Any thoughts on crock pots?

[treesprite]

Has anyone here been using a crock pot of some sort? Please tell your experience.

 

[crofter]

There are crack pots everywhere but this does not have to be a bother. Just adjust your expectations accordingly.
-crofter

 

[Freelander]

I thought this was asking about "Crack Pipes"!!!

My mistake.

 

[Dingfelder]

Research year by year IMO. SERIOUSLY. Read reviews. They have been crippled by Amazon removing comments, which are often better than reviews. But from someone who has read the reviews for years, HERE'S THE POINT:

Most slow cookers on the market these days boil the hell outta yer stuff.

Why does that matter? Because SLOW cooking ...

... okay let's dumb this down. It's slow.

Still with me?

The old big names used to do this quite well. Cook slow. Genius-level accomplishment? Well, at least they did it. You could put something in the pot in the morning and come home to, say, a super-tender pot-roast after work. Or leave some rock-hard dried beans and some liquid and stuffs at 9 PM overnight and come home at dinner time next day and find fantastic chili waiting for you at dinner next day. The problem is ...

... none of this can be done in most modern slow cookers. They boil the sh** out of everything and leave you with chili a la dissolved protein slurry and rubbery burger meat and iron-hard pork/beef chunks.

I researched this thoroughly and went through some dead-ends and money wasters several times through the years(I'm moderately old but unusually conscientious when it comes to these few things).

The Hamilton Beach slow cooker was suggested by Kitchen Country Confidential or whatever as the only slow cooker that didn't let its low setting boil stuff continuously in something somewhere I read sometime, I dunno, I can verify that they don't hard boil continuously at HIGH setting and do indeed just simmer at low setting. That was good enough for me. However, I have the regular simple model, not the digital. Like so many manufacturers, they are coming out with a new model every year just to get everybody and excited more.

Buy the simplest models with the most proven butt-simple technology, and I think you will be fine. Don't go for the most familiar names, because they have taken the easy way out -- HEAT!!! But heat is easy. Slow-cooking is hard. And that's what you're here for. Any idiot can scorch your countertops. If our internet overlords haven't already excised them, read some reviews regarding the latest comments, and, more importantly, the comments on those reviews. There are new products with very similar names every year, and that is not to HELP you make your decisions, but to confuse you.

Personally, as a general hodgepodge recommendation, I'd suggest forget the hype for such a simple, low-energy low-tech product, and go cheap. See what Hamilton Beach still has to offer, and not at the top of their line. Digital doesn't keep you from boiling your pot roast to rubber. It just makes it modern.

 

[Gypsyjoe#1]

I have a 12 volt crock pot I bought in a truck stop many years ago. I have been using it for say 20 to 25 years and it works wonderful. So if you are in a vehicle I would suggest picking one up at the truck stop or https://www.amazon.com/RoadPro-RPSL-350-Quart-Slow-Cooker/dp/B0013IR88A I think you would like it. By the way I just looked and mine is a RoadPro, looks a little different but great product!!!!

 

[Freelander]

I bought a small 1 1/2 quart Crock Pot that runs 110v for like $20 from Walmart, It only uses 100 watts to operate so I figured I could just run it from the inverter.

Also I was experimenting on how to so 1 pot meals like Chile. Basically just throw it all into the pot without browning the meat first and just let it cook, it seems to have worked just fine, but I think next time I will mix it all together first, its a but hard to stir with in the pot.

 

[RoamerRV428]

only reason for size, type of crockpot is HOW YOU eat.

if you only need small then buy a little guy from walmart. I also got 1 size up from walmart and both are fab.

hubby cooks in the small one cause I hate the tastes he likes on a stew meat. I use the bigger one cause I make a chuck roast for me and daughter and need a tad more space for bigger one.

So size is key. Just get the size you require on how you wanna eat. You want to cook 8 lbs of chuck roast or whatever for leaving in fridge for leftovers, get that size to fit just that. You only want a small bit of crockpot roast, food of any kind, every now and then and no leftovers, get a small guy.

It is all in how you want to eat and use that thing. Don't over buy on size if you don't need it. Small ones are just as good as the bigger ones. Room to store for travel means less space, if you can get away with a small one to work well for you then get small!

I don't put a crockpot in a big buy investment of any kind in my life. I hit walmart or another store and buy a decent sized, lower priced one and still got the 2 darn cheapo ones I bought many many moons ago....can't kill them actually LOL

 

[Uncle Todo]

I've used three crockpots over the past couple years, starting with a mini one and going to bigger sizes.
I only used it for "slow" cooking chicken to shred and larger one for turkeys on Turkey Day.
When I say slow, I found even on low wasn't all that "slow" cooking and upon searching found that newer ones do apparently cook faster than older ones.
I'd even looked at making a variable power switch with an high current dimmer switch to slow cooking.

Then I switched to an InstantPot and after using that twice, got rid of all my crockpots.
Currently I have a 6 quart and will be getting a 3 quart once I start travelling being I'll be more cooking daily instead of for 4-5 days worth at a time.

 

[RoamerRV428]

agree Todo, an InstantPot trumps any old crockpot I think too

 

[shadowmoss]

Instant pots, or electric pressure cookers, can usually be set to be slow cookers and have more.control over the temperature.  They also saute and most things in between.  I don't know if they are more, or less, power efficient.

 

[Uncle Todo]

The Instant Pot 3 QT I'm looking at is 700 watts, slow cooking I'd imagine uses less.
Yes, they do have a slow cook mode, they're very universal
But a plus is you can pressure cook at a fraction of the time.
When I use mine I plan on having the inverter running off the alternator w/engine running.
Also I'll be getting the ceramic pot to ease cleanup, then I'll use the pot it comes with for my serving dish.
And no, I'm not talking about that kind of pot!

I was trying to find something I'd come across when I was planning my nomad diet and cookery needs awhile back relating to using a 3 quart but can't find it now.
I did however find a video by CheapRVliving:

 

[mpruet]

I have a small instantPot (3 quart) that I take in my RV trips.  I’m diabetic and have to be careful with meals.  That also puts me into a low carb diet which means avoid a lot of sandwiches. 

While I’ve used the slow cooker settings on it, I don’t really like them that much.  I’ve found that just using the pressure cooker settings tend to get meat much more tender than the slow cooker.  I run the instantPot off of a Jackery 1000 (the initial draw is too high for the Jackery 500).  I then recharge the Jackery over time from solar and/or alternator.

 

[bagabum]

Has anyone here been using a crock pot of some sort? Please tell your experience.

Just used my Rival 6 quart pot. It has high low and warm  (watts consist of  High 214, Low 163 and Warm 52) I measured myself. I did a 3 lb beef roast and it came out perfect. Used the HEB Pot Roast seasoning powder, no bag. Added the mini potatoes, mini carrots, can of mushrooms, an onion , celery , a chunk of cabage and  two tables spoons of flour. Some salt, black pepper and garlic. I heavily peppered the roast and then browned  it on all 6 sides in olive oil.  Put all ingredients in the pot and then added water until the meat was covered. Stirred it a little.  Cooked on high for 2 hours until it came to a boil and then I switched to warm for 6 more hours. It couldn't have come out any  better.  Excellent taste and falling apart when pulling it out. The vegetables were great. The flour made the gravy. The most fun was getting to smell it cooking for 8 hours on this drizzling nasty "stay inside" day.. Start in the morning on a not so pretty day. It will give you something to look forward too.

 

[vanbrat]

I love my instant pot and my old fashioned crock pots, but for the Van, I think I'm going to take my instant pot just because of the many different ways it works.
I like my old fashioned crock pot, but one of the things I learned is to cut my big chunks of meat into smaller pieces. I like things cooked slow and low, but it can be dangerous to cook big pieces of meat, they can get bad bacteria from cooking to slow. (I know my momma didn't cut hers up) And by cutting smaller I mean quartering the chicken as opposed to whole. I might take a chance at home more so then on the road.... The idea of having food poisoning on the road. YUK
I haven't learned yet how to do breads yet, but I have seen it on here somewhere. And I can think of almost nothin' better then being out all day and come into my van and smell a really good soup cooking up.

 

[crofter]

You could try wonderbag here is a link to video. I checked into it and they were a little pricey.
-crofter



Here is a homemade version.

 

[Uncle Todo]

Interesting on the Wonderbag, looks like a good product and good cause, hopefully they're not paying $60 for them though.
I won't get one, but if I were I'd probably buy from the site. If I weren't using an Instant Pot I would look at one, types of stuff I plan on cooking would be perfect for such a bag as the Wonderbag

Looks like there's a partial nip slip at 0.54 in the 1st video...

 

[highdesertranger]

what about a Dutch Oven? the original slow cooker. highdesertranger

 

[bagabum]

You could try wonderbag here is a link to video. I checked into it and they were a little pricey.
-crofter



Here is a homemade version.

Crofter, thanks for the info. I didn't even know about wonder bags. When I do my home style pinto beans, I bring them to a boil and then move to a cutting board and wrap the pot with 2 or 3 beach towels , I guess I have been doing my on version of a Wbag for years.

 

[Ravella and X]

Thermal cookers, retained heat cookers, hay box, straw box, wonder oven, wonder bag, and on and on. The principle is the same, and some work better than others.

I have a Stanley Adventure Crock that is not so wonderful, but gets the job done with some help from pillows and blankets. I mostly use it to make yogurt, which I do frequently.

Boating forums have good info on which thermal cookers do it best. Someday, when I have "everything" I'll get a great one. Until then, it's me and my Stanley

 

[treesprite]

Lots of great feedback

I basically want to make meatless stews and not have to keep watching and stirring. I kind of am under the impression the one of the reasons people are willing to pay so much for fridges on vans, is that they want someplace to keep meat fresh. Most veggies don't need refrigeration.