I Crocked It!



Thank you all for your feedback and thoughts on slow cookers.  As you can probably tell, I took the plunge and bought one...the day AFTER Amazon Prime Day!  (Perhaps I could have timed it better?)


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!

Comments

  1. Queen of DishingJuly 17, 2017 at 3:11 PM

    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.

    ReplyDelete

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