Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with crockpot

Is my crockpot defective?

rebent — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 13:07:18 -0800

Is it ok that the lid to my new crock pot does not seal tightly? this is my first crock pot. Here is a picture of the lid[1, 2]. The lid does not fit very well, in my opinion. Is it defective, or is it supposed to be like this?

Google can't read my hamhock-ridden mind!

Phyltre — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 07:00:21 -0800

Help me find the right crockpot-esque Chinese ham hock preparation. I'm a huge fan of a particular Chinese ham hock preparation I see turn up a lot at Chinese New Year celebrations (I have no idea if this is related.) The ham hock is cooked, apparently very slowly, until it turns into basically a melty mass with bits meat mixed in (but it's still all in one piece). I remember them sitting inside a ceramic pot, along with a rather thick sauce that really reinforced the pork taste. Googling shows me "Chinese" recipes for roasting, for ham hock with black beans, and for braised ham hocks. I don't know if black beans are even involved in the recipes I've had, they could have been, but I don't remember seeing them. It's a recipe I've seen on several more expensive Chinese buffets, so I know it's some kind of standard. Can anyone validate which recipe I might be thinking of, and point me in the right direction? One catch, I'm looking for a recipe that is crock-pot friendly. I'm guessing that won't be much of a problem.

Bonus/Related: Can anyone tell me specifically what recipe might have been used to generate this lovely piece of work? By the way, the crock pot I'm-guessing-braised version this post is about looks just like that, except there's more sauce all over it and presumably it's softer.

Oh, the oatmeal and the Crockpot will be friends.....

otherwordlyglow — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 21:26:08 -0800

I have a 5-qt slow cooker and would like to make as much Steel-Cut Oatmeal as I can in it for a breakfast for a crowd. What are the correct ratios and amounts of water and oats? Also interesting mix-in ideas are welcome. I'm providing breakfast for about 30 adults and one of the dishes we're doing is Steel-Cut Oats with a variety of topping available. In the interest of efficiency, I'm thinking it makes sense to put the oats in my 5-qt crockpot the night before so they'll be ready in the morning but I have no clue as to correct water/oats ratios. I make oats on the stove all the time and usually do 1/4 cup oats to 1 cup water for single serving but does that scale up in the exact same proportions? Are there different ratios for slow cookers due to the longer cooking time? And how many servings do you think I can get in one batch?

Also, I usually just make the oats plain,maybe with a little cinnamon and vanilla but any ideas for interesting ingredients to cook with the oats or to have available as a topping would be helpful.

I want succulence, not shoe leather.

cabingirl — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 19:24:04 -0800

CrockpotFilter: "Falling-off-the-bone tender" is cited as a desirable quality in meats prepared in a slow cooker, but I find meat cooked this way to be dry and mushy. What can I do to fix this? The earlier fast meals question reminded me that I have yet to find a crockpot recipe where the meat actually tastes good. When people post reviews on recipe sites, they rave over how the meat was "falling apart, it was so tender." While the meats I prepare do fall apart, they usually taste overcooked with a terrible texture - sometimes akin to chewing bubble gum.

I've tried tons of recipes in different slow cookers and with different cuts and types of meat (usually pork, chicken, and beef), yet I can't seem to avoid this problem. The few times it's worked out well have been when I've gotten an exceptionally well marbled chuck roast. I typically cook meals on Low setting for around 8-9 hours. Sometimes I brown the meat, sometimes I don't.

I really want to use my slow cooker more often, but I'm so frequently disappointed by how things turn out. What tips can you offer?

Wheatless Crock Pot recipe that doesn't suck?

thinman — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 07:47:34 -0800

Any suggestions for a nice meal to serve to dinner guests (four diners total) later this week? But there are catches... 1) We just bought our house, and don't have a stove yet; we have a Crock Pot, a toaster oven, and a microwave. So no meat browning or onion sauteing. 2) The meal must be wheat- and gluten-free. 3) No seafood. We've had pretty limited success with the slow-cooker... recipes sound delicious, but end up tasting like a whole lotta nothin.

Jeff Smith wasn't lazy, but I am!

piedmont — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 14:43:19 -0800

Know any freezable and/or crock-pot-able stews that also happen to be vegetarian (or pescatarian) and go well with rice? I like good food... Unfortunately I also tend to be a bit short on time and cash.
I have me a fancy new-fangled rice cooker, now I'd like to be able to set it before work so that I can come home and zap a stew and throw it on fresh brown rice. What vegetarian or seafood stews can I cook and toss in the freezer? Alternately what stews can I make in a crockpot that consist of mainly canned and frozen goods? Recipes for curries and other spicy delights are especially welcome-I have access to well stocked ethnic markets, so lay it on me!

Mmmmmbenschilibowlmmmmmm

lunasol — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 18:05:46 -0800

How can I make chili like they do at Ben's Chili Bowl in DC? But with beans, too? And in a crockpot? Ben's chili is the food of the gods. Sadly, I no longer live anywhere near Ben's, and so I want to try to make it myself. Although I'll probably be adding beans, to make it more meal-like (since I most likely won't be pouring it on hot dogs and french fries). And I want to make it in a crockpot.

I know the recipe is "top-secret," but I bet I'm not the first person to ever attempt it at home. I did find this recipe in Yahoo!Answers, but, well, we all know how reliable that site is.

Before I duct tape it back together...

slightlybewildered — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:25:38 -0800

How can I stick a control panel back on a slow cooker that gets hot? The plastic mount for my Russell Hobbs slow cooker is hanging off the front of it. It's a simple cooker; the controls are just a knob to choose Auto, High, or Low, and there's a lightbulb to say it's on. And that is still all working. I'd like to stick it back where it belongs so it's not dangling sadly an inch off the front. What sort of glue could I use, on something that gets very hot, to connect a plastic control panel and the metal case of the cooker?

We don't want our cooking to be electrifying

mrbula — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 11:20:09 -0800

Our Proctor Silex crock pot made an unexpected visit to the sink--not just the internal cooking bowl, which is made to be washed, but the electric heating dish, and we're trying to decide whether it's safe to use it again. To our knowledge it wasn't fully submerged, but it did have water running over it now and then for well over a day. Do we need to throw it out? Has anyone else done this, and not been electrocuted when trying to use it later?

The safe answer is to throw it out, but we're really poor right now and would rather not have to replace it.

Make my pork and beans taste good

shelleycat — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 00:08:05 -0800

I need a kick arse recipe for pork and beans that's slow cooker compatible. I've tried a few found via google with lack luster results, so now I'm looking for something tried and true. There's a school of thought that says pork should be cooked with overly sweet fruit, apricots or pineapple or whatever. I don't really belong to that school. I like all kinds of beans except black beans and green beans, and am sure that they could be added to pork to make a really nice casserole in my slow cooker (aka crockpot). But there needs to be something else in there because so far every recipe I've tried is really bland.

The only other condition is that the dish be low fat (the pork is already lean) and reasonably low in salt, otherwise I'm open to all kind of flavourings or whatever to make this taste good. Oh yeah, and it's winter here just in case that matters.

Dairy-based sauce in a crockpot--how to manage

artifarce — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 06:48:50 -0800

Help me fine tune having to heat a dairy-based sauce in a crockpot without it falling apart. I'm assigned to bring a white sauce to a pasta bar tonight, where it'll probably sit in a crock pot for about an hour. I'm not comfortable with how the quality of the sauce will survive, and in general I think crock pots are lousy with sauce.

No one cares what I bring, but I refuse to base it on cream of X soup. I know that I can stabilize the dairy with starch somewhat (thanks Alton Brown!), but I don't know how long that will last. I don't even have to prep it in the crockpot, as long as it will survive in it afterwards. So I'm thinking cornstarch is probably my best bet (more stable than flour). I found this recipe, but I'm wary of a cottage cheese texture for sauce.

Any other specific suggestions or refinements you might offer? What kinds of cheese would make this job easier or harder? I don't need a specific recipe as I'm reasonably skilled with tossing a sauce together, even with a roux, but specific recipes would ultimately make my life easier too. It can be as out of the box as you like.

Iron Chef RavinDave

RavinDave — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 12:10:17 -0800

Need tips on cooking Chicken in a Crockpot. Okay ... over the past few weeks, I've been having startlingly good (for me) success making ribs in a slowcooker. I used an ultra-simple batchelor-centric recipe: Cut slab of ribs into 8-9 pieces, submerge in BBQ sauce diluted a bit with water. Simmer on LOW for 8 hours. I tossed in a few onion slices, adding a touch of brown sugar & cider vinegar along with various spices ... works perfect.

I want to try something similar with chicken.

QUESTION: I'm thinking 8 hours -- even on LOW -- would be way too much cooking time for chicken. Am I right?

Any other pointers (or QUICK-n-EZ crockpot recipes) welcomed!

Pearls before swine

libraryhead — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 11:12:40 -0800

Hulled barley: how long should it take to cook? The internets have failed me. Every recipe is for pearled barley, but I've got the chewy whole grain kind. How long should it take to cook, either on the stove or in the slow cooker? Should I use broth or water? and how much liquid to 1 c barley? It's been soaking for about 5 hours now. Bonus points for a barley-mushroom soup recipe using hulled barley, though I can probably improvise that based on the Zingerman's version. Extra special double points for good websites and/or cookbooks for cooking with whole grains.

What can I cook sans-stove?

wreckingball — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 12:59:09 -0800

What can I cook with a countertop grill, a crock pot, and no stove? I'll be visiting my boyfriend in Winnipeg at the end of next month--we live in different cities and can only work in a couple visits each year, and, typically, I would do a fair amount of cooking (I enjoy cooking, he enjoys eating--it works out rather well).

The problem: since my last visit, he's moved into a new house and currently lacks a functioning stove (the house's wiring won't support one--this isn't going to be fixed between now and then). The only cooking devices I'll have recourse to, aside from a microwave and a toaster oven, are a crock pot I bought him as something of a joke gift, last year (I'm pretty sure it's still in its box, unopened and unused--that is, assuming his skiddy friends haven't figured out a way to distill codeine in it) and a countertop grill of the George Foreman kind. The problem is that I've never used either of these pieces of equipment, and I'm fairly stumped as to what I can make with them.

I've of course come across scads of slow cooker recipes, but a) having never worked with a crock pot, I'm finding it difficult to assess which ones are going to yield something palatable, and b) most of them require a stove for some part of the process. I should think the grill could do some of the stove stuff (browning onions and whatnot), though I might be wrong about that.

Either specific recipes or general tips pertinent to stoveless cooking would be greatly appreciated. FWIW, neither of us eat meat (which has put a further damper on the recipe hunt--both Foreman grill and crock pot owners seem to be, as a group, rather fond of the stuff); I'm pretty good at modifying recipes to exclude it, though. Mostly I'm just worried about blowing a lot of money on ingredients and winding up with giant batches of slowly-simmered crap.

He'd probably be happy with two weeks of crock pot chilli and grilled sandwiches, but, you know, I don't see him that often, and I'd like to make at least a few things a bit more "special" than those. Super-double-plus bonus points for Indian or Middle Eastern recipes, although those (particularly the former) seem like long shots, given the equipment at hand.

itty bitty crockpot recipe

beccaj — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 16:02:52 -0800

I got one of those adorable mini crock pots and now need recipes for it... I am looking for any recipe but I am also hoping to find a great one to impress the inlaws for christmas party.
I was thinking a warm dip or something.
I also looked around the web for a dessert one- something with chocolate?
Any ideas out there??

Cooking more with yonder crockpot.

actionpact — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 17:11:28 -0800

I am craving slow-cooked goodness. Please share your favorite crock-pot recipes! I love to cook but sometimes get lazy, and there's really something wonderful about a house that smells delicious from being cooked in all day, especially now that it's winter. I'm also a huge fan of throwing random foods together and MacGuyvering them to taste awesome.

I've seen this and while handy I'm craving more! I know how to do the usual awesome pot roast w/ carrots and potatoes dish, and I've tried some spaghetti dishes (spaghetti pot roast was one-- but while very tasty, the oils in the meat came out in the sauce, so maybe not my wisest move), but I'd love to hear of great soups, stews, and unexpected recipes for the crockpot (preferably online recipes unless there's a cookbook you swear by!). Chicken? Baked goods? Ethnic recipes? Bread? Risotto? (Can you even do risotto in a crockpot?) Healthier options are always a bonus too-- and I don't mind a little extra legwork if necessary if it helps me reach crock-pot nirvana. Teach me so I can revel in more than just pot roast!

Should I buy a crockpot?

davar — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 03:36:01 -0800

Does a crockpot really improve the flavor of the food or make your life easier? I am considering buying a crockpot/slow cooker. One of the things I think I like, is that I can put a lot of stuff in it in the morning and will have dinner ready in the evening. But then again: it seems that vegetarian crockpot recipes are mostly stews/soups/chili's. Couldn't I just make the recipe in a regular pot in the morning and reheat it in the evening? I often hear that the crockpot improves the flavors, but so does leaving food in a normal pot during the day or overnight. Does a crockpot really make a difference in flavor or ease of use? I am vegetarian, so the fact that crockpots make nice soft meats is not relevant for me.

Where I live, a crockpot is hip and new instead of old fashioned, so I cannot just go to a second hand store and buy one on the cheap to see if I like it. I also don't know anybody with a crockpot.

Crockpot dilemma

hodyoaten — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 19:47:18 -0800

Calling all cooks: I was given a 6-quart crockpot by my mother in law -- yay. The problem is that I don't intend to make more than very small batches of food (1-2 qt) at a time. I'm worried that I'll scald or dry out the food by cooking tiny batches in it. Should I get a smaller pot or can I use this one ok? Also as a tagalong question feel free to mention your favorite recipe that you like making in your crockpot.

Am I going to die if I eat this?

jheiz — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 05:05:07 -0800

My crockpot failed to heat up last night. I now have a pot of raw chicken and onions that's been sitting out for 10 hours. Would it be safe to eat if I cooked it? (Sorry if this has been asked before... the only related question I saw was this thread, but that was about refrigerated meat and veggies).

Difference between crock pot and roaster?

Oriole Adams — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 10:24:21 -0800

Can crock pot recipes be used in a counter top roaster? I've never owned or used a crock pot, but I do have a Rival counter top roaster that I use for certain recipes: Cornish game hen, pot roast, things I'd normally roast in the oven. But I'm wondering if I can use other "slow cooker" recipes in the roaster? For example, I was looking for stuffed pepper recipes online, and if you're going to cook them in the oven, you still have to cook the rice first and brown the meat. However, the crock pot recipe just has you stuff the raw ingredients into the peppers and then crock away.

I want a man with a slow... cooker.

MsMolly — Sat, 25 Feb 2006 08:12:28 -0800

Just bought a new slow cooker. What are your favorite recipes? Inspired by yesterday's hotpot question, I'd like to pick the collective brain about good slow cooker/crockpot recipes. I've browsed some of the older threads and have found good suggestions, but there wasn't a thread entirely devoted to recipes. So in the interest of colocating useful information, let's make one.

I've already made steel-cut oatmeal overnight and it was delicious! (Thanks to whoever on AskMe recently suggested it.)

1 cup steel-cut oats
4 cups water
a little bit of salt

Cook overnight in the crockpot. In the morning add brown sugar, pecans, fruit, etc. to taste. Save any extra and refrigerate it for continued deliciousness throughout the week.

Delicious Meal or Bacteria Party?

catfood — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 13:14:15 -0800

Will I get sick from eating this? In an attempt to eat healthier, I broke out the crock pot last night and filled it with raw vegetables and raw chicken, in preparation for a day of slow cooking all day today. However, today I learned that you're very much not supposed to store raw veg & raw chicken together in the fridge overnight, and now I know better than to do it again.

But I've had chicken and vegetables cooking in Cream of Chicken soup all day, and after 10 hours of cooking it should all be at a safe temperature. My apartment smells heavenly and we're hungry. Are we asking for a world of hurt if we eat this?

I'm annoyed at myself because I never plan ahead. The one time I do, I do it all wrong. Grr!

Crock pot glue

louigi — Fri, 09 Sep 2005 13:07:02 -0800

Does ovensafe ceramic glue exist? I broke the lid to a nice ceramic crock pot and I'm hoping I haven't rendered it useless. Is there any sort of glue that can be used to mend the lid that won't turn my cooking into toxic waste, and also won't melt in the oven?