Crock pot cookers

saracelica

saracelica

Pattern Altitude
Joined
Oct 20, 2010
Messages
1,817
Display Name
Display name:
saracelica
I've become more disgusted with customer service at restaurants so my choice is to cook at home. I'm thinking of dusting off the crock pot. I'm in need of recipes that don't take a million ingredients.

Y'all have any good ones?
 
When I use one its whatever is around plus some beer or wine and some water.
 
The last time I made a crock pot specific dinner, I made a pot roast. I have a smaller (4.5 Q) so I had to adjust the 6 Q recipe.

It came out really well (4.5Q):

2 - 2.5 lb chuck roast
1 lb package baby carrots (maybe 1/2 lb, can't remember, whatever looks good)
1 large onion, chopped
1 large stalk celery, chopped
1 lb new potatoes, quartered (or cubed, or whatever)
1 cup water
1 package Lipton Onion Soup mix (or similar)

(For the 6 qt version, you can add more potatoes and another pound or so of meat.)

Season the roast (I used Montreal Steak Seasoning, and I also floured it), and brown it on all sides in olive oil.

Put everything in the crock pot for 8-10 hrs.

My new cooker automatically switches over to a "warm" setting after the timer is up. It ran for close to 12 hrs before I was able to get home and it didn't overcook the vegetables into mush. Then I cooked up a big package of egg noodles.
 
How do I know when the roast is done?
 
Pulled Pork with Caramelized Onions is easy to make and always turns out super yummy. I have also reduced the sugar to half what's asked for and it still turned out good.

The magazine this comes from, Eating Well, always has good stuff for normal cook and slow cookers.
 
I do sort of what Matthew does except I use a cast iron pot with a heavy glass lid in the oven. The added heat shortens the cooking time.

Back in my post starving student days, there was a product called "chicken tonight" which was just a thick, bottled cooking sauce. You put a chicken in the crock pot, whole or cut up, poured that stuff over it, came back that evening and there was your chicken dinner. You could probably use some tomato paste and dry soup mix for similar results.

Any tough cut of meat, like chuck or round, does well in the crock pot with some veggies thrown in. Variations of what Matthew makes is normally what gets made in the crock pot these days.
 
saracelica said:
How do I know when the roast is done?
Click to expand...

A probing thermometer is the most accurate way to judge if you are inexperienced. Most come with a guide to use to judge the level of done in various meats. You go by the core temp. I like a rarish beef roast, so I look around 130° f at the core. They are inexpensive at any grocery or home supply store.
 
saracelica said:
How do I know when the roast is done?
Click to expand...

You don't really cook roasts to "done" using the crock pot. It's a slow cooking technique. The roast is "done" in a couple hours. It's tender and edible in several hours, and the timing isn't critical.
 
saracelica said:
How do I know when the roast is done?
Click to expand...

After 8-10 hrs on low, it's done. If you cook it on high for 4-6, it should be done, too. Grab it with a set of tongs or a large serving fork and see if the meat separates from itself easily.
 
saracelica said:
I've become more disgusted with customer service at restaurants so my choice is to cook at home. I'm thinking of dusting off the crock pot. I'm in need of recipes that don't take a million ingredients.

Y'all have any good ones?
Click to expand...

Try the Jeffrey Dahmer stew recipe for the crock pot

Go to any bar and pick up several guys/gals.

Take home, drug them, carve them up into roast size portions.

Add onion soup mix, water, Terriyaki sauce, carrots, potatoes,

Cook for 10-12 hours on high, or till the smell subsides...

Ps.... If the cops come a knocking on your door... claim mental illness..;);)
 
And lots of good recipes to be found on the net.

One good way to get started is www.emeals.com and their slow cooker section. What's good with these guys is you get to do a different weekly meal plan each week and get the shopping list to cover that plan. Done right, there is very little waste or spoilage as you only purchase what's needed to be used up that week.
 
This is one from the emeals page and sounds really good.

Five Spice Pork Ribs

Smoky Brussels Sprouts
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1½ teaspoons organic tomato paste
1 teaspoon chinese five spice powder
½ teaspoon sugar
¾ teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
¾ teaspoon rice vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
2 lbs pork spareribs
  1. Combine soy sauce, tomato paste, five spice, sugar, ginger, oil, vinegar and garlic in a bowl.
  2. Spread mixture evenly over ribs and transfer to a 3- to 4-quart slow cooker.
  3. Cook on Low heat 7 hours or until tender.
 
AggieMike88 said:
This is one from the emeals page and sounds really good.

Five Spice Pork Ribs

Smoky Brussels Sprouts
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1½ teaspoons organic tomato paste
1 teaspoon chinese five spice powder
½ teaspoon sugar
¾ teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
¾ teaspoon rice vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
2 lbs pork spareribs
  1. Combine soy sauce, tomato paste, five spice, sugar, ginger, oil, vinegar and garlic in a bowl.
  2. Spread mixture evenly over ribs and transfer to a 3- to 4-quart slow cooker.
  3. Cook on Low heat 7 hours or until tender.
Click to expand...

I'm assuming you cut up the ribs in to quarters maybe? Or roll them up somehow?
 
Dump 16-20 ounces of favorite bbq sauce* into crock pot.
Put 3-5lb roast in.
1hr on high, 6 hours on low
take roast out and pull apart.
Put back in for 1 hour.

Serve on buns.

* - I make my own from scratch.
 
My vote would be to get a cast iron dutch oven; Lined version so you don't have to season it after every use. Toss your food in and slow cook for several hours. Mine has put twenty pounds on me in the last year, but damn the food is good.
 
This thread has got me thinking. Brisket has always been elusive to me. I've had bad luck slow cooking it on the bbq, and only marginal luck cooking it in the oven. I think moisture control becomes problematic and it dries out.

I'm seeing some crock pot recipes for brisket - that might just be the way to do it, barring a proper smoker.
 
Norman said:
My vote would be to get a cast iron dutch oven; Lined version so you don't have to season it after every use. Toss your food in and slow cook for several hours. Mine has put twenty pounds on me in the last year, but damn the food is good.
Click to expand...

Those are a pretty good option, too, I like mine a lot. You pop it in the oven and let it go. Cooking times will be faster than with a crock pot, the CP is the way to go if you will be gone all day.
 
Sac Arrow said:
This thread has got me thinking. Brisket has always been elusive to me. I've had bad luck slow cooking it on the bbq, and only marginal luck cooking it in the oven. I think moisture control becomes problematic and it dries out.

I'm seeing some crock pot recipes for brisket - that might just be the way to do it, barring a proper smoker.
Click to expand...

Next time you get a smoking urge, try a brisket, let it smoke a couple hours, then wrap with foil and finish in the oven. Brisket can be hard to to without a real smoker.

For a crockpot, a corned beef brisket would probably be good.
 
Matthew said:
Next time you get a smoking urge, try a brisket, let it smoke a couple hours, then wrap with foil and finish in the oven. Brisket can be hard to to without a real smoker.

For a crockpot, a corned beef brisket would probably be good.
Click to expand...

I think my fail is that I have been oven cooking it in a turkey roaster. It's covered, but I suspect foil does a better job of keeping moisture in the meat than a covered pot with a lot of air space.
 
Never cooked anything in a crock pot because you can't sweat or sauté in them. I have cooked in a dutch oven starting with a sauté and leaving it in a low over all day. Came out really good, too. Mrs. Steingar likes hers though, just made a yummy bean stew with sweet potatoes.
 
venison stew
chili
pot roast
jumbalaya-ish type stuff

that's all I got
 
N801BH said:
Try the Jeffrey Dahmer stew recipe for the crock pot

Go to any bar and pick up several guys/gals.

Take home, drug them, carve them up into roast size portions.

Add onion soup mix, water, Terriyaki sauce, carrots, potatoes,

Cook for 10-12 hours on high, or till the smell subsides...

Ps.... If the cops come a knocking on your door... claim mental illness..;);)
Click to expand...

Any doubt as to your mental instability has been erased.










Terriyaki? Are your freakin' crazy?
 
mmmmm...... Jambalaya.... :drool:
 
EdFred said:
Dump 16-20 ounces of favorite bbq sauce* into crock pot.
Put 3-5lb roast in.
1hr on high, 6 hours on low
take roast out and pull apart.
Put back in for 1 hour.

Serve on buns.

* - I make my own from scratch.
Click to expand...

I used to do this all the time with pork. I bought a smoker and use that way more now.

Not sure how it would work with beef but you could put that roast in the smoker for 2 hours before going in the crock pot and it would be awesome.
I have a masterbuilt 30" elite electric smoker. $150 at cabelas right now.

I don't leave the smoker going if I am going to be away from the house. However you can finish anything in the oven or in a crock pot if you need to. Smoking for 1.5-2hours will put some good flavor in it. You'll miss the bark of course but it will still taste awesome.
 
Last edited:
I have a slow cooker. When she gets too slow, I yell: "Hurry the eff up, I'm hungry." For some reason, it does not have the intended result. :no:
 
steingar said:
Never cooked anything in a crock pot because you can't sweat or sauté in them. I have cooked in a dutch oven starting with a sauté and leaving it in a low over all day. Came out really good, too. Mrs. Steingar likes hers though, just made a yummy bean stew with sweet potatoes.
Click to expand...

This one does:

http://www.amazon.com/Instant-Pot-I...tainless/dp/B00FLYWNYQ/ref=zg_bs_3117954011_1

It will brown, saute, slow cook, and/or pressure cook in one pot, and doubles as a rice cooker. Slick note for the engineers -- on the pressure cook setting, it uses a transducer and regulates heat to maintain about 12 psi of pressure without venting, instead of boiling and venting the entire time like a traditional pressure cooker.

We've been using it at least 3-4 times a week for several years. Amazon runs $99 sales on it from time to time. Gets loaded in the morning before we go to work, does it's thing, switches to keep-warm. Dinner's ready whenever we finally get home.

Ribs, beans, soups, stews, caldio, bbq, whole chickens, pot roast, etc. Mmmmm. :drool:
 
Last edited:
ElPaso Pilot said:
This one does:

http://www.amazon.com/Instant-Pot-I...tainless/dp/B00FLYWNYQ/ref=zg_bs_3117954011_1

It will brown, saute, slow cook, and/or pressure cook in one pot, and doubles as a rice cooker. Slick note for the engineers -- on the pressure cook setting, it uses a transducer and regulates heat to maintain about 12 psi of pressure without venting, instead of boiling and venting the entire time like a traditional pressure cooker.

We've been using it at least 3-4 times a week for several years. Amazon runs $99 sales on it from time to time. Gets loaded in the morning before we go to work, does it's thing, switches to keep-warm. Dinner's ready whenever we finally get home.

Ribs, beans, soups, stews, caldio, bbq, whole chickens, pot roast, etc. Mmmmm. :drool:
Click to expand...

Now that is a clever idea.....:yes::yes:
 
ElPaso Pilot said:
This one does:

http://www.amazon.com/Instant-Pot-I...tainless/dp/B00FLYWNYQ/ref=zg_bs_3117954011_1

It will brown, saute, slow cook, and/or pressure cook in one pot, and doubles as a rice cooker. Slick note for the engineers -- on the pressure cook setting, it uses a transducer and regulates heat to maintain about 12 psi of pressure without venting, instead of boiling and venting the entire time like a traditional pressure cooker.

We've been using it at least 3-4 times a week for several years. Amazon runs $99 sales on it from time to time. Gets loaded in the morning before we go to work, does it's thing, switches to keep-warm. Dinner's ready whenever we finally get home.

Ribs, beans, soups, stews, caldio, bbq, whole chickens, pot roast, etc. Mmmmm. :drool:
Click to expand...

I am buying this.
 
N801BH said:
Now that is a clever idea.....:yes::yes:
Click to expand...

It's pretty slick.

Probably not for everyone unless you can grasp what it's doing and adjust your recipes.

It was very obviously designed by an engineer, not a marketer. Once you figure it out, though, it can churn out really good food without being monitored. On the pressure cook setting, for example, you would have to work very, very hard to run it dry.


They even publish their pressure / temp profiles by program cycle.


http://instantpot.com/technology/smart-cooking-programs/
InstantPot-Bean-Chili-pressure-curve.png

InstantPot-Soup-pressure-curve.png
 
Last edited:
Thanks for heads up on cooker. I have started a www.camelcamelcamel.com track to nab one when the price drops. (Best recent was less than $80 right around Black Friday)
 
Irregardless of the humor attempt, that system has saved me many dollars over the past year or two.
 
AggieMike88 said:
Irregardless of the humor attempt, that system has saved me many dollars over the past year or two.
Click to expand...
Without commenting on what the word "irregardless" means,
which system saved you many dollars? the camel or the badger?

I can see how the camel site may save you money. I couldn't get past the opening animation on badger. For one thing, the text colors were camouflaged by the background colors. Other than that, the animation was annoying.
 
Camel. Ignored the badger.
 
N801BH said:
Try the Jeffrey Dahmer stew recipe for the crock pot

Go to any bar and pick up several guys/gals.

Take home, drug them, carve them up into roast size portions.

Add onion soup mix, water, Terriyaki sauce, carrots, potatoes,

Cook for 10-12 hours on high, or till the smell subsides...

Ps.... If the cops come a knocking on your door... claim mental illness..;);)
Click to expand...

Long Pork doesn't stew or roast well, best cooked direct over fire, then you can make soup from the bones and scraps in the crock pot.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top