<p>Thanks for explaining kathiep! So a smaller piece of meat could work that way…good to know!!!</p>
<p>I have never started with frozen meat, due to concerns about possible bacteria etc. But that could be due to the fact my mom is such a worrier… she’s afraid we’ll get food poisoning by leaving the butter on the counter in the morning. </p>
<p>Years ago my MIL mentioned her love of Indian Pudding, a molasses/cornmeal dessert they used to get at Howard Johnson’s. I found many recipes, mostly long and involved (one had you stir in milk part way through the baking cycle). Then I finally landed upon a crockpot recipe, and it has become a regular on our holiday menus. After the turkey goes in the oven, I start the pudding on the stove and then transfer to crockpot to cook for 3 hours. </p>
<p>Bottom line - I guess I should make my decision soon. Leaning toward the 3-crock model.</p>
<p>I recently bought the All-Clad slow cooker. Seems to work well. Only choose it because I’ve got other All-Clad cookware that I like and I had a credit at Williams Sonoma. I really like the idea of cooking ahead of time, but I haven’t used it very much. In part, because I’m often at a loss for what to make in it. We rarely eat beef or pork–mostly fish and chicken. In the winter, lots of soup. Anyone have a good slow-cooker cookbook or another source for slow-cook recipes? Any vegetarian slow-cook recipes?</p>
<p>I have the Crockpot six-quart oval Cook and Carry slow cooker (runs about $30-$40). I love it. We do a lot of potluck parties at work and the locking lid is wonderful and I get a lot of compliments on it. It has the hi-low-warm settings. My only complaint is that the cord is fairly short. Since folks are talking about recipes…my favorite is pulled pork barbecue. Put a large pork tenderloin (or two depending on how many you are feeding) in the slow cooker, add a bottle of your favorite barbecue sauce and cook it on low for 8-10 hours. After it is done, take two forks and pull the meat apart. Serve on hamburger rolls for barbecue sandwiches. (We prefer potato rolls.) As already mentioned, the slow cooker is masterful at pot roast; we also do a lot of chili, beef stew, Brunswick stew and various soups.</p>
<p>Broomfield - We also don’t eat a lot of pork or beef but my husband likes pork barbecue and a pork roast done in the slow cooker turns into easily made pulled pork sandwiches.
Here’s a quick cookbook suggestion for vegetarians:</p>
<p>[Amazon.com:</a> Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker: 200 Recipes for Healthy and Hearty One-Pot Meals That Are Ready When You Are (9781558322561): Robin Robertson: Books: Reviews, Prices & more](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Fresh-Vegetarian-Slow-Cooker-Recipes/dp/1558322566/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1288794219&sr=1-1]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Fresh-Vegetarian-Slow-Cooker-Recipes/dp/1558322566/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1288794219&sr=1-1)</p>
<p>I just sent D1 a small crockpot from Amazon. She is not a cook at all. Any suggestions of easy first time crock pot recipes.</p>
<p>I have noticed that if I use my huge crock-pot and it isn’t “full”, it cooks so fast and may burn. I have 2 sizes and use what fits my meal plan.</p>
<p>I’m canning applesauce so I used my slow cooker to cook down a couple of dozen apples this afternoon. Tomorrow, I can! </p>
<p>mom60, We have a cookbook at my library just for cooking for 2 with a slow cooker. Let me see if I can pull up the name of the book…ah, here it is, “Not your mother’s slow cooker recipes for two / Beth Hensperger.” I may check it out and multiply the recipes by two!</p>
<p>I have these crockpot cookbooks and like them:
“Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook”
“Six Ingredients or Less - Slow Cooker”</p>
<p>There are many titles available online, but you may have better luck going to the bookstore and actually thumbing through the books to select one. </p>
<p>This easy “recipe” works in my old crockpot (it’s possible it will overcook in newer/hotter models):
several boneless chicken breasts
some baby carrots (optional) b
about 1c bottled bbq sauce
cook on Low all day </p>
<p>The result will be a very thin sauce due to chicken juices. It’s good with rice.</p>
<p>Bromfield - I made this last year for Christmas Eve dinner and it worked well in the crockpot. I also make a meat version that is a standard crockpot dish at our house.</p>
<p>[Vegetarian</a> Chili Recipe : Emeril Lagasse : Food Network](<a href=“http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/vegetarian-chili-recipe/index.html]Vegetarian”>http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/vegetarian-chili-recipe/index.html)</p>
<p>I decided to order the Hamilton Beach 3-in-one crockpot. </p>
<p>I was bummed that it was only available online, not in the store. So I tried visiting the store on the chance that doing the online ordering from there would allow use of the 20% off in-store only coupon. Yay, it worked - saved $10. I still had to pay $7.50 shipping, but I can return to the store for a refund (except shipping) if I don’t like it. </p>
<p>The Kohl’s hint was excellent too. I noticed when I got home several sale crockpots near the front of the latest flyer. Plus you could use the flyer discount (15%,20%, or 30% depending on how lucky you are).</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I do the same thing. I have the Rival 6 qt the OP was talking about and ran into the burning issue. I finally figured out it only did it when the pot wasn’t full. Never a problem if it is filled with a large piece of meat and veggies (though boneless chicken does tend to get overcooked in it). I bought a smaller crock pot and then just use which ever one is the right size. I rarely cook anything on the high setting, BTW.</p>
<p>I received the Hamilton Beach 3-in-one crockpot and I do like it. The 3 bowls (2qt, 4qt, 6qt crocks) are quite large and heavy, but they do nest. The wide mouth means this crockpot has a big “footprint”, but since it shorted than my old model it will fit on my lower fridge shelves. </p>
<p>The controls are very simple - 2 knob for size (2,4,6) & one knob for temp (off, warm, low, high). </p>
<p>First I made the rosemary chicken from the recipe book (in the 2qt), which cooks in 4 hours on low. There were good reviews of the recipe online. It was good, and the house of course smelled terrific. </p>
<p>Then tonight I made my standard Indian Pudding recipe. I used the 2 qt crock again, and that work much better than my old crockpot did. I sent the old one off to a new home via Freecycle today. </p>
<p>The 4qt will probably work well for my pot roasts. The 6qt will probably only be used once in a while, for a large soup. Or for corned beef (I used to never have room for a full head of cabbage and the meat and potatoes. I use carrots too, but they fit into the nooks and crannies). </p>
<p>Even though I hear new crock pots run hotter, I’m hoping to avoid hot spots by using the correct size crock to make it full. The instruction book says you can assemble the ingredients the night before and put it all in the fridge. In the past I was afraid that my meal would not get hot fast enough for good hygiene, but I guess it will be ok with this model.</p>
<p>Colorado_Mom- what is your standard Indian Pudding?</p>
<p>I made the delish Chicken salsa taco meat in the crock pot the other day.</p>
<p>Wow. What an excellent meal! SO EASY, even I couldn’t screw it up!</p>
<p>CROCKPOT INDIAN PUDDING </p>
<p>Other people make pies to go with turkey dinners. I leave that to my mom (who these days has a lot of help from Mrs Smith - mom just bakes the frozen pie and delivers it, since my oven is busy). </p>
<p>I make Indian Pudding. The recipe is very similar to this one (except mine does not have raisins)
[Crockpot</a> Indian Pudding Recipe with Cornmeal and Molasses](<a href=“http://southernfood.about.com/od/crockpotdessertrecipes/r/bl19c10.htm]Crockpot”>Slow Cooker Indian Cornmeal Pudding Recipe)</p>
<p>With the corn meal and molasses, it seems a very Thanksgiving-ish meal. I found the crockpot recipe years ago after looking at many other much more complicated recipes. My MIL had loved Indian Pudding at Howard Johnson’s, and we wanted to recreate it for her. </p>
<p>This is a not-too-sweet recipe, good after a heavy meal. You can eat it plain or with vanilla ice cream melting on it. I reheat it for breakfast with a little milk.</p>
<p>CROCKPOT POT ROAST </p>
<p>Today I used the new crockpot, with 4qt bowl to make Pot Roast (my most common crockpot meal). It was very good. </p>
<p>I assembled it last night and put in fridge, ready for easy morning start. Per recommendation in crockpot booklet, I put a thick slice of onion on the bottom to prevent sticking. Then I chopped the rest of the onion and browned it along with the meat (with flour on the meat). I added carrots and a little celery (a new experiment) and potatoes (today they were small ones, since that is what I had from the farmer’s market) to the pot. The covered it and put whole thing in fridge. </p>
<p>This morning I put the crock in the base, added 1 c water (guessing, since this is a new pot). I would have added some beef stock concentrate too, but I threw it out when we got the new fridge. I set the crockpot for 4qt/Low. I did notice water bowling this afternoon - that was different from old crock, but I let it be.</p>
<p>The result was very good. It would have been even better with gravy thickened by corstarch/water paste, but DH and DD were in a hurry to go see HP. </p>
<p>HINT - When I have an especially good batch of pot roast gravy, I freeze in a small margarine container and use as “starter” with the next roast.</p>
<p>CANDIED CARROTS & WALNUTS </p>
<p>This recipe is from the booklet that came with my new Hamilton Beach 3-in-1 crockpot. It was good. Not extraordinary, but very easy and it added nice color and variety to our Thanksgiving turkey dinner. I served it in the crock (with a cutting board under - it is hot)</p>
<p>2 (16oz) packages frozen sliced carrots
3/4 cup pancake syrup
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup chopped walnuts </p>
<p>Combine all ingredients in 4 quart (medium) crock. Stir well. Cover and cook on HIGH* for 5 hours.</p>
<ul>
<li>Only the High setting is reccommeded for this recipe</li>
</ul>
<p>Question - Has anybody had luck with stuffing in a crockpot? </p>
<p>We all prefer ours cooked outside of the bird (just a tad crunchy is best). My mom has a wonderful sausage stuffing recipe and prepares it ahead, then cooks it in her oven (mine is busy with turkey) and transports it to my house. It sits on hotplate til turkey is done, then popped into oven while the turkey rests and then gets carved.</p>
<p>For Christmas I was thinking I could make her life easier by doing the cooking in crockpot.</p>
<p>Colorado Mom, Coincidentally, my MIL’s recipe also has sausage in it and she also lives in Colorado! Her stuffing contains potatoes, toast (cut into cubes) sauteed onions, sausage (she uses smoky links) and some chicken broth to moisten. The potatoes are boiled and cut into cubes and then everything is mixed together. While we cooked in the oven on Thanksgiving, we re-heated it tonight in a small crock on low and it came out fine.</p>