Join the Slow Cooker Odyssey with Carrington Fox

Nom nom Paleo webite has some wonderful instant pot recipes. and Michelle Tam has lots of other good things on her site.

I too have just acquired a Cuisinart 3 in 1 Multicooker. I am completely new to slow cooking but am a dedicated one-pot-meal cook, so I have high hopes.

One thing I did not realize is that since slow cookers come in different sizes, a recipe designed for one size may not work in another. I bought my Cuisinart because it received the second-highest rating from Cook’s, just a smidge behind the KitchenAid model that I could not find nearby, in my must-have-a-slow-cooker-right-now frame of mind. I paid no attention to the size of the cooker, which turns out to be 5-6 quarts.

The first dish I made was an Asian beef concoction; the recipe did not reference pot size. The beef was dry on top but soft and melty on the bottom. I then bought a slow cooking magazine, read about size differences, and learned / concluded that for recipes not specific to larger cookers I need to add more liquid.

My next attempt was a Cuban chicken and rice dish, with the rice cooked separately. The Cuisinart has a browning function, and they tell you that if you use it, you need to add more liquid, since the slow cooking begins at a higher temp than it would without the in-pot browning. The only real “liquid” in the recipe was tomato paste, aside from juices from tomatoes, peppers, and onions. I doubled the tomato paste (still only 2T), but then also added almost a cup of chicken broth. The result was almost perfect; next time I’ll use a little less broth, but without the broth the chicken would definitely have been very dry.

I know I’ve gone on and on here, but I want novices like me to be aware that the size of your crockpot can affect the success of your recipes.

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This morning I looked in the freezer and there was a small chuck roast staring back. Applied kosher salt and smoked paprika just as you said and tossed it in the crock pot. Huge Friday night hit! Roasted some veggies to go with. Can’t wait to try the brisket. Thanks Kay!

I live with and am full-time caregiver to my sis…this topic is a god send.

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We got an instant pot and our favorite thing is to “soak” dried beans in 4-6 minutes. We did fav a beans and they were set to peal that quickly. Amazing.

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Thanks for the recipe, tasted great, did it for 5 hrs on high in my slow cooker.

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How about recipes for the InstantPot?

There are a gagillion on the internet. I’ll try to find links for some we have enjoyed but mostly we just toss a bunch of stuff we like in and let her rip. Not recipes exactly but it is super for cooking dried beans (4-6 minutes) and making stock—we make big batches of both and freeze them.