Two years ago when I started food blogging I asked the question, “Crockpots: excellent kitchen tool or a waste of space?” I was surprised so many people loved them. What was I missing?
One time I did more than just consider donating my crockpot. It was in one of the big garbage bags getting taken to the thrift store as donations. But it was bothering me. It is such a cute crockpot but I had yet to come up with something that I loved to make it it other than roast beef and apple cider.
In the end, it was Reg who saved the crockpot. He just did not want me to let it go. He kind of insisted I give it another shot. So that is what I am doing this summer!
OK crockpot, you need to start showing me why you are so great. It is HOT now on the east coast so the timing is perfect. I need you to keep my kitchen cool and still make me foods I want to eat but don’t dare turn on that oven. My first test? Baked potatoes and roasted corn!
It seemed simple enough. People just wrapped their washed, pricked and seasoned potatoes in aluminum foil, put them in the pot and let them cook the day away. For health reasons, I never allow my food to rest directly on aluminum foil so I used a Martha Stewart trick instead. I added a layer of parchment paper to protect the potatoes.
A Facebook friend named Michelle said she throws in corn on the cob too! I thought, well if it turns out well then the crockpot has really shown its worth. Because my slow cooker is so small, I had to cut the corn in half before wrapping in parchment paper and aluminum foil. No seasoning at this point.
I put two potatoes on the bottom, then the corn, then the last potato. It was the only way they would fit. I cooked them on low for six hours.
When dinner was almost ready I melted a little butter into some olive oil then added thyme leaves and smashed garlic cloves to infuse with flavour.
The top potato was smokin’ hot but…. was undercooked. Oh no!!!!!! How was everything else?
Thankfully the bottom potatoes were completely cooked through. Reg actually said it was the best perfectly cooked potato he has ever had! I would not go that far. I much prefer my method for making baked potatoes because they have a crispy exterior but in the summer there is no way I was leaving my oven on at 500F for an hour! It was a great potato though and what a treat on such a smoldering summer evening without heating up the house!
The corn? Well, it was way over-cooked. We did not enjoy that dish at all, unfortunately. It even burned in a few areas and the flavour was not great. The other corn from the same batch we got and boiled the day was perfect. Sigh… Well I will heat the house less by boiling corn on the stove than baking a potato in an oven!
The garlic and thyme infused butter and oil was delicious by the way! I added it to the baked potato so I wouldn’t have to drench it in butter and could use less because it was so flavourful. Then I added a dollop of low fat sour cream and some green onions. Very nice!
OK crockpot, you are showing some promise but your track record is far from perfect! I am going to continue putting you through the test kitchen and I do hope you end up proving your worth and staying in my kitchen. I didn’t purchase you to just sit in my cupboard. I plan to utilize your super foodie powers once I figure out what they are!
Not surprised about the corn outcome but am impressed by the potatoes. I don’t use the crock pot often, either. Especially on weekdays. I’m never organized enough first thing in the morning to get dinner going. I mean, dinner before work? That’s TOO much!!!! I actually love taking the crock pot camping. I can make dinner in the morning, then spend all day at the beach. Spaghetti sauce, chili and yeah, roast beef, all work really well. Looking forward to what other surprises you come up with for the pot!
Oh, by the way, why do you keep food off aluminum foil? Is it because of the connection between alzheimer’s and aluminum? Just curious…
It’s true, crockpot cooking requires a kind of organized thinking that I normally do not lean towards. I also freak out about leaving it along, which I can’t do even though I know it’s perfectly safe. So cool you can take it camping, so smart! Where do you plug it in though? I guess they have outlets these days. Long time since I’ve gone camping.
Foil freaks me out. I’ve had a lot of health issues and just don’t think it’s a healthy thing to have up against food. I also don’t use plastic cups, bowls or plates if I can help it. Better safe than sorry!
I just bought a new, bigger crockpot. It’s HOT here where we just moved too, and I can see not turning on the oven at all until winter. (In Oregon, it was no problem to use the oven most of the time!)
I have a friend who writes a food blog for Woman’s Day magazine. She does a crockpot post every Monday. I’ve gotten some good ideas from her, which I’m planning to try out! 🙂 http://dailywd.womansday.com/dinner-diary/ (She is a high school friend.)
I’m not a huge crockpot fan myself. Everything gets overcooked, in my experience. But I’d be interested in knowing any recipes that you find are spectacular successes!
I love using my crockpot but it is a trial and error sort of thing since you can’t “taste” your way through it. But once you get the recipe down, it never fails in my opinion. Generally I will prep everything the night before that way it only takes 5 minutes to throw it in and turn it on before I leave for work.
And I LOVE the idea of taking it camping. I never thought of that.
Looking forward to more slow cooker experiments from you this summer … I have the same debate that you do, and if my slow cooker doesn’t pull its weight soon, its out of my kitchen for good. I’m about to try a slow cooker vegetarian sheppard’s pie, so I’ll let you know how that turns out 🙂
Wow! Potatoes in a crockpot, who knew? Very cool idea. I recently picked up a huge slow cooker and a fantastic cookbook to go with it. I was also thinking the less I use my oven the better this summer.
Suzie, if you’re interested try checking your library for this book, it looks awesome, it’s written by America’s Test Kitchen, Slow Cooker Revolution. They have so many cool tips and methods for many varities of dishes and desserts. BTW, I still think you’re Crock Pot is such a cutie 🙂
http://www.amazon.com/Cooker-Revolution-Editors-Americas-Kitchen/dp/1933615699
Can’t wait to see what else you’ll be cooking up in there.
For me, the appeal of the slow cooker is that I can have dinner ready when we get home from work. During the week I find evenings are so short – if we can have a healthy dinner waiting, with very little mess to clean up (i.e. dishes to wash), life is easier. We mostly do soup/chili and things like that. I often don’t use recipes either. I did at first, but once I got used to it, I just started throwing things together based on what we have on hand. I try to do most of the prep the night before, so in the morning I can quickly throw things together.
It probably depends on what you like to eat too. I very rarely eat ‘meat and potatoes’ meals – I tend to prefer one pot type meals – soups, chilis, curries, stir-fry, etc. The slow cooker doesn’t work for everything, but for some things it is very convenient.
Have you ever looked at http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/? Lots of ideas there.
crockpot365.blogspot.com is amazing. I use my crockpot all the time. My favorite is to use it to make pulled pork.
I’m loving all this, great idea!
Thank you, for sharing so much!
I use my crockpot for …
-baked beans
-tagine-style cooking (perfect results as far as I am concerned anyway without a real tagine pot)
-roasting a whole chicken on a bed of mirepoix, then making stock from the bones, leftover mirepoix, more mirepoix, and the juices left in the pot. The skin will not crisp, but i don’t eat the skin anyway!
– Pork roasts…usually with sweet potato chunks and some dried cranberries and chicken broth
– I will use it this summer to make copious quantities of tomato sauce which I will either freeze or can. I have 12 plants, and there are only 2 of us… so I’ll set the crock pot in the morning before work and DH can stir it when he gets home as he works splits and is home all afternoon.
-I would use it for soups as well, but mine is huge and would make way to much…I don’t eat a lot of soup.
– I’ve also made mulled wine and ciders in it.
I love my crockpot!
YUM 0
that looks great !!!!
love it
hey, my friend…you are going to LOVE LOVE LOVE that Vincent Price cookbook….you hit the cookbook lottery with that one !!!!!
happy to stop by today
kary
I had a hard time learning to love my slow cooker, too, then I bought a bigger one and I use it all winter long. You might use yours more, too, if you upgraded. I kept the little one for sauces and desserts.
I love my slow cooker – crock pot. I do baked potatoes too but I just rub with olive oil and pile them in…. no foil or parchment. They come out great but as you say they don’t rival an oven baked potato!