Monday, November 17, 2008

Crockpot for a Crackpot?

Quickee survey today: does anyone have a recommendation for a really (or pretty) good Crockpot? I have never had one, have asked for one for Xmas and my mom is asking me to be more specific...I had no idea there were choices!! ;-)

Very BAD food weekend. But lots of exercise. I still feel like YUCK today. :-(

5 comments:

Laura N said...

I've only owned one, but I think crockpots are pretty basic. Mine has a ceramic bowl, is round, has a low & high setting. I think it's a medium size. It's big enough to fit in all of Roni's turkey chili, so I'm guessing it's a standard size. You might do a search on Amazon.com and see what kind of reviews you come up with.

I'm looking for a toaster oven this year!

At least you exercised. I haven't done anything since last Tuesday. I feel like a beached blubbery whale. Ugh.

Vickie said...

I like the ones with the removeable insert (so ceramic part can go in the dishwasher). Maybe they all come that way now - ???
I also prefer a glass lid.

I have three - but pretty much only use the larger one now. Mine are all by Rival and only have the off, med, high settings. But they are all OLD. By now there are probably timers and automatic temp turn downs and all kinds of stuff.

I mostly use mine for beans - and if I am cooking ahead to freeze - I like to do a lot at once - so I suppose that is why I love the large one. I looked but there are no size listings on the pots - so I don't know what sizes they are - I can measure with water if you would like me to check.

Do you picture yourself cooking meals like casseroles? Soup? Beans? or what?

Lori G. said...

Vickie beat me to it. Removable. I know that I watched "Real Simple" or the Cooking.com people on PBS and the one they liked was one that was an All-Clad. It was America's Test Kitchen here. I've linked to the Cook's Illustrated website on slow cookers.

Anne M. said...

I have two crockpots, both oval in shape with removable liners (the pot part). The 6 quart one is perfect for big pots of soup or cooking a turkey breast (world's easiest recipe if you're interested). The 4 quart one is new and the right size for a 4-person recipe such as meat sauce or chicken dishes.

Vickie's right that new ones come with fancy-schmancy settings that will automatically move from, say, High for 2 hours down to low and then to warm. That's good if you're gone long hours and the recipe finishes faster than that. I do most of my cooking on the weekend so that's not a problem for me.

Enjoy!

Grumpy Chair said...

And don't forget the crockpot cooking liners (next to the cooking bags in grocery aisle) for easy clean-up!

Crockpot cookbooks ae my favorite cookbook to read.