Slow cooker.

[shaggystu]

Why are you worried about fire? I know that feasibly it's possible for domestic electrical appliances to cause fire but it's really not very likely. How do you think this fire is going to start?

As an aside: if I wanted to breed bacteria, the way I'd go about it is to get some food, add moisture to it, bring it to heat, put it in a warm place, and leave it overnight. Just saying.

 

[Robson Valley]

Retired, I don't need to be away from the kitchen for long term cooking as I needed to in the past.
Wine braised meats in my oven take 3 hrs @ 300F. That's plenty of time to do all sorts of other things.

In our -25C winters, I leave my central heating fires running 24/7. I sleep well, even in another city for 3+ weeks.
I might have 2,000lbs or less wood pellets in the same room as my pellet stove. My oil-fired furnace is connected
to a 1,000 liter tank, above ground, in the back yard.

The pellets are cheaper so I heat with those when home. Away, the pellet stove shuts itself down when it runs out of fuel.
It know what to do to turn off the various motors.
The oil furnace thermostat is set at 17C so it kicks in and my house doesn't freeze up (burst pipes, etc.)

 

[santaman2000]

That would be a nice BBQ

That's the theory anyway www.angelfire.com/nv/ella1/pig/htm

 

[santaman2000]

I owned a slow cooker in the past but I never really used it. I do like the way food comes out when my daughter or her husband cook in theirs. That said, apparently they're becoming obsolete now as the new Instant Pots take their place.

 

[Janne]

I like to cook in a Pressure Cooker.


I wonder if anybody here has one the same dish in a Pressure C and in a Slow C and compared?

 

[santaman2000]

I like to cook in a Pressure Cooker.


I wonder if anybody here has one the same dish in a Pressure C and in a Slow C and compared?

The Instant Pot I mentioned is a combination slow cooker --- pressure cooker --- rice cooker --- yogurt maker.

 

[Janne]

Now that sounds interesting...

 

[Robson Valley]

Instant Pots are flooding the Pacific Northwest. You busy? Terrible work schedule?
Many of my kids' friends are living out of these things AND getting pushed into eating well
at the same time.

 

[Tengu]

They sound wonderful.

I remember the pressure cooker; big item in the kitchen that never was used.

I am a firm believer in kitchen gadgets but only if they are useful!

Hence my suspicion of the miracle Slow Cooker...

I like to cook but I have very few gadgets beyond a toaster and a kettle.

I have a sandwich maker...which I mostly cook garlic bread in. (No point in turning oven on for just garlic bread)

 

[Robson Valley]

The instant pot is digital = you can load it, set it and forget it while you spend the day at work.
The chemical concept is this =
the long low and slow heating process will break up the tough connective tissue, the ligaments and tendons,
in cheap, rough cuts of meat. You can't rush this except maybe by running at extraordinary temperatures.
But, what do you care? The pot is on, you're at work. 6-7PM and all will be well.

For me, I don't need to care. I can rig my smoker BBQ any day of the week to stay home and keep an eye on
the amount of smoke wood, the temperature and so on, with no electronic control whatsoever.

 

[peaks]

Been using a slow cooker for 20+ years. For me living alone, and doing a demanding job its invaluable. I can use it to batch cook at weekends or put ingredients in before going to work and come home to a nutritious meal. Pressure cookers are good too for speedy meals when at home.
Nothing to be suspicious/wary of with a slow cooker. Follow some basic steps with food + cooking process, and like any electrical appliance, regularly check connections, plug flex etc and it will serve you well. Its not a miracle bit of kit, but it is a valuable + versatile one.

 

[Lithril]

They sound wonderful.

I remember the pressure cooker; big item in the kitchen that never was used.

I am a firm believer in kitchen gadgets but only if they are useful!

Hence my suspicion of the miracle Slow Cooker...

I like to cook but I have very few gadgets beyond a toaster and a kettle.

I have a sandwich maker...which I mostly cook garlic bread in. (No point in turning oven on for just garlic bread)

Our slow cooker gets used quite a bit, especially this time of the year. Throwing veg and meat in the morning or even the night before and then walking in from work to that smell is great. Also do some fantastic curries, slow roasts and deserts, just needs a small bit of forward planning. I probably should buy a recipe book one day to learn how to do more. This week I did the filling for a steak and ale pie then came home from work and put it into some pastry, for dinner. The great thing is that the meat is always tender and falling apart, never tough. For me it's a kitchen item I'd replace as soon as mine breaks.

 

[gonzo_the_great]

The main issue I had with my slow cooker, was the design of the lid.
The lid sits in a recess in the ceramic cook pot. When it's cooking, you get water condensing on the lid, and filling the recess with the lid sitting in. Then the only way that steam cab escape is by bubbling up through the trapped water. This results in a slow clicking of the lid and spraying of the water around. As this water always has some gravy content, you come back to a work surfact with a 2ft ring of brown mess.
I intended to see if I could mod the lid to have a small steam escape hole, but never got around to it.

Janne would cringe at my house at the amount of equipment that runs all the time.

 

[gonzo_the_great]

As a further thought.....
Anyone tried a 'Hay Box' ?

 

[Lithril]

The main issue I had with my slow cooker, was the design of the lid.
The lid sits in a recess in the ceramic cook pot. When it's cooking, you get water condensing on the lid, and filling the recess with the lid sitting in. Then the only way that steam cab escape is by bubbling up through the trapped water. This results in a slow clicking of the lid and spraying of the water around. As this water always has some gravy content, you come back to a work surfact with a 2ft ring of brown mess.
I intended to see if I could mod the lid to have a small steam escape hole, but never got around to it.

Janne would cringe at my house at the amount of equipment that runs all the time.

I haven't had that yet, I find the condensation usually acts to seal the pot but I never get enough steam that it will lift the lid that way even on the rare times I run it on high.

 

[Stew]

I haven't had that yet, I find the condensation usually acts to seal the pot but I never get enough steam that it will lift the lid that way even on the rare times I run it on high.

Me neither!

 

[Tengu]

Well, I looked online and a Instant pot (Which is not at all instant...) is very expensive, even secondhand.

I wont be getting one of those in a hurry.

 

[Toddy]

I don't eat meat, and I never got the hang of the slow cooker, so it went to the charity shop (in the days when they did take electrical items) but I do use the pressure cooker.
It's a multi use big pot

The slow cooker is one of those things that folks who do use them really wouldn't do without, and I think if I were in your situation Tengu, then I'd give it a very fair try. It's a long, slow, low energy type of cooking, and it'll happily turn whatever you chance to find on sale into very good meals. From stews to broths and puddings (it did do a cracking good job on baked rice ) It was also very useful for raising bread dough overnight in Winter, though I'm told you can bake the bread in it too, and it'll make yoghurt as well. Then we bought a microwave and the slow cooker was just in the way.

M

 

[Duggie Bravo]

We use one at home, easiest meal is stewing steak, carrots and stock. Brisket or pork shoulder for pulled pork or beef.
We use them on Scout Camp, load them at night, switch them on in the morning when the meats had a chance to defrost and at tea there is your stew, curry, bolognese, straight from activities and have your meal.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[santaman2000]

Well, I looked online and a Instant pot (Which is not at all instant...) is very expensive, even secondhand.

I wont be getting one of those in a hurry.

Yeah they looked a bit beyond my budget too. What I gather from both the ads and from my family that have one, when used as a slow cooker they take as much time as the real slow cookers. The "instant" part comes in when using them as a pressure cooker. Or as a yogurt maker, rice cooker, etc.

All that said, you already have the slow cooker and a lot of good advice from this thread. I'd go with that for now.