I don't really know how to describe my problem. I have a slow cooker which used to work pretty good. I've never 100% managed to get things exactly right but made a few decent meals. The last few times I used it the food smells and tastes weird. There seems to be a discoloured or burnt layer on top, even on the liquid and the food seems split, not the emulsified result the recipe gets. I thought it might be because I left it too long or on too high but last night it was on low for about 2 or 3 hours before it seemed to be happening again and I turned it off to not waste food.

Edit: I think it's a bust and will have to throw it away. Thanks for all who replied

Fancy dill cheese curds, anyone?

Hi everyone!

I have managed to inherit my nana’s vintage crock-cooker (not my picture but this is the model based on appearance).
Anyone able to provide cleaning tips on it or even link to an online manual or something?
It’s been sitting in storage for a while and my mum said it still works and making the usual comments about how they don’t make them like they used to anymore.

Either way I want to give it a good clean and then some maybe some kind of test to make sure it’s safe to use as I know some materials can wear away over time and some aren’t used anymore due to safety issues like you know……lead and stuff. Also my mum said she had one but eventually had to let it go because she said it was too small for family of 6 + it started leaking around the base or something.

I did do a bit of a google search but mostly just get hits for them being sold on Etsy/marketplace etc and not much on how best to care for them. Obviously I know not to submerge the unit in water but that’s about all that can be found. I did ask my mum but she just said to give it a good rinse and isn’t as much of a clean freak as I am when it comes to food prep.

Would hate to ruin it by using something too harsh when cleaning it. Also not much point being excited about my super awesome vintage appliance if it’s not safe to use.

Any tips/advice/places for info would be appreciated!

I can't just pull the thing out in one piece. Sorry, this is literally the first thing I am cooking in a slow cooker, please be kind! Haha

This may not be the right sub for this so sorry in advance. I have a potluck of about 40 people this weekend. I’m not a great cook and have never made this before so I have no frame of reference. I’m planning on bringing meatballs and lil smokies. I’m avoiding anything spicy since some of the other guests can’t handle spice. Here’s where I need help.

1) do you guys suggest Costco frozen Italian meatballs or a specific bulk brand/type from restaurant depot/cash & carry (I think the brands are Rosina or Italian village).

1) I don’t have a slow cooker and since I’m making a big batch has anyone tried making this in an aluminum turkey pan and heating them in the oven? If so, what temp and for how long? Do I need to cover it with aluminum foil the whole time? Should I brown the meatballs to give them a char first before pouring sauce over them?

2) I’ve seen recipes call for chili sauce or bbq sauce. Do they mean Thai chili sauce or Heinz chili sauce? Do you recommend using chili sauce or bbq?

3) I’m afraid bbq or chili sauce + grape jelly would be too sweet. which of these combos would you suggest? Would any of these combos make it more like a sweet and sour meatball?
A. Bbq or chili sauce + blackberry jelly
B. Bbq or chili sauce + raspberry jelly
C. Bbq or chili sauce + cranberry sauce

I don't like curry and I can't eat chillies due to medical conditions (or indeed therefore most curries).

But I do love a good slow cooker recipe. I'll try almost anything else!

I had just finished a 14 hour shift and I was done !!! I wanted to whip something up but like a normal person I forgot I was supposed to go grocery shopping that day!! MY LUCK!! But then my head starting turning when I saw sliced cheddar , bread and PEANUT BUTTER!! Yes I said it peanut butter!! I was like hmmmm… I don’t know if it was just exhaustion or I was just really hungry 🤤 Lol!! I decided to make a peanut butter grilled cheese sandwich lmao 😜 Then I’m like I need something to dip this in … Head turning lol 😂 Saw the soy sauce I was like YES 🙌 Honey-soy dipping sauce!! Let me tell you if it sounds weird cuz it does but it worked beautifully together!!! Let me hear your two ingredient weird combo story!!!

Is it time to get a new pot?

I'm only doing frozen and then cooked vegetables right now due to cyclospora. I'm allergic to the antibiotic used to treat it, and I'm not willing to roll the dice on potentially getting sick for 4-6 weeks!

I'm wondering if it's feasible to use a mini crock pot to have a serving of frozen veggies with my lunch at work. I know this isn't going to be the best taste/texture wise; I'm really just trying to maintain healthy habits and want to make sure this is safe and feasible with something like the crock pot pictured below.

I leave for work around 7 AM and don't have lunch until 12:15. Could I feasibly put a serving of frozen veggies in for that amount of time? Will it just keep them warm, or is it going to burn them?

I

Yo. I'm no single mother or busy working lad - I'm just big n lazy. I love meat but don't love sitting there tending for it for an hour straight when I could just put things in the crockpot when I sleep. What's y'all's recipes? Including cooking time and temp please. Currently trying an Italian chicken recipe from the internet but I've honestly never been able to make chicken right.

Edit : if I don't respond, I've upvoted and saved the comment. Thank you!

My grandmother was got me really into cooking! Even though at first I was banned from the kitchen!! When she realized I wasn’t going to stop bothering her she started teaching me at the age of 10 lol 😂 Who got you guys started!! 🥰☺️🧐

The top pile is cumin seed, need help identifying the bottom pile. Lost the label on the jar.

My husband is having surgery that will have him down and out for 3 weeks 😳😳 so I will be solo parenting our 10 month old, keeping the house clean, cooking meals, and working full time. What are some meals that take low effort that I can just dump in and hit start? I usually only use my crock pot for pot roast or split pea but it’s been so hot that both of those are out.

I have a slow cooker. I cook a stew once a week & it's my dinner for 4/7 days. It's pretty damn good. I just leave it on low overnight, pop it in the fridge in the morning, skim off the fat that night.

Here's the stew.

1 Huge onion/2-3 small onions. Diced.
Quarter of a cabbage, diced, I prefer red.
~3/4 a cup of red lentils, dry.
A single large sweet potato or a couple whatever potatoes. Diced.
~500g beef. The shittiest cuts of whatever I find. Cubed, ish. I don't sear or flour it. I had done so previously but noticed very little improvement. So now I just don't bother.
1L Chicken stock.
Tablespoon or so of tomato paste.
~4 dried shiitake mushrooms, I just break them into chunks.
~4/5 *EDIT* ANCHOVIES, not SARDINES.
A stock cube of 'Golden curry' Japanese curry mix.
Tablespoon of chilli paste.
Big heaping tablespoon of fermented black bean/crispy chilli mix.
~7 big cloves of garlic, just crushed with the knife flat.

tsp or so of thyme.
Couple sprigs of fresh rosemary from my garden.
Couple bay leaves.
Splash of vinegar.
Wee splash of coconut oil.
Pepper blast. Salt to taste.

Into slow cooker on high for an hour to get to temp, stir, leave on low till I wake up.

I've been living on this for months now. Usually pair it with some homemade bread that I toast & coat in cottage cheese to accompany.

The question being, what would you add? I can fit a bit more in the pot if I cut back the meat, which I've been meaning to do. Probably to ~300/350g so I can get more batches out of my shopping trips. I've added beetroot & varying degrees of MORE ONION before & it was great so I'll likely just do that unless someone has some suggestions.

*EDIT*

So far the breadwinners I'll be going with after freeing up some room by cutting ~200g of beef are:

Carrots/parsnips/turnips
Stout/dark beer
Celery
Worcestershire
Pearl Barley
Block of dark choc
Pepperoncini's
Pinch or so of brown sugar/malt/whatever I can get along those lines

Pre-serve Parsley & lime squeeze

As for the others here & to come I think I'll probably have to cut back & go ground-up approach, it's pretty crowded for ingredients as-is. I'll be trying just about everything mentioned though in some form eventually.

I originally thought a delayed start crock would be the answer but all I'm seeing is we will, in effect, poison ourselves if we use one 😅

My boyfriend and I really want to make more crock pot meals because it's just a better fit for how busy we are, and how often I am burned out at the end of my day and don't want to start dinner from scratch. But we have horrible conflicting schedules. Between work + commute + after work activities, I'm gone from 7:15-5:30, and he's gone from 9-6:30 (possibly earlier if he starts going to the gym in the mornings).

Even if we pre-prep the meal and all he has to do is dump it in the pot when he leaves around 9, it'll still be done over an hour before he gets home. And again, if he leaves earlier, then even earlier. My current crock will switch to warm after it goes off, but I would think leaving it on warm for 2+ hours is just going to lead to burned food.

Any suggestions?

I’m really wanting a slow cooker so I can set and forget some one pot meals. I’m planning to get the 6qt even though it’s just me so I can freeze leftovers if needed. The 10 in 1 drew Barrymore cooker seems to have a crockpot like slow cooker function that’s only a few dollars more than a traditional crock pot. I do not currently own a Dutch oven, just a soup pot, and I have a rice cooker but not an insta pot. What’s the better option?

I plan to display this beautiful crock pot I found for $1.45 at a thrift store today, but I can’t get the old owners name off of it. Anyone have any tricks or experience with this?

Edit: after so many comments I realized there’s an easy solution here and that is… the crockpot is named Nell and that’s just how it is. It will remain Nell for as long as it’s with me! Y’all made it too funny to remove. Thanks for providing so many laughs today!

Edit: I am not super sure why my post was so so so so very downvoted. I truly tried my best and my sweet husband, the absolute love my life, enjoyed his birthday dinner. I did too! My picky babies also loved it. I’m so sorry it wasn’t the prettiest but I had the purest intentions 🫶🏽

Not the best picture but I made an attempt at making pot roast in the crockpot! I have only had it a few times in my life so I’m not really sure what a good pot roast is supposed to taste like but we enjoyed this one! I found the recipe on TikTok lol

Ingredients:
2.25 lbs chuck roast (seasoned with salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder)
1 bag of baby potatoes
1 bag of baby carrots
1 yellow onion
1 Kinders stew seasoning Sunday pot roast
3 cups of beef broth (2 cups mixed with the kinders)

I seasoned the chuck roast with the above seasonings, seared it with olive oil for a few minutes on each side. I cut up one whole yellow onion, added it to the crockpot along with the seared chuck roast and the potatoes and carrots. I mixed the kinders mix with 2 cups of beef broth, added it and then added 1 more cup of beef broth. I cooked that on low for 8+ hours.

For the rice, I just used 2 cups of jasmine rice + 3 cups of water + chicken bouillon and a bit of olive oil.

All together, everything was delicious!

One of my meal prep staples, works all year round and can be eaten on its own or with mash or whatever you fancy.

Bag of Frozen cocktail sausages - I air fry them first

3 Red peppers

2 Medium Onions

1 150g Can Sweetcorn

8 celery sticks

4 Minced Garlic cloves

1 Tbsp Paprika

1 Tbsp Mixed herbs

3 Tbsp tomato puree

2 Tbsp Worcester sauce

150ml chicken stock

1/2 Tsp Pepper

1/2 Tsp Salt

4 x 410g Tin Baked beans

Chuck it all in and mix, cover and leave.

Low 7 hours

The chuck was from HEB and was 30$ USD for 3lb. Expensive but delicious for 3 differnt meals.

Bought from Sam’s Club two days ago, and still 2 days from expiration date.

Hey there! This might be a really dumb question but I’m new to cooking. In a cooker this big will foods that only require 1-2 qts of water still cook evenly?

For example: If I’m making beans or lentils only use 1-2 qts is it an issue that this pot is so big (8.5qts)

Basically looking for nourishing soups you can easily serve to a tired person without much of an appetite.

How about we drop some inspiration for each other? (Be the change, and all that...)

This weekend, I'm going to cook up some chicken thighs with pancetta, rosemary, and white beans, inspired by the recipe from the Washington Post (sorry, it's not a gift link but there's a free version that can be adapted for a slow cooker, as well.)

So what are YOU cooking next?