Comments on: What a crock!

By: Cory Trusty

Cory Trusty — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 02:56:31 +0000

Good find. I like using mine to make soup stock. I just use whatever I have on hand. I don’t really have a recipe.

By: Kat

Kat — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 03:05:00 +0000

I keep an ice cream bucket in the freezer (plastic, I know, sorry) and as we come across small portions of leftovers we toss them into the bucket. Spaghetti with sauce, bits of veggies, soups etc. When the bucket is about 3/4 full I take it out and thaw enough to get it into the crock pot, adding seasoning, meat or stock. Cook on low for 4 hours or so. We sometimes add noodles or rice when its done. Pair with some homemade bread or biscuits and we have a frugal meal. Come fall we make batches of apple butter from the apples we get from the neighbor. I LOVE my crock pot as well as my breadmachine. As a recent single mother of 3 they are lifesavers.

Kat

By: Ellen

Ellen — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 04:10:00 +0000

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/

I LOVE this site. I am vegan, and most of these recipes are easily adaptable. You’ll love it.

Ellen

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 15:35:00 +0000

For those interested, the article about lead glaze on crockpots and dishes can be found at: http://www.kutv.com/content/news/topnews/story/Gephardt-Finds-Dangerous-Lead-In-More-Kitchen/1wjr-Ij1K0ahE0R0JupIFg.cspx

As much as I love my crockpot especially during the summer, I’m now wondering if it is a good idea, especially since I have two small children.

–Ave

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 03:22:00 +0000

You can make yogurt in a crockpot! there are several recipes online but here’s a quick one:

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/10/you-can-make-yogurt-in-your-crockpot.html

By: Condo Blues

Condo Blues — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 06:13:00 +0000

I have an all electric kitchen and that's one of the places I really try to reduce my energy use. In my case, the crockpot is a more energy efficient way to cook because it uses much less electricity to cook food than my electric stove. The crockpot turns on and off in cycles like your refrigerator to heat/slow cook the food. It also allows us to have a meal waiting for us after work on days when we have activities, etc. that won't let us cook a regular dinner & would resort to fast food with all of it's icky wasteful wrappers.

By: Condo Blues

Condo Blues — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 06:05:00 +0000

I love my crockpot. I use it to make Cuban Black Beans and Rice. Cook the rice separately and add it when you are ready to serve or the rice will turn to mush – I learned that one the hard way. I've also been able to make a lot of foods from the New Recipes From Moosewood Restaurant in my crockpot. My husband cooks dried beans overnight in the crockpot, drains it and then adds difference spices to portions throughout the week for his lunch. An added bonus – dried beans soaked & cooked in the crockpot are gasless. who knew?

We've been cooking and eating all sorts of dried beans in the crockpot for many years and haven't gotten sick. My husband's a runner too so eating healthy is a priority. It's something I will look into though.

By: Lara S.

Lara S. — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 19:33:00 +0000

Hi Beth,
I didn’t know what a crock pot was, so I looked it up at Wikipedia and I found out about a dangerous part of crock pots:

“Raw kidney beans, and some other beans, contain a toxin, phytohaemagglutinin, which is destroyed by boiling for at least ten minutes, but not by the operating temperature of a slow cooker. Raw beans must be boiled prior to slow cooking to avoid food poisoning; canned beans do not require this, already having been so treated. Even a few beans can be toxic, and beans can be as much as five times more toxic if cooked at 80°C (175°F) than if eaten raw, so adequate pre-boiling is vital. Cases of poisoning by slow-cooked beans have been published in the UK; poisoning has occurred in the USA but has not been formally reported. “

Check out the link if you like:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crock_Pot

I don’t know if this is true, but if I were you I’d research a bit before putting any kind of beans in the crock pot.

I don’t see it as a very enviro-friendly thing though, because it works on electricity instead of gas. I don’t think that’s a very efficient way to produce heat. Besides, it seems that you have to make it work for hours, and I bet most of the recipes can be made in a regular pot in much less time.
What are your thoughts about this? Do you find it energy-efficient?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 16:30:00 +0000

Regarding the crock pot, I just got a pressure cooker. I love it. Lorna Sass is the goddess of pressure cookers.
http://lornasassatlarge.wordpress.com/

By: Suzanne and Robin (from right to left)

Suzanne and Robin (from right to left) — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 15:29:00 +0000

Hi Beth–

Welcome to the crock pot club! We could not live without ours– we write a family food column for the Concord (NH) Monitor, and love the crockpot for the happy benefit of coming into the house at the end of the day and smelling dinner. It’s like a wife has been home all day cooking up a storm.

Here is a link to one of our favorite crockpot recipes: a tortellini soup that goes together in about 5 seconds and is infinitely adaptable:
http://frugalfeastsrecipes.blogspot.com/2009/01/wonderful-tortellini-soup-hot-rolls.html