Slow Cooker info needed. After all these years of being happy with my

J

janet-in-nc

Well-known member
With Le Cruset for soups and stews I am looking at a slow cooker. Do I want a 4 quart or a 6 quart? I would typically like to make 4 servings of soup or stew and wouldn’t be doing a big pulled pork or similar. Thanks for any help.

 
I watched the slow cooker changes over the years for a long time. I knew I wanted one

that had an insert which I could put on the gas stove to brown meats, onions, etc. when braising many dishes. Reviews were not that good so I waited. I ended up with this one and I love it. It works great, I love the insert for browning. One must remember that with this type of surface to only use medium heat for your browning applications, so the directions say. Mine is a couple of years old now, so I am sure improvements have been made. I love Amazon because of the reviews from verified purchasers. Let us know what you end up with. Have fun!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IPENZK0/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 
Surely the way to go now is the Instant Pot or a like multi-cooker. It has the saute feature

built in without an insert, pressure cooker and all the other things to do.
I would never get less than an 8 quart for a slow cooker (now that they are so available) for doing things like lamb shanks or short ribs.
Our kids use their Instant pots ALL the time.

 
Janet, if you don't mind used appliances, shop at your local

Habitat for Humanity ReStore or church thrift shop. I picked up my 1.5 QT (6 cups) ten years ago for $5 and it's still useful. Makes perfect almond steel cut oats overnight and green beans and sautéed onions and reducing cider to syrup. I also have a 5.5 Qt crock pot that I hate. It's too big and heavy (even empty) and once you fill it with food, the sucker weights a ton to lug to a potluck.

Crockpots are out of favor now with the Instant Pots and so there are always a lot there, at least at my local church resale shop. You can get one for less than $10 and try it out...see if it works with regard to your cooking needs now.

And if you don't like it, just donate it back. I've done that with countless kitchen appliances. Went through 4 waffle irons before I found one I liked. Better $10 to try out something and donate it back than pay $40 to buy something and not like it.

 
Yes, this is the way to go. Another good place to shop are yard sales/garage sales. . .

Church rummage sales also seem to have at least 1 crock pot of the kind I like: the old ones without all the timers/electronic bells and whistles. Try to find one with just low, medium and high settings.

ALSO, have you chatted neighbors up? I know a lot of people get these as gifts and such, try them once and into a cupboard they go. If you are member of any sort of group, let the group know that you are looking for one!

Another source: Search Walmart for "crock pot". I found a 4 quart for $16.88.

And amazon.com: a two quart (says it will serve 3+) brand name Crock Pot for$15.93, free shipping (click on the link in the phrase "Available from these sellers" (the link is in the words "these sellers".

 
Thanks to both of you for your wise advice. I am still trying to decide if I want one or not.

I think I was inspired by a WW cookbook I picked up with slow cooker recipes. I don't get up early enough in the morning to go to yard sales and don't know of any thrift stores near me. We did have one at my church rummage sale but someone got it first. Yesterday I went to Target just to look at them, not buy, and was put off by the size and weight of the 6 quart after deciding the 4 quart was too small . I'll keep looking and thinking. I'm interested in the comment about getting a simple one with just a knob for settings etc. I usually tend to get the simplest things like washing machines but had not thought about slow cookers.

 
I have also heard a lot of folks who bought an Instant Pot and do not like them

Cannot recall just what the negative response was, but I think it is another trendy gadget, just like Crock Pots were. They fell out of favor but now I see many folks are dragging them back out from under the dust as recipes for them have improved so much. I still have my very first Crock-Pot, an ugly gold and brown thing that is smaller than my new Crock-Pot but so useful, especially on Thanksgiving, because I slowly heat up my dressing in it, and use the newer one for keeping the mashed potatoes warm. I make my dressing and mashed potatoes 1 to 2 days ahead and they both reheat beautifully and saves me so much of that last minute stress.

 
These crockpots may be a LOT more reliable than newer ones, particularly newer cheaper ones.

Some of the newer slow cookers basically don't "cook slow" because of the CYA movement to make the heat high to keep from "food poisoning. The advice above to get one that has low, medium and high is good, IMO.
My kids mostly use the PC of the Instant Pot, which I also learned to love in a stand alone PC--stew in 45 minutes and I could not tell the difference from 3 hours in the oven or 6 in the crockpot.

 
My thrift shop Rival (low, high, off) had a recipe book tucked inside from 1982

It doesn't match the 1.5 QT version I bought, but the owner must have had a shelf full of crock pots. Inside, tiny perfect Palmer-trained handwriting annotates "which" of her crock pots to use:

"my green model" (2 QT)
"my brown model" (3.5 QT)
"my beige model" (1.5 QT)

The "Pot Roast of Beef" has been heavily annotated, as well as the Corned Beef and Cabbage recipe. On the other end of the spectrum, there is a big NO! next to Acorn Squash.

 
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