I bought a new crockpot a while ago. For years I had a great crockpot that turned out wonderful food. It finally broke apart, with the knob coming off so it had to be turned with a screwdriver and then the inner pot itself cracked, so I finally threw it away. I bought a new one that cooked fine, but the bottom got way too hot, to the point that I was stacking it on several layers of things so as to not damage my countertop, which is a Corian-like surface. Once, when I didn’t do that, the counter actually split apart, splintering in a weird way. The counter guy came and fixed it, said he’d never seen anything like it and he knew people used crockpots on them all the time. I love the counters but that sure made me nervous, even though you cannot find where the split occurred. But I kept reading that the newer slow cookers cook hotter than the old ones and wrote it off to that until I was at a neighbors and felt underneath her slow cooker and felt NO heat coming out! I went home and threw that one away and bought a new one.
The new one spits and gets far hotter inside than I expected, but has almost no heat coming out of the bottom. However, I’m unwilling to leave it on while I’m away for hours at a time like I used to do. And things cook way too fast. I put these ribs in on low at noon and they were overdone by 6pm. I think I’ll write to the manufacturer this time rather than assuming it’s normal. The liquid is literally boiling (more than a slow simmer for sure). I like the idea of this one, with an automatic switching from cooking temperature to “warm” but I feel like I should be cooking on the warm setting at this point.
Anyway, here’s the very easy recipe, if you can stretch the definition, for ribs in the winter. In the summer, I would either parboil and then quickly barbecue or barbecue on very low with a dry rub for many hours, my favorite if I’m around to turn them now and then.
- Pork ribs (I used boneless)
- barbecue sauce (Your favorite homemade or a bottle of store-bought)
Put the ribs in the slow cooker and cover with a barbecue sauce (however much it takes to coat them well). Cook on low for …hmmm…what do I say here? In the old slow cooker, I would have said 8 hours. In the new one, 6 was too many and they came out a bit dry because so much of the sauce had evaporated.
Maybe I should go haunt the thrift shops and find a good old fashioned cooker.
They go great with cornbread. I have a few different cornbread recipes I use dependent on what I have around. This one requires nothing extraordinary in the pantry and uses some brown sugar for sweetener. This one uses less milk and adds sour cream or yogurt instead.
Oh, if you’re looking for slow cooker recipes, check out Fix It and Forget It. I picked this up at Costco a year or so ago and have had fun exploring the different ideas. There are multiple similar recipes, which I like because I can read through several and get the basic gist and then get creative. Others might be frustrated by the repetition. I see there’s a new “light” version out now but haven’t picked it up yet.
I love my slow cooker, but the ones you buy today just aren’t as well make as they used to be. We had one that my wife bought when she was in college in the late 80s, and it was perfect. Finally gave up the ghost about 3 years ago though, and we replaced it. This one lasted about 6 months before we started seeing a crack in the crock… we got another 3 months out of it by using liners, but it finally split all the way. The one we have now cooks fine, but I’ve already had to repair the hinge on the lid several times, and there was a little plastic (largely decorative) piece on the front edge of the lid that broke off after a couple of weeks. Otherwise, no complaints. :p
You said you put it on for 3 hours on high and it recommended 6 on high. Most slow cookers are designed to cook on slow for 8-10 hours, the higher cooking time is for things that get mushy if left in the sauce, water, etc, for too long. Try using your slow cooker on low I bet you will find things come out sooo much better.
There’s a new cookbook, “Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Cookbook” reviewed by the Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com) on April 6 in the food section that excerpted several recipes, one of which sounds yummy: “Pork Tenderloin Braised in Milk with Fresh Herbs” (in this case, fresh rosemary, oregano & tarragon). I’m going to try it out on company tomorrow.
You make me want to break out my crock pot. There’s something about crock pot cooking that makes me think of great-grandmother stirring something all day over a woodburning stove. No one has to stir or tend the fire, yet the house smells as wonderful as if they did.
But I’m also wondering if they’ve changed the thermostats on the newer ones, if your cooking times are cut so short. I hope my old one still works.
So it seems the advantages of the slow cooker have kind of gone by the wayside. I mean, of something’s going to cook for just a few hours I can do that in the oven.
Gosh, the same thing happened to me today! Mine were done in about 3 hours on high. I’m glad I checked or they would have turned to rubber-the recipe said go for 6 on high. I guess I need to get a feel for my slow cooker on the weekends because a lot of the recipes I find are for long periods of time and would overcook terribly if I left them all day while at work.
Anna