Crock Pot Virgin (Full Version)

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littleone14 -> Crock Pot Virgin (10/23/2013 6:40:19 AM)

Hi all. I just bought my first crock pot. I went for the 2.5 quart size because I'm just cooking for myself, but I'm hoping it makes enough to end up with lunches and enough to freeze. Later on I may upgrade to a larger size of this isn't big enough, but I figured this was a good place to start.

I have questions, tho. I've tried googling them, but haven't been able to figure it out. Maybe some of you with crock pot experience can help me out......

There are tons of sizes of crockpots. All the recipes I've seen tell you how many servings, but not what size crockpot it's for. If you have a smaller one, do you just halve the recipe, or what?

Also, I've read quite a few times that the new crockpots heat much higher than the old ones, so the low setting on a new one is the equivelant of the high setting on an old one. So if you use an older recipe you could end up burning the food. Anyone else find that to be true? How do you compensate?

Thanks all. Any tips are appreciated!



TahoeSadist -> RE: Crock Pot Virgin (10/23/2013 6:52:51 AM)

I don't often use specific recipes in mine, however, it should be fairly easy to look at the recipe and kind of add up the amount of food in it and do a rough calculation of whether it will fit. One thing to note about crockpots is that they work best when full or nearly so. Another is to have enough liquid in it for that nice long cooktime (don't want things drying out in there).

Have not heard anything about temperature differences so I can't help you there, but that would really surprise me if it is true.

TS



mnottertail -> RE: Crock Pot Virgin (10/23/2013 7:07:28 AM)

how many cups in a quart? How many cups is 2# of beef. Like that, and then you make larger or smaller than size of recipe
couple recipes of math and you will sorta know, it aint rocket science. 1 med onion? around 1/2 cup.
.



littleone14 -> RE: Crock Pot Virgin (10/23/2013 7:27:39 AM)

Thanks, tho I don't think I made my question quite clear. I understand how t determine if a recipe will fit in my pot, but I was looking for other peoples experience of how they deal with the excess. Do you go thru all the math to make it come out to exactly fit your pot? Do you just simply halve the recipe? Do you make the full recipe and freeze what doesn't fit in your pot to cook later? That kind of thing.......



ChatteParfaitt -> RE: Crock Pot Virgin (10/23/2013 7:28:01 AM)

I had no problems finding recipes.

For your size crock pot:

http://www.food.com/recipe-finder/all/recipes-for-a-small-crock-pot-2.5-qt.

http://www.epicurious.com/tools/searchresults?search=2.5+quart+slow+cooker+recipes

More general crock pot recipes:

http://southernfood.about.com/library/crock/blcpidx.htm

I freeze the excess. I have a small chest freezer, so it's not an issue for me. I often use my crock to make chicken or beef stock. They are extremely versatile. Be willing to experiment and I bet you find more and more uses for yours.



littleone14 -> RE: Crock Pot Virgin (10/23/2013 7:33:23 AM)

Thanks. I guess google is only as good as what you put int it. I'm usually the google queen, but honestly, it didn't even occur to me t search for my size crock pot! Duh! :)

I'll try freezing the excess on recipes that are larger. I have a ton I want to try modifying ....



freedomdwarf1 -> RE: Crock Pot Virgin (10/23/2013 8:22:38 AM)

We just throw in bits to fill our crock pot.
Ours holds about 3.5 litres (about 7 US pints).
I haven't heard anything about the temperature variations either.
Most crock pots are very similar in the heat settings although some have just Hi/Lo and others have Hi/Med/Lo settings.

We use very simple recipes.
Half fill with whatever meat you're cooking: beef, pork, chicken etc.
Add a handful of small onions.
Rough-cut bite-sized lumps of potato and carrot.
Green beans if you want them and any other veg you fancy throwing in there (chopped leaks, sweetcorn, peas etc).
Make sure the pot is quite full of ingredients as it always seems to cook better than being half-full.
For the liquid: a good ale for beef, cider for pork, red or white wine for poultry - fill until pot is at least half full.
Add a sprinkle of your fave herbs (oregano, thyme etc) to taste, plenty of coarse ground black pepper, little salt.
Turn ingredients over so they are well mixed.
Cover, cook on high heat for about an hour, then turn to low.
Simmer for a few hours until the meat is cooked and juicy and the veg is cooked.
We often leave ours simmering overnight.

If you want the juices/gravy to be thicker, pre-mix a little cornflour or arrow root in a cup with a bit of stock taken from the pot and add to the mixture stirring continuously until well mixed.
Cook on Lo for a further half hour or so until the mix is the right thickness for your taste.
If you have a lot of liquid, you can always make suet dumplings and cook those on the top as individual balls or a total crust over top.

You can serve it just like that with mashed potato or as a soup or with other veg on a plate.
You can also put the mix into a pie too. That's a fave of ours.

If you want to add to the pot after serving dinner, just add whatever other meat and bits you want and fill the pot again.
Don't forget to top-up the liquid!!
And like any good stew, it always seems to taste better the 2nd time around... or the 3rd, or 4th....

Sometimes we keep ours going for a few days by adding various bits.
Eventually, it ends up in a bowl as soup with some nice fresh uncut bread & butter.

A crock pot is ideal for most situations and is great for stew-like meals and making pie fillings and stock.


ETA: Mushrooms are a good filler and not fattening. Sometimes, we use a commercial packet soup for thickening depending on what flavours we're mixing. You'll soon learn to mix-n-match the contents to your own tastes.
Tip: To cut any greasy flavour from the meat, add quartered fresh tomato for beef (not sun dried, tinned etc), chopped cooking apple for pork, and finely chopped lemon grass for poultry.



DesFIP -> RE: Crock Pot Virgin (10/23/2013 4:43:51 PM)

I'm told the new ones do run hotter than the old ones. I guess I would start with recipes that you know how long take in an oven or on a stove top and see how long till done in your crockpot. A brisket that would take three hours in my oven will take ten hours in the crockpot. If you do a recipe on a weekend, and check it every few hours you'll see if you need the same three hours, or six or ten. I can't imagine how else to learn the quirks of yours.

And although mine is a big one, it won't fit a 7 bone steak. The damn thing needs to be quartered first so I'm doing it in a really wide skillet in the oven.



OsideGirl -> RE: Crock Pot Virgin (10/23/2013 4:47:31 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: littleone14


There are tons of sizes of crockpots. All the recipes I've seen tell you how many servings, but not what size crockpot it's for. If you have a smaller one, do you just halve the recipe, or what?
I've never changed a recipe based on my crock pot size....unless it's too large to fit.

quote:

Also, I've read quite a few times that the new crockpots heat much higher than the old ones, so the low setting on a new one is the equivelant of the high setting on an old one. So if you use an older recipe you could end up burning the food. Anyone else find that to be true? How do you compensate?
This is true. I use the warm setting as "low". The best is to buy the temperature control Crock Pots VS the warm/low/high version.



kalikshama -> RE: Crock Pot Virgin (10/23/2013 5:12:09 PM)

Here's a great cookbook for the smaller crockpot, which my library system carries, so maybe yours as well: Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipes for Two.

Nearly 60 percent of American households today consist of only one or two people, yet most cookbooks don’t reflect this trend, with recipes designed for large families, yielding 6-8 servings. For individuals and small families who want to cook hearty, healthful meals but don’t want to deal with all the leftovers, Beth Hensperger has the solution. The James Beard Award–winning author follows up the best-selling Not Your Mother’s® Slow Cooker Cookbook with Not Your Mother’s® Slow Cooker Recipes for Two, a collection of 125 new recipes specially designed for the small slow cooker. As always, Hensperger’s innovative recipes call for fresh, healthful ingredients and continue to prove that the slow cooker can produce amazing meals. While the recipes yield the perfect amount for two or three people, there is no shortage of flavor with dishes such as Quick Hominy and Zucchini Chili, Moroccan-Spiced Tomato Chicken with Almonds, Lamb Stew with Lemon and



kalikshama -> RE: Crock Pot Virgin (10/23/2013 5:31:03 PM)

quote:

Also, I've read quite a few times that the new crockpots heat much higher than the old ones, so the low setting on a new one is the equivelant of the high setting on an old one. So if you use an older recipe you could end up burning the food. Anyone else find that to be true? How do you compensate?


I have noticed that my bigger crockpot cooks in 5-6 hours what would be an 8 hour recipe in my smaller crockpot. I don't know how old it is - the former tenant left it in a cabinet.

I've tried more recipes from The Gourmet Slow Cooker: Simple and Sophisticated Meals from Around the World. I wouldn't call them simple though - the author likes lots of prep work, including grinding spices, which I enjoy sometimes, but other times I go for ground spices and skip the sauteing.

Most of these recipes were tested in a 5 Qt cooker. She indicates when a smaller cooker should be used. When I first got the book, I just had my small one. For recipes that call for a whole chicken, I would use 2 # of thighs and halve everything else. There were still plenty of leftovers.

I brought it to work a few times and made my coworkers:

- Chocolate Chip Cookies (one big huge cookies)
- Corned Beef and Cabbage
- Irish Cheese [and bread] pudding
- Chicken in Saffron-Tomato Cream Sauce (instead of the cream, sometimes I use a can of coconut milk, and add it in the beginning rather than the end.)




soul2share -> RE: Crock Pot Virgin (10/23/2013 8:22:33 PM)

When it comes to recipes, I just mix things in the pot until it's full. I cook for one, and can usually get 2-3 extra meals when I use my smaller crock. Alot of crockpot cooking is done to taste, most of my things I do, I don't have a recipe for. I do chicken soup, doing the chicken in water until it's flaky and pulls apart w/a fork, then add one large carton of broth, Dollar Tree has the best chicken broth and it's half of the grocery store in price. I make enough noodles or rice to fill the pot, let it all simmer together for about 45 minutes before eating. Cook the noodles or rice separate, this alleviates the starch gumming up the broth.

Chili is usually 1 lb ground beef, three cans of beans and one can of crushed or pureed tomatoes. Spice to taste, set on high and let it cook for an hour, then turn it off for 30 minutes and then keep it on low.

I also do lasagna in my crockpot......layer the ingredients in the crock just like you would if you were baking it, I fill mine to the rim. DO NOT cook the pasta, and start on high. At 45 minutes, start sticking a long knife to the bottom of the crock to check for the noodle cooking progress. There is a fine line between done and overdone, but I've never cooked it too long. What I will do is once the noodles feel almost done, I turn the crock off....the remaining heat in the crock will finish it off. It usually takes much less time to do it in the crockpot than it does in the oven.

There are lots of crockpot recipies out there, about half of them identify the size pot to use. I do have a 7 quart pot, so if I have a larger recipe, I use that. Pretty much all of my recipes are a bit of this, a bit of that, pinches and pouring by sight instead of measure. Basicall, it's a lot of experimentation. And yes, there are temperature differences in them, even if they are identical crocks. Once you start using it, you'll be able to actually gauge the heat. My smaller crock actually heats hotter one one side than the other, so I have to compensate for that.

Crock pots are great, I love mine! Just play around with it. Spaghetti sauce is also good, I let it simmer o all the flavors meld together. I either refrigerate or freeze the extras for later meals.



OsideGirl -> RE: Crock Pot Virgin (10/23/2013 8:41:29 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: soul2share

Chili is usually 1 lb ground beef, three cans of beans and one can of crushed or pureed tomatoes. Spice to taste, set on high and let it cook for an hour, then turn it off for 30 minutes and then keep it on low.


Chili for us is a hunk of pot roast or other cheap cut of beef with 1/2 gallon of salsa cooked on low for 24 hours. Then we add diced marinated tomatoes, kidney beans, masa flour, spices and cheddar cheese, let it cook for another 30 minutes to hour.



littleone14 -> RE: Crock Pot Virgin (10/24/2013 6:48:18 AM)

Thanks everyone! This gives me lots of ideas. I'm going to christen it this weekend......



ChatteParfaitt -> RE: Crock Pot Virgin (10/24/2013 7:05:09 AM)

Some marvelous ideas here. I'm another one who routinely tosses things into the crock pot for a hearty soup or stew. I do it once a week to get rid of vegetables past their best freshness that can still be eaten. You can even use lettuce for this if it's chopped up well enough, it cooks down just fine and adds fiber without a lot of taste. (I suppose it's possible to use way too much, I've not had that issue.)

I use this to slip vegetables and fiber into Himself's diet, they cook down so he doesn't even know they're there.

If you want a simple meatless meal, omit the meat and add beans to your stew, then make cornbread to make a complete protein.










MistressDarkArt -> RE: Crock Pot Virgin (10/24/2013 12:01:59 PM)

I couldn't find my glasses this morning and quick read this thread title as "Crack Pot Virgin". [8D]

Thanks for the reminder to get going on soups and stews for the winter. I make huge pots of each and freeze in individual containers for easy grab-me's when the days are short.

I know I've printed this recipe on CM before, but it's delightful for crock pots:

Winter Harvest Soup

An easy, delicious soup that is pure comfort food. Can be made vegan by using vegetable stock and leaving out the butter, but won't be as creamy or flavorful. Coconut cream can be substituted for butter (I use Trader Joe's in a can.) The skins left on the peppers and apples bring a beautiful color and help thicken the soup. Even if you're not a tofu fan, its use here is undetectable and provides vegetable protein and a creamy taste instead of using regular cream. This makes a lot; it freezes well. You can also 1/2 the recipe.

4 medium size butternut squash, baked, seeds removed, peeled, cubed
3 Quarts double-strength chicken stock
1.5 stick butter (6 oz)
2 Red bell peppers, seeded but not peeled
1 large onion
10 cloves garlic
1 tsp. curry powder
1 12 oz pkg. tofu steak, drained (Hinochi has the most neutral taste, I think)
salt/pepper to taste
2 Fuji apples, cored but not peeled

Throw everything but tofu in the pot and simmer until it's all falling apart. Blend until smooth in the pot with stick blender. Add some of the soup to the tofu and blend w/stick blender until smooth and creamy, pour back into soup and simmer down on low heat to desired thickness, stirring frequently.

The half-recipe would probably fit into your crockpot. If not, quarter it. I usually use a giant stock-pot because I only want to make it once.



kiwisub12 -> RE: Crock Pot Virgin (10/24/2013 2:35:39 PM)

You can buy crockpot liners that work wonderfully. Sort of like condoms for your crockpot, so when you are done, you slip it out and all the mess is gone. Great invention!

and MacCormicks in the US have packs for crockpots , so you just add meat and maybe a can of veggies and you have pot roast, or stew or chicken whatever. They are in the sauce isle of your grocery store. I love the pot roast one, comes out very flavourful and moist.

Oh, and something I read on yahoo - don't use very lean meat in your crockpot, it comes out tough and flavourless. Cheap cuts with a bit of marbling work best, and you can skim off any floating fat after cooking.



PyrotheClown -> RE: Crock Pot Virgin (10/25/2013 3:10:21 AM)

yer over thinking it...it's a crock pot,you throw some'n meat like into it,put it on low,and return after ten hours or so to see if it's dead and or edible.

Expand from there..



littleone14 -> RE: Crock Pot Virgin (10/25/2013 7:25:48 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: PyrotheClown

yer over thinking it...it's a crock pot,you throw some'n meat like into it,put it on low,and return after ten hours or so to see if it's dead and or edible.

Expand from there..



Yeah, I'll admit it. I am overthinking it. I'll probably end up doing a lot of just bunging a bunch of stuff into the pot and hoping for the best. But, in my defense, I also have a ton of recipes that I really want to try but would require modification because of the size of my pot, hence my questions.........

And as an update - I used it for the first time last yesterday. Made a coq au vin (sp?) that was really good. Forgot to put in the onions, which it really needed, but the chicken was amazingly tender!



zerogirl -> RE: Crock Pot Virgin (10/26/2013 11:05:49 AM)

Eh, I just follow a recipe unless I know it's going to be too much for our smaller crockpot. Which did admittedly backfire one time when I made queso and didn't adjust anything, I soon realized I would have to transfer everything to the bigger crockpot. And honestly I didn't even know that thing about newer crockpots being higher heat, so I've never adjusted to account for that. But then again I'm always home when the crockpot is running (save for maybe small errands) and can keep a good eye on it.

I never got the appeal of crockpot meals until the last 2 years and I love using it now. There's usually a lot of leftovers for lunch and such the next day. And it's easy to just fill up the crockpot with a meal mid-day and let it cook versus trying to prepare a more extensive meal in the evening when the kiddos are the most rowdy sometimes. [:)]



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