Whaddya Buyin' #2- Slow Cooker

I should probably preface this post by saying that I've grown up in the south east United States. Where I'm from, they pretty much give you a deviled egg tray and slow cooker from day one of cooking. As such, I'm a little biased. I love being able to throw some stuff in a big pot, turn it on and come home to a great smelling kitchen. What's funny about it is that most recipes are adaptable to a slow cooker, allowing you to be able to dictate the amount of time you want to spend defending the Earth (seriously, I've saved the Earth like five times this year) between your meals. 


The slow cooker is perfect for the beginner cook. Slow cooking food is a sure fire way to get all the flavors from your food without burning the ingredients. It also takes away your concerns about time - my slow cooker turns itself off after a preset amount of time and just keeps the food warm. You can make entrees and deserts, plus the warming function makes it great for serving guests. Piping hot meals will be waiting for you without worrying about turning the stove off when you and your guests get way too involved with your old school LAN Halo party. 


I've had a Crock Pot since I moved out, so a lot of the new models are much fancier than what I have. That being said, I find slow cookers last forever. You can probably find a used one at a yard sale or thrift store that works just fine. I got mine from a large wholesale store for like 30 bucks.

This the T-1000 to my old Crock-Pot

Necessity: Medium. You can always use a big pot on the stove instead, but not as convenient.
Cost: $45.19 (from Amazon)
Space Consumed: High. You want a big one. I keep mine above my fridge.


My family has always owned Crock-Pots, but I'm sure other brands work just fine. The most important things are a large, oval shaped pot (about 6 quarts) and a high, medium, low and warm setting. I've found the time function is arbitrary: it doesn't really matter what you set it to, just whatever you have time for. 


Also, I've never seen one without removable stoneware, but this is also important. It makes it much easier to clean.


I do have a smaller slow cooker that I use for melting butter or serving warm dips. It came with my slow cooker and has only one setting. I don't use it that much anymore.


This is my favorite appliance for making chicken stock for the more advanced cook. I worked at a store that gave away a free whole chicken to new customers, and many of them picked up their raw chicken gingerly with two fingers and a crooked look of confusion. I would tell them to add their newly acquired free bird; some carrots, onion, celery, herbs and water to their slow cooker (My friend William has a great recipe at his blog The Food Spot). You let it cook away for about 6 hours, and then pull the bird. Strain the veggies, and you have chicken stock. Store it in the freezer. The leftover chicken meat I would pull, throw back in the slow cooker and add a whole bunch of barbecue sauce. This would stay in the fridge for sandwiches and really good nachos. Easy.


Do you own a slow cooker? Do you actually use it, or does it just eat up space in your cabinets?