Comments on: Slow Cooker: Need it or Not? http://petitappetit.com/blog/2010/01/13/slow-cooker-need-it-or-not/ The Tips, Recipes, Stories and Mishaps of Providing Healthy, Organic Foods for Children and Family Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:22:23 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Vegetarian Cookbook Review with Cheese Fondue Recipe « petitappetit.com Blog http://petitappetit.com/blog/2010/01/13/slow-cooker-need-it-or-not/comment-page-1/#comment-2014 Vegetarian Cookbook Review with Cheese Fondue Recipe « petitappetit.com Blog Fri, 18 Jun 2010 03:56:10 +0000 http://petitappetit.com/blog/?p=3344#comment-2014 [...] As you may know I’ve been toying with the idea of purchasing a slow cooker.  Read about my hesitations in my blog.  My family is also doing Meatless Mondays and I am always looking for new vegetarian [...] [...] As you may know I’ve been toying with the idea of purchasing a slow cooker.  Read about my hesitations in my blog.  My family is also doing Meatless Mondays and I am always looking for new vegetarian [...]

]]> By: auntygabby http://petitappetit.com/blog/2010/01/13/slow-cooker-need-it-or-not/comment-page-1/#comment-867 auntygabby Mon, 18 Jan 2010 00:52:37 +0000 http://petitappetit.com/blog/?p=3344#comment-867 I use the slow cooker a lot for stock, but I've also made some other dishes in it (pot roasts, stews. I find the flavor is up to you -- fresh herbs, good spices, as is is the variety of vegetables you incorporate. Slow cooker food can taste like Aunt Fanny's Bad Beans, or it can be flavorful and interesting. I've adapted oven recipes for the slow cooker and also used the book "not your mother's slow cooker." I'm not a slow cooker acolyte, but I think it has some uses -- making something once a week in it is not unreasonable. But, it's also not as easy as throwing everything into the pot. Some dishes require more set-up than we might expect. Meat needs to be browned, for example, to help draw out its flavor. I use the slow cooker a lot for stock, but I’ve also made some other dishes in it (pot roasts, stews. I find the flavor is up to you — fresh herbs, good spices, as is is the variety of vegetables you incorporate. Slow cooker food can taste like Aunt Fanny’s Bad Beans, or it can be flavorful and interesting. I’ve adapted oven recipes for the slow cooker and also used the book “not your mother’s slow cooker.”
I’m not a slow cooker acolyte, but I think it has some uses — making something once a week in it is not unreasonable. But, it’s also not as easy as throwing everything into the pot. Some dishes require more set-up than we might expect. Meat needs to be browned, for example, to help draw out its flavor.

]]> By: MrsBurns http://petitappetit.com/blog/2010/01/13/slow-cooker-need-it-or-not/comment-page-1/#comment-862 MrsBurns Sat, 16 Jan 2010 15:09:23 +0000 http://petitappetit.com/blog/?p=3344#comment-862 I'm with you on the same-tasteness of food cooked for long periods of time in a slow cooker. I have, however, found a couple of foods I make that make the slow cooker more useful than not. First, I make yogurt in my SC. I have a blog post on our farm website from back in the summer on it, but I got the recipe from http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/ in her breakfast archives. I use yogurt when I make bread and muffins ( as well as smoothies), so making it from raw milk is a much more cost-effective alternative for me. (Keeps me from having to buy a yogurt maker, too!) Second, anytime I roast a whole chicken, I simmer the leftover carcass and bones in the SC. I'm trying to consume more bone broth in general, and we eat more soup in cold weather, so my need for broth/stock is high at this time of year. Making it in small batches in the SC keeps me from having to freeze the carcasses (freezer space is tight) until I have 3-4 of them to fill up my stock-pot and cook on the stove top. I have it out at least once a week, usually twice. It's worth it for me. I’m with you on the same-tasteness of food cooked for long periods of time in a slow cooker. I have, however, found a couple of foods I make that make the slow cooker more useful than not.

First, I make yogurt in my SC. I have a blog post on our farm website from back in the summer on it, but I got the recipe from http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/ in her breakfast archives. I use yogurt when I make bread and muffins ( as well as smoothies), so making it from raw milk is a much more cost-effective alternative for me. (Keeps me from having to buy a yogurt maker, too!)

Second, anytime I roast a whole chicken, I simmer the leftover carcass and bones in the SC. I’m trying to consume more bone broth in general, and we eat more soup in cold weather, so my need for broth/stock is high at this time of year. Making it in small batches in the SC keeps me from having to freeze the carcasses (freezer space is tight) until I have 3-4 of them to fill up my stock-pot and cook on the stove top.

I have it out at least once a week, usually twice. It’s worth it for me.

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