Next recipe, we find several on the manufacturer's website and on countless cooking sites. The simplest recipes involve cutting some vegetables, a piece of meat, then put them in the slow cooker with water and some spices. 30 minutes preparation to break everything, very few dishes to do and a good stew 4-6 hours later! Many soups and desserts are just as simple to make.
Longevity: The appliance, the bowl and lid are of good quality and should last a long time (the crock pot my mother more than twenty years!). In an accident, you can buy a new bowl or a new cover on the manufacturer's website.
Slow cooking has several advantages:
- Economy: slow cooking allows to use the parts of beef, pork and lamb cheapest (and therefore less tender) as the shoulder, shank, panties. The result is always a tasty and tender meat. A classic is the pulled pork (pulled pork) derived from pork shoulder. Pure delight!
- It is possible to prepare a dish in the morning (usually starting half an hour to cut vegetables and meat) and find ready returning office. Indeed, the slow cooker stove sets mode when cooking is complete.
Is it the best buy at this price? I own an Instant Pot, a pressure cooker / crock pot in addition to brown meat directly into the camera. If you do not already have a pressure cooker (high pressure cooking), I advise you to consider the other product, which also seems to me well built but somewhat more versatile for little more expensive (look at Amazon Instant Pot).
Some useful tips:
- Remove excess fat from meat to prevent the juices run too greasy.
- Open the lid slows cooking significantly. Add 15 minutes to cook whenever you open (that's also why the cover is transparent).
- Do not use food (meat or vegetable) frozen without first thawing. The resulting temperature promote bacterial growth.
- For even cooking, cut food into pieces of equal size, and place the foods that cook more slowly (potato, carrot) at the bottom.
- In the mountains (chalet in the Alps, for example), add a half hour for each hour of cooking.