Buyers Guide: Slow Cookers

The History of Slow Cookers

Most people have at least one slow cooker in their kitchen, but few know where slow cookers actually came from.  A slow cooker fits on the countertop, and is used to slowly cook a meal throughout the day, while the family is at work or school.  It cooks foods at low temperatures, and moisture is slowly evaporated, so it’s suitable for making tougher cuts of meat tender.

In the early 1960s, a small appliance manufacturer named West Bend, still around today, developed a bean cooker called the bean pot.  It was suitable for making bean dishes, soups, and stews.  Shortly after that, Irving Naxon developed a slow cooker in Chicago, based on his Jewish grandmother’s story about how she’d cook bean dishes all day in the oven, back in her home town of Lithuania.  Her favorite dish to make was cholent, a stew made from meat, potatoes, beans, and barley.  Irving named his company the Naxon Utilities Corporation of Chicago and sold his slow cooker under this name.

In 1970, the Naxon company was bought up by the Rival Company, an American small appliance manufacturer that was started in 1932.  In 1971, Rival reintroduced the slow cooker under the brand name “Crock-Pot”.  The brand name thrived, as more women entered the workforce in the 70s, and needed a solution for making easy meals for dinner time, while they were at work.

In 1974, the Rival Company designed a better Crock-Pot by making the ceramic pot removable, enabling for easier clean up.  The Crock-Pot also came with a glass tempered lid, to keep food warm while cooking, or while being stored in the fridge.  Today pots are now dishwasher-safe, for even easier clean up.

Sunbeam Products, a part of the Jarden Corporation, is now the owner of the Crock-Pot name.  Jarden currently owns over 120 product brands globally.

Other makers of the slow cooker include Hamilton Beach, West Bend, GE, Magic Chef, KitchenAid, Cuisinart, and American Electric Corporation.  The term Crock-Pot belongs solely to Sunbeam, so the generic term “slow cooker” is used for all other makers of this small appliance.  In the 1970s, cooks often used the term Crock-Pot interchangeable with any slow cooker, but today that term is discouraged, unless it’s the actual Crock-Pot brand, so the term slow cooker is used more commonly for this type of cooker now.

Today’s slow cookers come in basic models, or with more complex functions such as timers, auto-turn off, temperature controls, indicator lights, and more.  A slow cooker may consist of one pot, or three in one unit. All slow cookers come with lids, to keep food warm, or for easy storage in the fridge.  Many three pot appliances have slots in the back where the lids can be safely stored, keeping moisture from accumulating on the counter or table.

The slow cooker has provided decades of delicious home-cooked meals and is sure to remain a kitchen staple for generations to come. 

Why Use A Slow Cooker?

Why You Should Use a Slow Cooker

While many people already own a slow cooker, there are others that have yet to discover this versatile appliance. As more people gravitate towards buying fast food for dinner, rather than cooking a good wholesome meal, it can have a negative impact on their family’s health. There are many reasons why you should use a slow cooker. They can be purchased from almost any department store, home wares store, online, and at Amazon.com. Let’s explore the main considerations on why you should add this great tool to your kitchen counter.

Many people don’t have time to spend a couple of hours in the kitchen each day preparing meals. And the last thing you want to do after you return home from a long day at work is to spend it standing up, trying to get a meal together. It doesn’t matter if you’re single, or you have a family. Preparing meals is work, not to mention the clean up afterwards. That’s why a small appliance like this can help you out in the kitchen. You’ll be able to prepare your meal the night before, chop up the veggies and meat, put the pot in the fridge, then in the morning set up your cooker, and you’re ready to go. By the time you get home from work, you’ll have a delicious meal ready and waiting.

When you cook in one pot, there’s a minimum amount of clean up to do after the meal. Simply wash your dishes, and if you have any meal left, you can store it back in the fridge, with the lid on top. Once your pot is empty, you can place the pot and lid in the dishwasher to wash up. You won’t have tons of pots and pans and utensils to worry about cleaning at the end of the day.

This appliance makes meals easier. With the slow cooker, you can cook, serve, and store your meal all in one convenient spot. Most cookers come with tempered lids, so you can keep your food fresh, and not have to waste plastic wrap, which is bad for the environment anyway. It’s definitely
eco-friendly.

Depending on specs, most of these machines are relatively inexpensive to buy. A quick perusal online will bring up a basic model for around $20, while a high quality one with extra features can run around $100. Something priced around the mid range is likely perfect for most cooks.

This small appliance is versatile, and can cook many different types of recipes. For example you can cook a pot roast, beef or pork, all day, and have it ready by the time you come home for dinner. It’s easy to add in potatoes, yams, or carrots as well. If you have one of the machines that comes with two or three pots, you can make a multi-course meal. You don’t need to be a meat eater to enjoy this product either. Vegetarians can make many meat-free dishes, including stews, soups, and chili. A cooker will even make a delicious dessert, such as rice pudding.

Having a good home cooked meal is so much better than buying a TV dinner. Often times those are full of chemicals you don’t even recognize, and fast food isn’t much better. A home cooked meal every day of the week is going to have a positive impact on everyone’s health and well being, and best of all, you’ll know about what ingredients your meal contains.

Making your own meals can be cheaper on the pocket book too. If you can take the $10 you spend on fast food, and buy a couple bags of vegetables, then you’re already ahead of the game. You’re spending your hard-earned money on good food, not bad. And you’re keeping some fast food CEO from getting rich too.

Home cooked meals taste better. Sure, that fast food smells good, but then as you’re halfway through your meal, you may be wondering, why did I bother buying this crap in the first place? Oh right, because it was fast. Home cooked meals are so much better, as you can tailor them to your tastes and add as much seasoning as you like. If onions upset your tummy, you can leave those out. Garlic can be another culprit that you can avoid by making your own dishes.

It may take a bit of work to get into the habit of using an electric cooker a few times a week, but once you’re in the swing of things, you’ll be able to quickly whip up a great meal to place in the pot, in minutes. It’s also fun to make meals. There’s no messing with pots and pans, so you’ll discover just how much fun it is to use a small appliance a couple times a week.

This appliance can be purchased by single people or families. There’s pots available that are from two quarts, to around eight quarts. You can measure exactly how much food you want to make. If you want enough for an entire week, then great, if not, you can decide how many days you want to have easy meals.

Have you ever attended a buffet and been stuck eating cold lasagne or a cold stew, because by the time the hostess has set it all up, the food has cooled down? Well, with a cooker device, you won’t ever have the issue again with the food you bring. Having an appliance that can not only cook your food over the course of the day, but also keep it hot at mealtime, can be extremely handy when you’re hosting a buffet, or need to bring a dish to a pot luck event. Once it’s ready, all you have to do is set up the appliance on the sideboard, plug it in, and everyone can enjoy a hot meal. Your friends will be thrilled with your dish.

A slow cooker makes a great gift for anyone, and every kitchen should have at least one on the counter. Soon everyone you know will be enjoying freshly made meals several times a week.