Crock Pot or Rice Cooker?

[abbasgirl]

I use my crockpot every week. I've never owned a rice cooker so I can't comment on that.
The purpose of the timer on some crockpots is s that you can go out for the day and have it turn off automatically at a certain time instead of having to be there (There's usually a feature that will keep it warm for you once it's turned off.) It isn't so that you can control how long it takes to cook something. The time it takes depends on what you are cooking. Slow cooker recipes will give you a guideline on how long to leave it cooking. After awhile you'll learn how to adapt regular recipes too. Aside from thawing frozen foods before putting them in and precooking some things, the only thing you can do to cook it a bit faster is to use the high setting instead of the low setting.
Slow cooking really is great though. A lot of the vitamins that are lost in traditional cooking are maintained. It also brings out the flavours so that everything tastes better. Another advantage is that no matter what cut of meat you use, it will come out tender.

[Zonny]

I make a potato soup in mine that my DS loves, as well as a taco soup (red and black beans, salsa, diced canned tomatoes, chicken, taco seasoning among other things). I also do roasts in it quite a bit.

If anyone wants those soup recipes, just say so and I"ll post the sites where I got them.

[kazm-l]

I make yogurt in my crockpot - which my family loves!! - and the odd soup or chili. I like it but honestly haven't had much luck with dishes with rice in(rice ends up a bit mushy for my liking) but maybe i should just practice more,lol

I love the sound of Zonnys taco soup....i may need to google it

[Big Pink]

I hear they make a major mess from people who've bought them.

I've never had a mess. And I pretty much use my rice cooker every day. It's amazing what you can cook in them.
Making the dogs dinner as I write this!

I'd LOVE some more soup recipes for the slow cooker, Zonny.

And kaz... I'd love to know your recipe for yogurt!!! I have a yogurt maker and I love it, but would love to try the slow cooker to see the difference. Especially if you can make more at one time than I'm doing now.

[Zonny]

These two soup recipes, my five year old LOVES them both. The tortilla soup goes over better if the canned tomatoes cook enough to break down or I just puree them. The potato soup, I have to either leave out the onions or dice them small enough he can't find them.

The tortilla soup recipe comes from here:

http://jonandjenmiller.blogspot.com/...illa-soup.html

It calls for Rotel, which we can't get here, so I use a combination of canned diced tomatoes and salsa. Also use frozen corn instead of canned, and use a packet of taco seasoning rather than the individual seasonings in the recipe. And I use chicken thighs in it, with bones in them but remove the skin. Toward the end I take them out, let them cool enough to handle so I can remove the bones and shred them. Bones in chicken thighs come out very easily, and I find that bone-in chicken left all day in the crockpot adds a bit more flavour. And thighs stay a bit more moist, chicken breasts tend to dry out IMO.

The potato soup is SUPER easy. This is the recipe I started with:

http://crockingirls.com/recipes/main...tato-soup.html

I've modified this one to cut the fat a bit. I use skim milk instead of cream, skip the butter and add a bit of herb/garlic cream cheese. The potatoes make it plenty thick, just gradually add your milk until it's at the consistency you want. I tried the new Philly Cooking Creme last time instead of the regular cream cheese, it was OK, but cream cheese works just as well.

I cut up the potatoes the night before and put them in water in the fridge (peel if you want, skin on works fine too). I also cook bacon for it the night before - I've started cooking bacon in the oven on parchment paper, MUCH less mess! Anyhow, chop up the cooked bacon, stir it in toward the end when you add the milk.

[kazm-l]

And kaz... I'd love to know your recipe for yogurt!!! I have a yogurt maker and I love it, but would love to try the slow cooker to see the difference. Especially if you can make more at one time than I'm doing now.

I've PMd you - I was actually thinking of buying a yog maker but then i found this crocpot recipe and well, that changed my mind,lol
I used my CT money and bought some mini-mason jars(125ml) so that my family could take them to work/school (plus they're cute!!) and have larger jars also. I make seperate sauces which can be added to the yog as needed.

[Big Pink]

Thank you sooo much!!!!
Well now what am I going to do? Soup? Yogurt?

Those soup recipes look great... I love recipes with not too many ingredients.

The yogurt from the maker is great, but it's just not enough. And that's just for me (well, and my dogs). Would certainly not be enough for a family if you eat it regularly.

I can't wait to try these recipes!

[SFARAZ]

I am using rice cooker daily

[abbasgirl]

This blog has some great slow cooker recipes: http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/
This woman did an experiment of cooking with her crock pot for 365 days. She did a lot of really creative things with it and ended up keeping it going indefinitely. Oh, and although you would never know it because her recipes use normal everyday ingredients, they are all gluten-free.

[Mia]

So delicous recipes!

Thank you very much for wonderful sites!

[Mia]

Hi Mia,

That's a very good choice. Has just what you need (low, high, keep warm), you really don't need one with all the bells and whistles. It's a simple concept - long cooking at a low temperature.

Zonny - many slow cooker "experts" say you can start with frozen meat.

One last thing that wasn't mentioned, you can also bake some items in a Slow Cooker. Apparently cheescake comes out great.

Mia, get one free with SB and start enjoying. Just don't do what I did yesterday and throw the ingredients in and forget to turn it on. LOL

Hi cookcrazy204,

Thank you!

Yes, I also think it's better to buy for free on Amazon.ca with gift cards from Swagbucks and Superpoints.

I am so excited, so many things you can cook in a crock pot.

Though as I see in a rice cooker you can cook various meals as well.

But I'll go with a slow cooker. You even can bake in a crock pot! That's awesome!

[Mia]

Recently I've read on the internet that beans and meat can be poisonous because of slow cooking as they need much heating to be cooked at first. So they have to be boiled then cooked in a slow cooker. Do you do that?

And those people who have a rice cooker. Do you cook other dishes, except rice, in a rice cooker?

[lecale]

.

[Zonny]

Recently I've read on the internet that beans and meat can be poisonous because of slow cooking as they need much heating to be cooked at first. So they have to be boiled then cooked in a slow cooker. Do you do that?

And those people who have a rice cooker. Do you cook other dishes, except rice, in a rice cooker?

I wouldn't think that anyone has ever been poisoned by undercooked beans. And I certainly don't boil meat before I cook it in the crockpot.

So no, I'm going to say that's not so. I've made baked beans in mine but you do cook those a bit first - as far as I know it's not to prevent them from making you sick, it's because they need a lot of cooking. As far as meats, I've done roasts, chicken, stew, often from frozen, never boiled anything and no illness results.

[Mia]

So can you say that cooking meat in a crock pot is like cooking in the oven - you don't need to boil first? But do you set the temperature for "high" then, after some hours, for 'low" for meat? Because I do so when I cook meat in an oven.

Rice cooker is also good but I am hesitating of a Teflon coating of a rice cooker. Slow cooker is stoneware which is more healthy for cooking, and, I think, more durable.

Indeed, that a difficult decision That's because I know so little about those convenient appliances.