I Crocked It!
Before making the purchase, I
went to my local Bed Bath and Beyond to get "hands on" experience.
There's that $5 off/20% perpetual coupon that was burning a hole in my
pocket. Unfortunately, the selection at the store I visited was extremely
limited (which made me wonder if people around here actually DO slow cook).
I was also trying to decide which would be the best economical way to
make the purchase. Did I want to walk in, actually hold the product and
purchase using my coupon so that I could go home and use the next day? Or
did I want to go on line and use the remainder of Amazon gift card that I had
and not know when I would get to use it?
After seeing the selection (or
lack thereof) and pricing, I decided to go online and make my purchase. The
Hamilton Beach 7 quart programmable seemed to be the best buy to me. I
DID NOT chose express shipping or rush because I did not want to pay for it.
However, I ordered it on Wednesday night and it arrived on Friday night.
(Aren't I glad I didn't pay for shipping!) When I did my weekly
grocery shopping on Thursday night, I made sure to purchase a pork shoulder so
that I could give pulled pork another try. I also purchased, at the suggestion
of several friends, crock pot liners. They were not that economical. (4 cost
just under $4.) However, the thought of no mess clean up made me decide
to give them a try.
Saturday morning, I lined the
pot. (Which wasn't too difficult even though I had a larger crock pot
which I thought might "test" the limits of the liner...it didn't!)
I had salt/peppered the pork and threw it in the pot with onions, garlic,
and white cooking wine. (I also threw in some carrots and celery for good
measure.) Set the thing to cook low for 8 hours and walked away.
Well, I tried to walk away.
Over the next 8 hours I kept checking back in to make sure the thing was
actually cooking. (For the longest time it seemed like it wasn't!)
But after 8+ hours (I let it sit on warm for a while), I pulled it out
and easily fork shredded. (Think I should have save/froze the bone and
used for soup in the fall? I didn't but maybe in the future, anyone make
soups in the crock?) What didn't shred was the liner. I let the
slow cooker cool and then carefully pulled the whole thing out and discarded.
I thought the bag might have leaked a little, but in hindsight, I think
it was just a little condensation. The only thing I had to clean was the lid.
I'm sold on the liners, now I just want to find them at a better price.
(I'll be searching for coupons for Reynolds brand. My research says
they are the best and let's face it spending a little more for a quality
product is prudent.)
I'm pretty happy with my
purchase. (Though not as happy as my husband is with his new big screen
tv! Shout out of Amazon for their excellent delivery service.
Deliver was scheduled for between 6-9 AM. The truck pulled up in
front of our house by 5:30 AM. My husband saw them and waved them in.
They said they would have waited till 6 otherwise. I was out doing
my daily walk while all this happened and by the time I got back at 6:30 it was
all set up, if not completely programmed and ready to go. I was able to
get the 7 o'clock news which made me happy. If I don't get my week day
dose of "Your World in 90 Seconds" I'm not a happy camper.) Now
I just have to figure out what else I can/should make. I'm thinking pot
roast might be yummy. (I have a great recipe, but it was always messy to
make in the over. This slow cooker could be a game changer when it comes
to that!)
As always, I'm open to
suggestions. Especially ones that are different. While poultry and
shellfish might be nice, they're off the table for me due to food allergies.
(Anything with egg too.)
So, slow cooking fans, let me
know what you like to slow cook. Recipes are always appreciated!
You've taught me that slow cooking is no crock!
I don't think you have Kroger up there? I get their liners and they have been holding up fine and are about $1.95 for 4.
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