r/slowcooking

I was cooking a pork roast last night, and some of the juice somehow got into the bottom under the crock, and it cooked for several hours on high. When I took the crock out, the bottom had cooked on food, and one large cooked-on stain on the side, so I cleaned it out and noticed that it had eaten away at the silver finish in a few small places, exposing the metal. Is it still safe to cook in this?

One friend said I could recoat the inside with silver appliance paint and it would be fine, but I'm not convinced.

Every slow cooker soup I make is rich, heavy, creamy. Beef, cream cheese, cheese on top. Satisfying in a way that requires a nap afterward. This one is different and I wasn't prepared for how much I'd prefer it on a regular weeknight.

Lemon chicken orzo in the slow cooker comes out bright and clean — actual chicken flavor in a clear, herb-forward broth with a squeeze of lemon at the end that lifts everything and makes it taste like someone who knew what they were doing cooked it. Which honestly, the crockpot did. I just chopped some vegetables.

The lemon goes in at the end, not the start. Lemon juice added at the beginning of a long slow cook turns bitter and flat — the citric acid breaks down over hours and loses all its brightness. Squeeze it in the last 10 minutes and the whole bowl tastes alive.

Orzo also goes in the last 20–30 minutes only. Same rule as every pasta in a slow cooker — add it too early and it absorbs all the broth and turns to mush. Late addition, perfect texture.

I've been rotating this with my heavier slow cooker soups now — Salisbury steak meatballs one week, this the next. The contrast makes both taste better somehow.

Does anyone else keep a lighter slow cooker soup in rotation alongside the heavier comfort ones? Or is everyone else fully committed to cream cheese in everything? Recipe in the comments!

I've watch all the vids looked at so much advice. What is the best way to do corned beef in a slow cooker.

i am intrigued by the concept of a perpetual stew (i have foodsafe certification, not interested in hearing about people's judgments of perpetual stew as a concept lol) and thinking about starting to plan to make one for when i am in a more stable living situation after my degree. however, i am wondering if people who make perpetual stews from home are just monitoring it constantly or if they leave it unattended, and for how long and what sort of equipment they use? i am anticipating that i will not be lucky enough to work from home and would like to set up a stew that is perpetual for a period of at least a few months. does anyone have any tips? I know most slow-cookers have auto-turnoff options, which could be a risk for brewing bacteria but most importantly would make it not perpetual.

point of clarification: i am vegetarian and will not be putting any meat in my stew, and would potentially be making it vegan too but i haven't decided yet, hence why i am less concerned about bacteria.

Hi! I just cooked a 6.5 lb chicken on high and it took 2.5 hours! Glad I was using a meat thermometer. This appliance is set it and...keep a close eye on it. Anyone else had this experience?

https://preview.redd.it/trpowadanw1h1.png?width=512&format=png&auto=webp&s=c2de919e3ef9932e38876f686ef53f939dad3dfa

I usually think of chicken noodle soup as the thing you make when someone is sick, but this version is definitely more of a “cold night, stretchy pants, second bowl” situation.

I started with chicken, broth, ranch seasoning, cream cheese, cheddar, and noodles, and it turned into this creamy, cozy soup that tastes somewhere between chicken noodle soup and crack chicken dip.

Recipe in the comments!

thinking about getting a multi cooker pot, but i’m mostly interested in using it for slow cooking. i don’t have a ton of kitchen space, so the idea of one appliance that can slow cook, sauté, maybe steam/rice cook/etc sounds useful. but i keep seeing mixed opinions where some people say multi cookers are fine, and others say they don’t slow cook as evenly as a regular Crock-Pot. mainly use it for stuff like stews, pulled chicken, pot roast, chili, soups, and easy low-effort meals where i can throw everything in and not think about it for hours. i don’t really care about having 20 fancy modes if the slow cook function is mediocre

In the title. Trying to make the jump to vegetarian but I'm concerned that the meals I make won't be filling enough. "Just eat more" yeah fine, I will, but I'm still new to this and don't even know where to start. On top of that, I'm on a budget in terms of actual dollars and kitchen equipment - I have a slow cooker, a cutting board, a can opener and one decent knife.

What're your go-to vegetarian slow cooker recipes? I like spicy stuff.

We got a cheap, 10 qt slow-cooker recently primarily to make dog food since using a large pot was a bit inconvenient. I noticed the crock has small amount of play where it sits in the heating element and that if one side is touching the heating element, that side will burn. It is a struggle to keep it perfectly centered, especially when stirring the food periodically. The burning will happen on any setting (warm, low, high) and happen in various locations depending on how the pot sits.

Has anyone ever used some like silicon or heat resistant tape to keep the crock centered and not touching the element? Just like 4 vertical strips to keep it centered using something like this stuck to the side of the crock or heating element. Thanks!