Recommend me a good crockpot/slow cooker
 

I'm in the market for a crockpot to help prepare meals for myself, help save money and to allow me to have food ready on hand. I'm interested in one with a timer that will automatically change settings to "warm" once set cooking time is reached. I work alot and not home most of the day so a "manual" crockpot won't work for me.

So far I've found one good one at walmart.

Crock-Pot® Smart-Pot? 5-Quart/4.7 L Slow Cooker at Walmart.ca

It has all the features I'm looking for. It has good reviews from the research I've read about.
If you have used a crockpot, please share experiences with it.

I would suggest you get a bigger one.. Remember the volume should be the amount your ingredients when you start off with.. with the cooking, final skimming etc.. you won't have a lot left... especially if you want to save money and time to have several meals in one go.

Also for considering $ and environment; I prefer the ones with simplest knobs. If I want the cooker to be timed, I use one of those old school mechanical timer plugs. I avoid anything with soft touch PCBs, they last only for a few years, then the controller breaks. It took me forever to find a dishwasher that has a stainless steel tub and a mechanical timer ;)

That's the one I have (not sure on size as I bought this years ago) and it works the way it should. I mean, it's the "original" crock pot! LOL.

And agreed on the above on the size..however dependant on who you're using it for. 1-2 people? A family? Etc etc.

I don't own a crockpot, but I do a LOT of stewing.
You guys don't see it in the stuff I post, but when I'm not cooking for others, I make large batches of stews to feed myself.


Here are some things to keep in mind:

1. Good stews generally start with browning off your meat. I don't think you can do this in your average slow cooker. When I have used them, I brown off in a pan first, then dump the ingredients into the slow cooker.
2. Is this for 1 person, 2 people or a family?
   I have discovered that as I am cooking more often, that doing menus for larger groups of friends (6+), is that stew on mashed potatoes is just as simple regardless of number of people.
3. What is your evening schedule like?
   I am usually home in the evening, I find it just fine to stew at night, fridge it before bed and nuke it when I'm home from work.
   If that's the case, consider a Dutch Oven.
   It's an enamel coated cast iron pot.
   I use mine for stew, soups and deep frying.
   And it will brown your meat (solves my question #1).
   Also, if you make a stew, you can just put the meat to a plate, then reduce the sauce right in the same vessel.

So it really depends on your usage.

^Good points.

To be honest, I rarely use my crock pot anymore because I like to make things from scratch and with my watch. I usually prepare the night before and finish it off when I get home (congee/soups/sauces). However, if you're on a time crunch I definitely think a crock pot is helpful.