Rice cooker (red wine, ingredients, lasagne, freeze)

[masonsdaughter]

I cook a lot of my stuff on low if I have to cook it for long times, and it comes out ok. If I am fixing beef or pork roast, I like to sear it before I put it in the crockpot to give it a better flavor. There are layered dinner recipes that come out quite good.

[progmac]

that crockpots make only stews is a fair criticism. the crock pot is not an essential kitchen item. it doesn't do anything that can't be done on the stove. it is a convenience item because it requires no "tending to"

mainly i use mine to make:
- pot roast
- chili

honestly that is about it. this weekend i will be slow cooking some chuck roast in it to make shredded beef sandwiches.

if we moved to a condo or something, it would probably go. as it is, we have plenty of room for it.

[DawnMTL]

Originally Posted by masonsdaughter

I cook a lot of my stuff on low if I have to cook it for long times, and it comes out ok. If I am fixing beef or pork roast, I like to sear it before I put it in the crockpot to give it a better flavor. There are layered dinner recipes that come out quite good.

It's not so much that I don't have the time -- I just don't want to spend the time at the end of the day, when I'm tired after work. I'm going to google those "layered" recipes and see if they're something that we'd be interested in eating.

Thanks for the tip!

Originally Posted by progmac

that crockpots make only stews is a fair criticism. the crock pot is not an essential kitchen item. it doesn't do anything that can't be done on the stove. it is a convenience item because it requires no "tending to"

mainly i use mine to make:
- pot roast
- chili

honestly that is about it. this weekend i will be slow cooking some chuck roast in it to make shredded beef sandwiches.

if we moved to a condo or something, it would probably go. as it is, we have plenty of room for it.

That's really helpful information for me. Thank you!

[Caligula1]

You can do both in a crockpot, it just takes a very long time.
Just look up crockpot rice in a search engine.
Alton Brown has a recipe for 8 hour oats in a crockpot also.

[JustJulia]

Crock pots do make stew-y stuff, but they are also good for roasts. Pork roast, pot roast ... some people roast chicken but I've never done that. They are also very helpful for keeping food warm. For our big (day after) Christmas feast, I'll have my big crock full of mashed potatoes, my medium crock full of stuffing, and a buffet server (three small crocks) keeping the veggie dishes warm. They are also good for mulled wine and hot cider and punches.

I don't use my crock pots a lot (once or twice a month), but I'm glad I have them. My big one is programmable, so I can set it to warm for eight hours, or hot for three hours, or whatever. After the time is up, it switches back down to "keep warm." It's nice to be able to put something together in the morning and have it ready by the evening with practically no additional work.

[DawnMTL]

Originally Posted by Caligula1

You can do both in a crockpot, it just takes a very long time.
Just look up crockpot rice in a search engine.
Alton Brown has a recipe for 8 hour oats in a crockpot also.

The "very long time" won't work for us. We decide at dinner time if it's something that we need to make rice for. My husband woke up this morning and decided he wanted oatmeal for breakfast. So waiting two hours -- or worse, overnight -- is not an option for either rice of oatmeal, sadly.

Thanks for making the decision a bit easier.

Originally Posted by JustJulia

Crock pots do make stew-y stuff, but they are also good for roasts. Pork roast, pot roast ... some people roast chicken but I've never done that. They are also very helpful for keeping food warm. For our big (day after) Christmas feast, I'll have my big crock full of mashed potatoes, my medium crock full of stuffing, and a buffet server (three small crocks) keeping the veggie dishes warm. They are also good for mulled wine and hot cider and punches.

I don't use my crock pots a lot (once or twice a month), but I'm glad I have them. My big one is programmable, so I can set it to warm for eight hours, or hot for three hours, or whatever. After the time is up, it switches back down to "keep warm." It's nice to be able to put something together in the morning and have it ready by the evening with practically no additional work.

You have multiple crockpots and still only use them once or twice a month. Hmmm. I suspect that's exactly what would happen with our single crockpot. And if everything comes out stew-y, then I'm thinking it will go down to once or twice a YEAR.

This is helpful information. The crockpots aren't expensive, but I don't want to spend the $50 if I absolutely KNOW that we won't use it.

I'm edging towards "no" now.

Thanks!

[masonsdaughter]

I know the feeling, DandJ. Another thing I did was cook extra meals on the weekend. I would cook meat slightly underdone and under browned and stick in the fridge or freezer to finish cooking the night I planned to eat it.

[Debsi]

I try not to buy more machines, so when I got a crockpot a couple of years ago I got a Hamilton Beach model with 3 removable crocks so I could have 2 qt, 4 qt, and 6 qt. Unfortunately I hate the thing! Everything burns to the side of the crock even when I run it on low. I won't even use high. I'm going to give the thing to goodwill this year I think. It makes mediocre stews and pot roasts - you really need to get another dish dirty to sear the meat first, and if I'm already going that far, I'd MUCH rather spend the time on the weekend slow cooking something, seasoning it just right as it goes, and heat up superior leftovers during the week.

[Caligula1]

Debsi, I have never used them myself but they do make crockpot liners. You just pull out the bag and toss. I agree on the searing and dirying another dish for roasts. I think they are mostly good if you want to make a dinner and go out for a few hours..Or even to work.

[DawnMTL]

Originally Posted by masonsdaughter

I know the feeling, DandJ. Another thing I did was cook extra meals on the weekend. I would cook meat slightly underdone and under browned and stick in the fridge or freezer to finish cooking the night I planned to eat it.

You know what makes it even more of a reason NOT to buy a crockpot, now that I'm thinking in terms of meat? I'd love to cook a roast in one of these suckers, but my husband doesn't eat red meat. Something about heart disease running in his family, blah blah blah.

Originally Posted by Debsi

I try not to buy more machines, so when I got a crockpot a couple of years ago I got a Hamilton Beach model with 3 removable crocks so I could have 2 qt, 4 qt, and 6 qt. Unfortunately I hate the thing! Everything burns to the side of the crock even when I run it on low. I won't even use high. I'm going to give the thing to goodwill this year I think. It makes mediocre stews and pot roasts - you really need to get another dish dirty to sear the meat first, and if I'm already going that far, I'd MUCH rather spend the time on the weekend slow cooking something, seasoning it just right as it goes, and heat up superior leftovers during the week.

AH! Exactly what I was thinking when scanning some recipes -- many of them called for pre-cooking some of the stuff, like browning ground beef (in our case: turkey) before throwing it in the crockpot. If I'm going to do that, I might as well make the recipe the old-fashioned way.