The Gourmet Slow Cooker Volume II by Lynn Alley

Choosing a Slow Cooker
    For my first book on slow cooking,
The Gourmet Slow Cooker,
I tested all the recipes in machines I could then afford: the $19.99 specials from Home Depot and Target. I figured one slow cooker was as good as the next.
    I had two or three different brands in two or three different sizes. I’d test one recipe in the Hamilton Beach, another in the General Electric, and a third in the Rival. It never occurred to me to test one recipe in three different brands of slow cooker.
    Not, that is, until a reader wrote in saying that she followed my instructions for cooking beef burgundy to the letter, but that the liquid was completely gone by the specified end time. My editor asked me to retest the recipe to see if any change needed to be made in the amount of liquid called for. I tested it again and found that the suggested cooking time and the amount of liquid worked perfectly. I wondered what had gone wrong, and then it began to dawn on me that the fault might lie with the slow cooker.
    Different slow cookers cook at different temperatures. One manufacturer’s low temperature may not be the same as another’s. In general, the low setting should fall between 180°F and 200°F, and a high setting generally cooks around a hundred degrees higher. Cooking temperatures will vary depending on the size of the cooker, the altitude of the kitchen, the density and temperature of the food before it is placed in the crock, and how full the crock is filled. Knowing your slow cooker’s range in temperature is useful when cooking large pieces of meat, such as a pork loin (which should hit 165°F) or turkey breast (175°F), and other meats which must be cooked to a specific temperature in order to ensure safety. If you want to assess your cooking temperatures, use a kitchen thermometer and insert it into the middle of the contents of the crock, without letting it touch the bottom, or in the case of meat, the bone, two or three hours into the cooking time. With meat, the thermometer should be inserted into the center.
    So the one caveat I dish out with this book is “get to know your own slow cooker” and carefully observe how it cooks. Cooking times may vary according to manufacturer, model, and even, I am told, the amount of power coming into your house at any given time or in any given area.
    You may also find that the less expensive cookers have hot spots around the edges, while every effort has been made to stabilize the heat in the more expensive models. This may not matter much with the majority of recipes, but it is still a good idea to give the contents of your cooker a stir now and again. When baking cakes in the cooker, you may wish to carefully lift out the insert with potholders, turn it around, and then reinsert it for more even baking. You can certainly prepare your meals with an inexpensive slow cooker; I have cooked many good ones in mine. Just be aware of its possible shortcomings and idiosyncrasies. Watch it closely at first until you have a good sense of its timing.
    You may also wish to consider the different sizes and shapes available in slow cookers. The tiniest crock I have found, one and a half quarts, is perfect for cooking for one, and for making appetizers and dips. The four-to five-quart pots are good for families of four, and the seven-quart models are necessary for entertaining. Round pots are good for soups, grains, and bean dishes, but in general, the oval shape is more practical, as it accommodates large pieces of meat, and gives more surface area and visibility.
    A few other things to take into consideration when buying a slow cooker: Is the instruction book comprehensive and informative? Does the enclosed recipe book have good ideas and clear instructions? Is there a customer service number listed? If so, be sure to save it.
    The following is a list of some of the more reliable slow cooker manufacturers:

    All-Clad
    Breville
    CorningWare
    Cuisinart
    EuroPro
    Farberware
    General