what's your slow cooker?

@f00l whaaaaaaaaaaat is this?? these are slow cookers? do they work the same way? what is pressure cooker vs slow cooker?

edit: okay i read stuff. they cook fast, i get it now. i’m not sure why i’ve never heard of these. seem cool, but i think i’m more after the literally throw meat and veggies in a pot, come back tomorrow and have delicious food. got to have that simmer, bruh. but i’d like to have one of these, too.

@meh it does both…pressure cooking and slow cooking

@mikibell @fool youre right these seem amazing contraptions. i am out of touch with neat kitchen gadgets! might not be able to afford one this week, but my birthday is next month, mom…

@meh I have one of these. I can attest they do indeed both slow cook and pressure cook. We enjoy ours quite a bit.

@Morgue how big a piece a meat can you/have you do/done in a big one? ever tried a curry or chili in it?

@meh
As I understand, these do everything up to laundry.

I gave one to a slow-cooker friend who said, “I’ll never use this.”

I say, “Try it, lemme know…”

A month later his slow cooker was sold in the garage sale.

@meh they can do a fair size roast, but the one I have is on par with a normal crock pot. We have done chili, but not curry before. We mostly use it to make shredded chicken taquitos, stew and pot roast.

@f00l

@Morgue @fool dammit now you guys have me feeling like a $40 crock pot is a waste when i can have this for $80. CURSE YOU.

@meh I would honestly say it depends on the individuals needs. I love it, but I am also very forgetful, which makes it nice when I need to basically make the same dinner in 20 minutes instead of 8 hours.

@meh There’s an 8 quart on Amazon (third party only) that I hadn’t heard of before, the IP-DUO80. It’s over $100 though, and that size may not help you with larger roasts as much as a crock pot of that size would. The instant pots are cylinders of roughly square dimension (similar height and width) where bigger crock pots become oval shaped and get wider without getting deeper.

@meh I don’t have one… I have a pressure cooker from quisinart (sp?) which kicks ass…I make 3 lbs of stew beef and veggies in mine no prob…and chili and pot roast…will be using mine tomorrow…

I don’t use my many crock pots since I got the electric pressure cooker!

Somewhere we have a thread with recipies… @mfladd cursed me there too…

Good luck!

@mfladd
Re pix.

Which one are you?

@djslack i saw that. i’d really like the 8qt as even with only increased depth, you should be able to put lots of veggies on the bottom, but at $50 more i don’t think i’d flip for that.

@morgue @djslack have you guys compared the slow cooker results to those of the crock pot? do you think the instant pot does slow cooking as good as a slow cooker, or is it just adequate + a lot of other features? i want the other features, just maybe not today as i have 5 or 6 very slow cooker specific recipes i’d like to do before i switch it up to the pressure cooker recipes (of which i am finding many good ones). i just want the slow cooker recipes to be as good as possible, not a compromise. i think i’m leaning toward getting the $30 8qt hamilton beach today again, and asking for instant pot for bday or waiting for a sale in the next month or so.

@meh I cannot tell much of a difference as far as the taste with the slow cooker portion. The price tag is pretty steep, and I have to admit I got mine for a non denominational, non religiously affiliated, festive activity.

@meh I haven’t slow cooked in the IP yet so I’m no help here. But depending on how long you want to wait for a sale or a warehouse deal to come up on one, you could break even buying a $30 crock pot now and an on sale IP. The advantages or disadvantages of that depend on your kitchen counter space or storage availability, I suppose.

(I bought my IP for $69 on sale at Amazon, maybe it was black Friday).

@Cerridwyn ooo, what is it?

@Cerridwyn
Whatever that is, it’s very pretty.

@meh Kitchenaid multi cooker
Not cheap
But I haven’t been sad I spent it

Used to have a ‘real’ crock pot
Meh

This one cleans up quick, isn’t crockery and I can do lots of stuff in it, including have it stir for me ;0

@Cerridwyn Kitchenaid sure does make pretty stuff. I’m tempted to say i need one of these just for making roux, but not at that price. When Meh has them for under $100, a rouxbot will be mine.

@djslack

rouxbot

I believe you just handed me a new want that I don’t strictly need.
But I’m working on it. We’ll get to need someday, by means fair or foul.

@sanspoint is it like this one they have for $49? im on mobile so maybe missing something. have any issues with scorching or overheating? also how big a roast does it fit, if you’ve done one? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EZI26DW/ref=dp_cerb_1

@meh Yup. That’s the one! I’ve never done a roast, but I have cooked a 4-5 pound chicken in it. (The trick is to put it in a foil sling, and then stick it under the broiler for a few minutes to crisp up the skin.)

@ruouttaurmind your crock pot is just like my 4qt. ive never used the high setting, but done okay on low and warm. i’m trying to get one more like mom’s old orange one, too. she still uses it today. the newer crock pot brand ones seem to have a lot of the bad reviews for scorching and boiling - the programmable one on costco has like 2 star reviews, every one mentioning the same problem. i am also going to try for the largest i can find. seems 8-8.5qt is the largest commonly available.

@ruouttaurmind How many quarts do you need?

@rockblossom I’ve seen these, but do they work the same as a traditional crock type slow cooker?

I’m thinking I need 10 or 12 quarts, 14ish wouldn’t be overkill.

@ruouttaurmind Yes. Slow cook setting with up to 24-hr timer. Check reviews ans specs: https://www.amazon.com/Nesco-4818-14-18-Quart-Porcelain-Cookwell/dp/B003I4F6PE?th=1

There are other 18-qt roasters with better reviews, made in USA, with slow cook settings. Check Amazon, others.

@ruouttaurmind They work the same except you can set a temperature across a wide span rather than warm, low, or high. But the lowest temperature marked on the unit is 200 degrees. You’d want to be just above 140 for keep warm (if you use that function) and a 170-180 low would be nice to have, although it’s probably fine the way they have it because it’s probably not that precise.

I guess sous vide has spoiled me for temperature control.

Edit: I just read what that circle of heat feature was about: it heats from the sides rather than the bottom. That should help with scorched roasts.

I am more intrigued now. I just have to remember I don’t need one of these.

@djslack

I just have to remember I don’t need one of these.

Why? Isn’t that attitude counterproductive to infantile gratification and @f00l-ish spending?

@djslack I do sous vide using the ‘keep warm’ feature on my IP. Put water in, hit ‘saute’, keep checking temperature using a meat thermometer. When it hits my target temperature, hit ‘keep warm’, put food in, clipped to the side or a spatula. Stir and turn over every so often. Pork, chicken and beef so far; the results are amazing.

@ruouttaurmind I got one about 15 years ago for 25 bucks at sams club. I used it mostly to make ribs and
it worked as well as a crockpot. You can do the same thing with a deep casserole in the oven. Set the oven for 250 and wander off.

@cranky1950 you know where the oven is located?

@mikibell oh I meant to use a deep casserole in the stove oven set on 200 - 250. But the others, you can find at walmart and target. Amazon will have them, mine is a Rival which is Crockpot before it was sold to Jarden which in turn has been sold to Newell. Specifically the Nesco is here Nesco Oven

@mikibell Oh you were making fun, shouldn’t do that to a tech writer who’s in his cups.

@cranky1950 I really thought the rolling on the floor emoji would have given me away.
How was I to know you are a tech writer? We only get pithy sentences from you! You are not nearly as verbose as I would expect a writer to be.

In your cups? This wasn’t posted in the drunk thread!

Hope your head is on straight this morning.

@mikibell Oh sure try to wheedle out of what you’ve done.

@cranky1950 good morning

@mikibell good morning

@cranky1950
Anything hurting? Like brainz?

Or did you weather it like a pro?

@f00l Brains?

@cranky1950 what are you? A zombie?

@mikibell With enough coffee I can do anything

@cranky1950

@meh It’ll work ok the only good thing about the instant pot is that it pressurizes to 15psi where most only pressurize to 10 or 12, that means you have to cook your whatever a little longer. I bought an Aldi and it works fine. Makes great pulled pork and quiche, and makes mean globaki.

@metaphore that’s great to know. the only reason the instant pot would be really tempting today is if it really replaces the crock pot because it does slow cooking literally as good + a bunch of other options and features. right now i’ve got a list of recipes i want to do specifically slow cooking. seems like i can wait for a sale and make another list of recipes more specific to pressure cooking in the instant pot and get away with the $30 8qt manual cooker today.

@metaphore The slow cooker feature does have high, medium, and low. Press the adjust button to select less, regular or more in slow cooker mode.

@djslack Thanks. I feel like I should have been able to figure that out but I’ll blame it on being in a hurry to get the food going both times I tried the IP as a slow cooker. I’ll have to give it another try now that I have found the adjust button.

@metaphore @djslack I SHOULDA BOUGHT THE INSTANT POT

@meh Sorry. I didn’t mean to give bad advice. Having the extra 2qts in yours is probably still worth it, and the IP is a less accommodating shape. And if you hold out for a sale you can get a new IP cheaper than the current wearhouse deals for it.

@metaphore lol no it’s cool. i really decided i want both machines and right now the $30 crock was the right fit for my recipes and budget. i’ll get the IP on the next sale.

@metaphore
Last time Amazon put up Instapots as a Deal of the Day (around Black Friday), they also reduced the used, refurbed, and messed-up-packaging Instapots in the Amazon Warehouse according. I got one of the bigger ones as a housewarming present for under $50 I think.

That pot is now getting a lot of use, I hear.

@huja
Dearly hope she sees that remark. I know you give her so much support for her talent. I bet, with practice, she can improve.

@f00l other than the snare drum reference for (rim shot), how many others are you aware of?

@Yoda_Daenerys
I know nothing.

@f00l Hmmmmm

@sohmageek lol there is actually a lot of these weird branded crock pots floating around. they have college sport ones, too

This is the weirdest corporate swag to pick up

@moondrake Where do you store all of this stuff in your tiny little kitchen?

@Barney
I’m thinking she knows more about the concept of the Tardis than she’s letting on.

@f00l I guess I need one of those.

@baqui63

Belated happy birthday!

@f00l Thanks!

@brhfl I think that is why I don’t use my slowcooker as often as I could…I don’t trust the wiring in our house that much…unless my husband rewired the circuit!

@mikibell I figure it pulls a lot less energy than the rerigerator, which runs all the time.

@moondrake the man who owned our house previously used lamp cord wire to connect most of our kitchen outlets…hunny has rewired the stove, fridge, micro, garbage disposal and dishwasher connections. I have one REAL gfi now…but i dont have room for a crockpot near the sink…sigh…

@mikibell This is the very reason people give for requiring inspections of any electrical work…

@chienfou we had one…none of this and the other crap we have found was visible without moving things…I really don’t know how he could have his grandkids living in a house with such insane safety hazards!

@moondrake I think I’m gonna give this a try. Thanks!