CABANA BOY COOKS: Slow Cooker/Crockpot

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Slow Cooker/Crockpot

Today we are going to talk about Slow Cookers and what to look for in one that you might want in your kitchen.

The basic ones have four settings; Off, Low, Hi and Warm. You place it on the one you want and it cooks at that temperature until you change it. The advanced ones are programmable and some even have probes. These you can set the length of time at hi or low and then have it go to a warm holding cycle. They are great for cooking one pot meals, soups and stews, large pieces of protein (beef, pork, lamb, chicken) and side dishes.

Older Slow Cookers and some on the bottom of the price range do not have removable crocks. They still work well but are harder to clean up when you are done. The crock is made of stoneware and is fairly non-stick. The newer ones have a stoneware crock that is removable and thus easier to clean as you can submerge it in water. That is something you can't do with the non-removable ones.

Slow Cookers mostly come in both round and oval shapes. The main price range for them runs from around $30 to $80. There are those that cost into 3 figures too. The typical size runs from 4 to 6 quart. Again, you can find them smaller and larger. You can find a good variety of them at Kohl's and QVC for example.

Slow Cooker

I would recommend having a 6 quart oval Slow Cooker that is programmable. The Slow Cooker that I have also has the probe. It is a nice option but I really don't use mine that often. This type is going to be in the $50 to$80 range.

I have had several over the years. The ones in the lower price range have a tendency to have hot spots while cooking. It will be along part of one side usually. I have not noticed that in the ones from the higher end of the price range.

Slow Cooker Apart

If you haven't ever tried one, please ask a friend who has one what they think of a Slow Cooker. I think you will find it really does help your lifestyle and saves you time.

Tomorrow is a recipe for "Chicken Wild Rice Soup" and it can be done in a Slow Cooker or on the stove top. I hope you enjoy the soup.

1 comment:

AnonymousJune 20, 2011 at 1:40 PM
The soup was amazing!
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About the Blog

Cabana Boy Cooks is a food blog that gives a little insight and help on Tuesdays. That is followed by recipes on Wednesdays and Thursdays each week. This blog is for all who enjoy cooking but is geared towards new & inexperienced cooks.

This food blog came about because I wrote a cookbook for new and inexperienced individuals wishing to learn their way around the kitchen. It is an extension of that cookbook and offers more than 600 recipes here. The cookbook has an additional 125 recipes plus helpful instruction and advise..

I try to offer recipes that cover all aspects of cooking. You'll see on the tabs above that the recipes are broke into categories. Gluten-Free and Vegetarian recipes are marked behind them with a (GF) or (V) sign. Many of the other recipes can be adopted to meet gluten-free or vegetarian by making minor changes.

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My Cookbook

More Than Your First Cookbook

Every year, thousands of young people graduate high school or college and find themselves on their own for the first time. Amid all the excitement and freedom that comes with this fresh start, many of these newly independent people will find themselves out of their comfort zone when it comes to one critically important area--food.

This cookbook helps those people establish a new comfort zone in the "Kitchen" and learn to enjoy being creative in their culinary pursuit.

The cookbook draws on all the years of my life to collect the recipes, tips, anecdotes and life advice that will help everyone. From safety and sanitation to menu planning and budgeting, I walk new cooks through all the basics of food preparation. A great gift for children or grandchildren just beginning to cook for themselves and a useful reference for more experienced cooks, this cookbook offers readers 125 mouthwatering recipes to match all tastes and abilities. I believe that cooking should be fun and personal, so all the recipes leave room for experimentation. There are even tips on how to make a few of the dishes fit into a vegetarian diet.

Breakfast, soups, salads, sandwiches, entrees, sides and desserts are all covered, along with a few odds and ends. Whether you're looking for the right way to set the table for a formal dinner, you want to take your grilling to the next level or you just want to figure out how many teaspoons are in a tablespoon, The cookbook will help you find the answer.

GLUTEN-FREE Recipes and Information

A few years ago, my granddaughter discovered she has Celiac and needs to be Gluten-Free. I started doing a special week of Gluten-Free information and recipes on this blog then and they appear every four (4) weeks. So if you happen to be on a Gluten-Free diet or know someone that could this help, please check it out.

There is a recipe tab above that holds all the GF recipes (in alphabetical order). It also holds the information posts in the order they have been posted.

All Gluten-Free recipes have this (GF) mark behind the titles. There are many other recipes on this blog that are or can be easily adapted to be Gluten-Free. So you may want to check other recipes too.

I also try and mark VEGETARIAN recipes with a (V) behind the titles as well. I hope these features help many of you that want or need these options for your lifestyle.

About the Blog's Author

I spend over 40 years in the food industry doing everything from pot scrubber/dishwasher to managing around 250 employees. In 2009 I retired from my career to start a new adventure. That adventure was to write and publish a cookbook for new and inexperienced cooks. Many of my years in the industry involved working in "Higher Education." I saw a need for such a cookbook as I watched college students move on to a life on their own. So it has become a mission of mine to help anyone that wants to improve their cooking skills and learn to enjoy being in the kitchen.

In April of 2011 I started my food blog "Cabana Boy Cooks" as a continuation of the cookbook. The blog covers many areas and topics. It also offers at least two (2) recipes a week not found in the cookbook. There is now over 200 recipes for you on this food blog.

Once a month, I write a food column under "Cabana Boy Cooks" in the weekly newspaper, Nodaway News Leader in Maryville, MO that includes a recipe. Some of the recipes are from this food blog and others come from my cookbook "More Than Your First Cookbook"