Choosing a Slow Cooker

I've had my slow cooker since I bought my first condo, so the poor thing is about 9-10 years old.  I didn't pay a lot for it--maybe $25.  It's a basic 6-quart Rival Crockpot brand with a dial regulator with settings for warm, low, and high.  While it has never worked nearly as well as the 1970's avocado green model I found at a consignment shop (I'm kicking myself for not buying the orange/red one I found a week later), it has served its purpose making whole chickens and sitting on buffets.

Unfortunately, you get what you pay for.  The first to go was one of the rubber feet, so it sat at an odd angle on the counter.  Then, I lost the plastic knob on the cover.  That got replaced by a "ghetto fabulous" doorknob.

 

The last straw was when the carrying handles broke.  Now, it couldn't be moved when hot, so traveling to potlucks was out of the question.

 

So I started to do some research.  I knew I didn't want another Rival.  They're made cheaply.  I also knew I wanted a built-in timer with a keep-warm setting that kicked-in after the cooking time expired.  I was willing to upgrade to a better model, even if it meant paying upwards of $150.  However, most of the nicer name brands (Cuisinart, etc.) had fancy multi-cookers that were so huge and boxy, they wouldn't be good for travel. Also, I was concerned that a model made to sauté (for pre-browning) wouldn't regulate correctly on the slow-cooker setting.  Most had teflon-coated metal inserts, which scratch easily, and the heavy ceramic crock is part of what makes a slow-cooker heat so evenly and efficiently.

I kept coming back to the Hamilton Beach Set 'n Forget 6-Quart Slow Cooker, which before Christmas was selling for under $50.  It had generally good reviews and a great feature set, including:

• A timer that lets you set in half-hour increments.  Some have presets of 2, 4, 6, 8.
• A built-in silicone gasket on the lid to keep moisture in while cooking and  liquid in while traveling.
• Built-in locks for traveling to keep the lid secure.  No Velcro strap or rubber band nonsense like my old one.
• A probe thermometer that fits through a hole in the lid and will stop cooking a hunk of meat at a certain temperature.

There were a few complaints in the Amazon reviews:

• Some people reported a defect where the timer would crap-out and they'd come home to cold food.  This seemed to not happen recently and there was a newer model number available, so I opted for that and hoped for the best.  Either way, I'd expect them to honor warranty service.
• People complained that power outages (other than a flicker) caused the pot to not come back on with the power.  This is, quite frankly, a limitation of any computerized unit that I was willing to accept.
• People reported the locks getting in the way because they don't fold-down all the way.  Again, I decided this was nit-picking and now that I have it, I agree...it's not a deal-breaker.

I ended-up receiving the pot from my wife as a Christmas gift (Thanks, Honey!) and I'm very happy with it.  So far, I've made red sauce, a whole chicken, the breakfast casserole, and a pot of ham and bean soup (recipe to come soon).  It has worked as advertised and is way more convenient than my old pot.  I highly recommend it.

Going Slow-Cooker Crazy: Overnight Breakfast Casserole

If you've been following this blog for a bit, you know that I'm not really a "bag of this, can of that, package of those, dump-stir-bake" kind of cook.  I'm not above the occasional convenience food--especially for nostalgia's sake, but usually, if I can make something from scratch (and often save a buck), I will.

When my Dad mentioned bringing this Slow Cooker Breakfast Casserole for Christmas breakfast, I was intrigued.  However, I had already planned to make a similar dish, so I turned it down.  Okay, and I'll admit, I was probably trying to be a show-off entertainer for the holiday and didn't want something I hadn't tried to turn-out bad on Christmas morning.  Call me a food snob.  :-)

But it didn't move far from my mind.  I had gotten a brand-new Slow Cooker for Christmas and I've been itching to find atypical recipes for it, meaning not soup, stews, braises, chili, etc.  This recipe fit the bill.  So when we needed breakfast for a work event, I suggested letting the company pick-up the grocery tab and me doing the work.

The recipe calls for cooking it 6-8 hours on low, which, if you're sleep-loving person like me, is disconcerting.  What if it's done at the 6-hour mark and I'm still fast asleep?  I hate overcooked eggs, which seemed nearly impossible with this dish even at 6 hours.  Nonetheless, I picked-up all the items, sautéed, whisked, dumped, and stirred and set the timer as directed.

I happened to get up for a bathroom break at around the 5 hour mark and it seemed almost done.  I hemmed and hawed about resetting the timer to end it early, but reading in the recipe that "the sides should brown," I stuck it out and went to bed.  It looked kind of gummy at that point and the sides were pulling away like modeling clay (go cheese!).

This is what I woke-up to (as well as the strong odor of muddled breakfasty goodness).

Browned and bubbly, as advertised.  I turned the pot off and trucked it to work.  The guys loved it and ate most of the pot.  The store-bought muffins did not get eaten that day.  There you go.

Some thoughts on the recipe:

• This recipe makes a TON.  I calculated about 5 pounds of food going into the pot (sausage, cheese, eggs, potatoes) and it came within an inch or two of the top of a 6-quart pot and then cooked-down a few inches.  For a family meal, you might want to halve it, though it might cook in less time so that might be an experiment for the daytime and serve it for dinner.
• The "browning" is really more like "burnt cheese edges," which isn't necessarily a bad thing.  If you don't like browned cheese, back the time off an hour or two.  Obviously, you'll need a cooker with a timer and keep-warm setting.
• The recipe calls for salting each potato layer on top of the salt in the eggs.  Plus, some frozen hash browns already contain salt and cheese is salty.  I'd recommend backing-off on the salt wherever you can.
• If you're looking for a perfectly layered strata, this is not that dish.  Everything bakes into a big solid mass that you can scoop or cut out in chunks and because of the overnight cooking, the flavors muddle together.  Again, not a bad thing, just set your expectations accordingly.
• There's already plenty of fat and calories in this, but a nice hollandaise sauce would brighten it up a bit.  Maybe some crusty toast.  Why not?
• I'm amazed that this thing never stuck to the sides.  In fact, it left less residue in the crock than a whole chicken does.  Probably has to do with the greased pot and the amount of fat in the cheese.
• If you make the recipe as directed, expect the ingredients to set you back about $16, which isn't bad if you're feeding a crowd.

Overall, I'd make it again.