You can pick one of these up for about $50-$60 at a Target, Kmart, etc.

I currently have a very old one (from the 60s, complete with avocado green exterior), and it works fine. But if I were going to buy a new one (and I'd love to), I'd get the kind I just described.

In the cookbook, Robin covers everything from basic bean cooking to baking bread and desserts in the slow cooker. Very cool. And very yummy. Also, she explains about cooking beans in the slow cooker and other tips that will just help you be a slow cooker pro - like when to put in salt and herbs, what should be cooked before being added to the cooker (such as browning veggie 'meats' before adding them), when to add rice or other grains, etc.

PirateBean

[kirkjobsluder]

How many people are you cooking for? I actually find the smaller one works better for just the two of us.

Definitely get one with a removable crock, and two settings is good.