An Assasin Starts With A Rifle, A Cook Should Start With A Crockpot
Crock pot, slow cooker or whatever you want to call it you need one. Yes, I know that you’re still trying to figure out the intricacies of making toast. You still need it. You need it more even; the crock pot is the perfect cooking utensil for the beginner:
It’s Easy.
No flipping, basting, or monitoring required. Just set it and forget it. Occasionally you’ll be forced to stir once, but that’s it. And even though there’s nothing to screw up, it’s very screw up tolerant. If you leave roast in for an extra half hour you might as well order Chinese food. If you leave your crock pot going all night then you get stew for breakfast.
And often you can get a whole meal in one pot. Just add bread and serve. Even if it isn’t an all-in-one recipe the slow cooker allows you to focus on the stuff that really needs your attention. This weekend I had the best steak[+] ever with some cheesy potatoes(recipe pending) out of the crock pot. If I’d been trying to make mashed potatoes at the same time as frying the steak I probably would have screwed one of them up.
It’s Cheap.
9 times out of 10 vegetables taste better fresh than from a can. That 10th time is in a crock pot. Canning subjects the vegetables to a wet heat that ‘muddles’ the flavor. So does the crock pot, making fresh and canned taste almost the same.
But where it really shines is with beef. I mean cheap ass, 2 bucks a pound beef. I’m looking at you brisket. You can’t grill this stuff because it’s got so much connective tissue(gristle). But when you cook it long, slow and wet that gristle dissolves and gives everything a soft, jello like texture. And boom, cheap meat becomes good meat.
It Stores Well.
Because what you make in the crock pot is wet it reheats really well in the microwave(remember how microwaves work). This makes it easy to cart into work. Also note that really wet foods are all but immune to freezer burn so they freeze forever.
It’s Fridge Velcro.
One of my favorite AB phrases, fridge velcro means that you can throw about anything in there and it will stick. Take a look in your fridge and ask yourself what you need to get rid of?
Making chili and have an extra half dozen eggs? No problem. Got that half cup of onion from meat loaf last week? Throw it in the potatoes. Find one of those bizarre, back fridge cheeses that you don’t know what you originally used it for but you’re sure you never will again. Throw that bad boy in anything. You can never have enough cheese.
As a matter of fact, I think the crock pot needs more attention than it gets. I think I’m going to devote the month of April to crock potting(shut up, it’s a word). By May you’ll all wonder why you tried cooking using anything else.
Tags: Crockpot, slow cooker
April 9th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
I’d love one - but hey, it’s one of those things not available in Sweden. At all.
April 10th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
Maybe not Sweden, but you could order a slow cooker from Germany(as suggested here)
Our you could cut a hole in the roof of your sauna and pop any earthenware pot into it. That should work.