Elliott - CrockPot Recipes Cookbook For Beginners: 200+ Healthy & Delectable Crock Pot Slow Cooker Recipes For Everyday Meals

Introduction

A Slow Cooker which is so often referred to as a Crock-Pot, is a table top electrical home appliance that is used to cook stews and other dishes containing liquids (water, sauces, and more) at somewhat low temperatures. This causes longer cooking times of several hours. Many crockpot recipes simply call for the ingredients to be put in the crock and have almost no preparation. The crockpot can then relatively safely be left to run unattended. This makes for a very convenient cooking method.

Recipes for cooking with a slow cooker / Crockpot

Recipes intended for other cooking methods (baking, broil, grill, etc) must be adjusted for crockpot cooking. Quite often the amount of water must be decreased, as cooking at higher temperatures requires an increase in liquid allowance for evaporation.

The History of the Crock Pot Yesterday, Today and Beyond

Crock-pots... almost everyone has one, but do they use them? Many just stay in the cupboard, completely underused. Slow cooking has been used for hundreds of years to get the most out of food, but it used to be a lot more work than it is today.

Way Back When the Origins of Slow Cooking

Slow cooking has been around ever since people figured out how to make an iron pot. One could be hung over a fire for many hours while food simmered in it, or a smaller one could be filled with ingredients and buried in the coals to cook. People have long known the benefits of slow cooking their food. The obvious detriment to these methods was the attention it took tending the fire all day and stirring the contents of the pots.

Cooking on a low heat for many hours tenderizes tough meats through the softening of the fibers. The natural collagen also melts, creating a tender, delicious meal that is full of gelatin and nutrition. Long cooking times may also be beneficial to tough root crops, rendering them more digestible. Dried beans and lentils also benefit from a long cooking time on low heat.

Todays Crock Pot not Your Mothers Slow Cooker

In the 1950s, Naxon Utilities Corporation of Chicago created the first slow cooker. It was called the Beanery All Purpose Cooker, and it was designed to help people cook baked beans. It was basically a ceramic pot that fit inside a metal pan with heating elements around the inside. This kept the heat even all around the food, but kept it out of direct contact.

Naxon was bought by Rival in 1970. The Beanery was reinvented as the Crock Pot. During the 1970s, more women were joining the workforce, and the Crock Pot helped them manage to feed their families as well. It was easy enough to fill it before they left for work and be able to come home to a hot meal.

Crock-pot Evolution

Over the years, Crock Pots have evolved. They now have ceramic pots that are removable, making cleaning much easier than the old models. With the older pots, one had to be careful during cleaning that the electrical cord not get wet. The new ceramic inserts are dishwasher safe, as well, making clean up even easier.