Are crock pots worth it?

[WillyBrandt]

Or am I going to wind up never using it after purchase? Be honest now...

[Liberal Veteran]

1. It will be in the basement most likely.

I just never found a use for mine.

[Don_G]

2. I Have A Small One

I use it several times a week.

[otohara]

3. I Love Mine

they don't cost a whole lot, great for spagetti sauces, pot roasts, chile, soups...go for it.

[WillyBrandt]

8. I'm 24, live alone, and work 60+ hrs/wk

I want to start cooking, but not spend too much time on it. Is it more suited to families? I really don't know...

How do you usually use it?

[dedhed]

12. There are different sizes available

I think the huge, 5-quart ones are useful for making 6-8 serving family meals. But there are smaller models available, so you may want to look into them. If you halve a recipe intended for the 5-quart model you're liable to burn your meal a little.

:bounce:

[fishnfla]

13. It does depend on your situation, as you say

I have 3 that i use all the time, but yes, we have a family and we entertain alot, as well as hit alot of "pot luck" parties. so I use the crap out of mine. i have grilled brats today and they are stewing in the beer and butter and onion in the crock pot now, i can throw them in the fridge tonight and heat them for dinner tomorrow, while i had the grill fired up I made 2 meals.

for a single guy, 'prolly not

[otohara]

20. For Easy Meals

stuff you can stick in the fridge for left-overs.

So easy, to brown some sausage, or seasoned ground beef in the am, throw a bottle of your favorite spagetti sauce in...same with small pot roast - brown w/ onions -season - throw it in w/ a little liquid, some soy sauce...microwave some veges when your ready to eat and toss in pot for a while, I do that so the veges don't eat up the fluids and get all soggy.

I don't like meat that's tough - cooking in the crock pot all day long makes meats fall off the bone tender. I make the best green chili - tough pork makes me gag, it's got to cook in the crock pot for a very long time.

Eating out all the time is expensive and not healthy - learning to cook is a good thing as martha would say.
I love to cook - don't like baking however.

[NJCher]

4. I use mine all the time

And calling all vegetarians--there's a cookbook out now about how to use your crockpot in cooking vegetarian entrees.


Cher

[freetobegay]

5. Worth it! Love it! Can't live without it!

[swag]

6. Cut to the chase and get divorced now.

[WillyBrandt]

9. Marriage first, then divorce

haven't gotten to stage one yet :)

[achtung_circus]

21. Marriage is an institution,

but who wants to live in an institution?
Groucho Marx

Make multiles of meals and freeze the excess.

[Tripper11]

7. We use ours fairly regularly....

not as much in the summer, but winter. Especially with both of us working, it's nice to get meal ready the night before n the corck pot. Put it on in the morning and have a nice hot meal waiting for us when we get home.
The one we got came with a recipe book and we've enjoyed quite a few good meals from it.
It's the preparing the night before that akes it worth it, when you have the gumption to do it.

[dedhed]

10. Crock pots ROCK!!!

I use my all the time!!! I usually put all of the ingredients together the night before I want to use it. Then in the morning, dump everything into the pot and turn it on. Eight hours later, when I get home from work, I got a piping-hot, homemade meal all ready to eat!

Use it once, and you'll be hooked!

:bounce:

[hunter]

11. I love my crock pot.

In peaceful times I actually thought about dinner when I got out of bed in the morning, and I made some very wonderful food with it.

Lately when I get out of bed, ever since Bush was selected, I can't think about dinner. My stomach hurts, and I wonder "what new shitstorm will this day bring?"

My crockpot is a tool for peaceful times, but even in unpeaceful times it has an honored place in my cupboard.

[FascistAdder]

14. Its a matter of taste.

There more useful if you buy the deep oval shaped ones. The other kind are very hard to cook corned beef and roasts in without cutting them up in to pieces. I am not a big stew, roast type of person very often so I am using it maybe once or twice a month. I mostly cook the corned beef. But I hear there is a lot more you can do with them and if you start them in the morning on low they will have your food cooked by the time you get home.

[Nikia]

15. I've used mine a few times

To bring chili to work. They are great for keeping hot food hot. Some people like them for cooking, but I'm paranoid about leaving one on all day in my house.

[Raster]

16. are you a cooker? if you don't cook, it will probably be a waste...

...unless you are a non-cooker and decide a Crock-Pot is your first foray into culinary self-sufficiency. Then, you may really get into it.

on edit: I love 'em. Stews and chilis absolutely ROCK!!!

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

17. Here's an easy introduction:

Go out and get a pork roast that will fit into the thing. Also get a bag of Sauerkraut. Put the Sauerkraut in the bottom. Brown the outside of the roast in a frying pan, then put it in the crock pot. Cook until pork is tender.

I predict you will love it.

[eileen from OH]

18. ABSOLUTELY. .. though

I don't actually use it to cook in, except for rare occasions - like when I do an all-day stew.

But for those holiday dinners, make your mashed potatoes hours ahead and put 'em in a preheated crockpot and they'll keep beautifully. (If you're like me, you hate all that last minute stuff.) I just set the crockpot on the buffet, plugged in, and then anyone who wants seconds - well, they're still hot!

This alone (for me) is a reason to have a crock pot!

However, it's also great for warming rolls (and, again, keeping 'em warm throughout the dinner.) Although ya might as well use the leftover rolls as doorstops - they will harden if left in too long and then cooled.

If you do any entertaining it ALL, it's great for keeping stuff hot - like meatballs in sauce for appetizers, or sloppy joes, etc.

DO get the kind with the removable pot that can go in the dishwasher, though. The other kind is a pain to wash (don't I know it!)

eileen from OH

[dweller]

19. one of the better

chili makers in the book.
there are hundreds of recipes for crockpots, check the internet.
for grins, stick a couple of potatos in the cooker, turn it on, come home later in the day, and presto, baked potato waiting on you, and better than a nuked one.

you'll find a use for it if you want.
dp

[Morning Dew]

23. Haven't made chili...

but I do pork chops and chicken frequently.

A crock pot is a purchase you won't regret.

[AlFrankenFan]

22. yes

they are wonderful. my mom makes corned beef and beans in it all the time. just depends on what kind of food you like and make.

[Kurt Remarque]

24. get thee to a yard sale