I have been using a six-cup Rival slow cooker for a very long time – decades! It does a wonderful job on small amounts of food, but it has only one control – the plug. Either it is plugged into the wall, and is ON, or unplugged from the wall, and it is OFF.
So when I saw this beauty with HIGH – LOW – and AUTO (which really means KEEP WARM), I swung into action.
Today was the first time I used it. I made split pea and lentil soup with ham and chicken bone broth. The other ingredients were onion, celery, and carrots. To make this as easily done as possible, I put the split peas and lentils into the Nissan-Thermos vacuum bottle to “cook” for a few hours this morning, so when it came time to make the soup, I just sautéed up the veggies, brought the broth to a boil, heated the ham in the boiling broth, and then put the whole of it into the Nesco slow cooker to let the flavors mingle for a few hours.
I like to make sure everything is at the boiling point before entrusting the cooking to a low-wattage appliance, so that the food is taken to, and kept at, a safe temperature during the time it is in there. Expecting a slow cooker to bring food to a safe temperature quickly is not going to happen, but it will maintain it at, and just below, the simmer for a very long while. This develops a wonderfully rich flavor.
It was so flavorful in fact, that I didn’t add another thing to it while it was cooking. DH added Tabasco sauce when we were eating it at lunch time, but I thought it needed nothing more. Happily there is enough left for another lunch.
. . .There’s something about a Tabasco Man. . .
Yup!
That must be yummy
Definitely was! Still enough left for a small bowl each.
I have a single person slow cooker now, and yep, it is only ON or OFF. But when I used to cook for two, we did have a larger slow cooker and I loved that I could program it for a certain number of hours and then it would switch over to warm. So I’ve learned something new – that’s what helps keep the flavor so awesome? That it’s kept simmering for so long?
The ON and OFF is okay; the temperature varies up and down to keep it simmering most of the time, but somehow this bright red beauty just makes the food seem ever so much more wonderful! ;-> If you like beans, try them from scratch in there, but soak them in salt water overnight beforehand. And be sure that the appliance is heated up and the food is already hot when you put it in there. Tepid food is a fabulous breeding ground for things you really might not want to ingest. This is a great way to come home to food already prepared.
It would be nice to have a smaller slow cooker, but unless the small one would fit inside the big one I wouldn’t know where to put it.
Where there is a will, there is a way! It makes me happy just to look at its bright, shiny face on the counter. But I jettisoned my last one and put this one in its place. The old one will find a new home in our motorhome, taking the place of the yet even older one that is out there, but will soon reside at Goodwill or St. Vincent de Paul.
Nice looking toy! 🙂
The size is so perfect for this use.
The soup looks delicious. When will I ever use my slow cooker? I must try soon. Thanks for sharing
I used it to make bone broth by letting it simmer all evening, all night, and then decanted it the next morning. Perfect size!
That’s awesome. Don’t you just love when you get a new gadget?
Indeed! It’s magical!
love the red color on that !!
It’s definitely a smile provoker!
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