Crock Pot: The Ultimate Kitchen Appliance

About Crock Pots

Crock pots have been a staple kitchen appliance since the 1950s. It is advertised as a device that will simmer a pot full of food for a set amount of time at a specific temperature setting. This allows a more hands-free cooking experience and less supervision of the food.

A basic crock pot consists of a lidded oval-shaped glazed ceramic or porcelain cooking pot which sits inside of a metal casing that acts as the base and the heat source. This metal casing is run by electricity and has a knob or a digital display that can be used to manage cooking time and temperature.

Crock Pot Versatility

Crock pots are beginning to gain notoriety due to the fact that consumers can cook almost any kind of food dish with it. With its deep-dish oval design, at first glance, crock pots appear to be best used for soups and roasts, but that's far from accurate.

Recipes for: Crock Pot

Recipes for crock pots can be found anywhere. An instructional booklet will usually accompany a brand new crockpot and within the booklet should be a small list of recipes. For a more extensive collection of crockpot recipes, there are cook books available that specialize in crock pot recipes.

For a technology-savvy consumer, a simple internet search will reveal hundreds of recipes available online. One thing to note is that there are crock pot recipes that require cooking methods which people do not usually associate with a crock pot. On the contrary, crock pots are capable of excelling at a variety of cooking methods including:

• frying
• baking
• braising
• sautéing
• stir frying
• steaming

No matter the cooking method called for by a recipe, rest assured that a crock pot will be able to not only accomplish the cooking task, but it will exceed expectations.

Crock Pot Advantages

The advantages of using a crock pot as the default method to cook meals are numerous. Some of the most important advantages of crock pot cooking are:

• they use less electricity
• can cook cheap cuts of meat
• requires less cooking supervision
• reduced risk of burning or scorching food
• frees up oven and stove top space
• will not heat up your kitchen

One major advantage of crock pot cooking is that since all food items are cooked in one single pot, the after-dinner clean up is so easy. Many crock pot dishes are dishwasher safe as well. There's virtually no mess to clean up by hand after cooking a meal in a crock pot.

Crock Pot Disadvantages

With all of its advantages, crock pots have very few disadvantages. While they are few in number, they are also important to note for safety and health reasons.

• Due to slow cooking times, vegetables tend to lose more nutrients during slow cooking than conventional cooking.
• Crock pots can be very heavy when filled with food. Lifting it can be difficult and dangerous.
• Crock pots cook at near-boiling temperatures and are still capable of burning or scalding flesh if touched or spilled

Top 5 Routes for "Crock Pot"

1. Wikihow.com This website is perfect for the novice crock pot chef. It provides step-by-step instructions and pictures for using the crock pot safely.
2. Funtimesguide.com This website gives you a break down of the advantages of owning and using a crock pot instead of a conventional stove and oven.
3. A-crock-cook.com This website features a myriad of recipes for your crock pot. Not only are the recipes simple, but this website boasts having a crock pot recipe for any and all occasions.
4. Today.com This website lists the best crock pots available on the market today to help consumers choose the best one for them.
5. Foodnetwork.com This website shares the best crock pot tips discovered by chefs with decades of cooking experience to ensure every crock pot meal is delicious, safe, and efficient.