Just tested: Crock-Pot
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Slowly cook and stew soups, stews and roulades. And by very slow I mean hours, up to ten hours. That is the principle behind slow cooking. Simple, tasty and healthy, it is said. I have to experience that. So I tested the Crock-Pot for HealthNet.
What is it?
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The Crock-Pot is a slow cooker and consists of an electric stainless steel outer pan and a ceramic inner pan. It is available in three sizes and comes with a cookbook for the novice slow cooks. The pan has three positions. A low setting, a high setting and a keep warm setting. The lowest heat setting ensures that the dish stays at the right temperature without boiling. A cooking time of one hour on the high setting is two hours on the low setting.
Why slow cooking?
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The food cooks slowly in its own liquid, so that the nutrients do not boil away or are released into water. Due to the heat distribution, the meal does not overcook or burn. Stewing also ensures that aromas and herbs come into their own. In addition, the ingredients retain their structure and do not break down. To see if the Crock-Pot lives up to its promises, I have compiled a menu from the cookbook: onion soup in advance, a whole chicken as a main course and rice porridge for dessert. Due to the preparation time, I did prepare the dishes on three different days.
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11 minMain dishpeanut oil, tofu stir-fry cubes finely seasoned, stir fry sauce sweet and sour, thick noodles, carrot julienne, beetroot julienne, yellow bell pepper, watercress,rainbow salad with tofu -
45 minMain dishRed cabbage, mild olive oil, quinoa plus, forest outing, lemon, sesame oil, soy sauce less salt, Bio Today tahini white in pot, tap water,grilled red cabbage with quinoa salad -
30 minDessertBrie, Roquefort, port salut, gruyere, Camembert, walnut, garlic, thyme, honey, grape, baguette, Red onion, red grape, raisins, Red wine, Red wine vinegar, Brown sugar,generous cheese plate with onion marmalade -
30 minDessertFull Milk, whipped cream, macaroon, custard powder, vanilla sugar, sugar, protein, amaretto, almond liqueur, basic recipe cooking pears,macaroon pastry with casserole
How does it work?
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The operation of the Crock-Pot is simple. For the onion soup I had to sauté onions with some garlic and wine. Add the onion mixture with the stock to the Crock-Pot and let it rest for five hours on the low setting. The principle was roughly the same for the chicken. The whole chicken, carrots, celery, herbs and a little liquid (stock or wine) went into the pot, this time on low for eight to ten hours. Finally the rice porridge. Add milk, desert rice, butter, sugar and spices to the pot and cook on low for two hours. After that, the porridge had to be on the keep-warm setting for at least half an hour: the porridge thickened. [! 188306 => 1130 = 4!] The result
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I just wanted to add a good soup to the onion soup. And it worked. The soup had a beautiful color, the onions were soft and tasty. As befits a real homemade soup, it was even better the second day. For me, preparing a whole chicken sometimes results in dry chicken fillets and with rice porridge it is always quite a task to get the rice grains just soft enough. The porridge was just right and the chicken was delicious for the most part. The aromas of the herbs, carrots and celery were really absorbed. Unfortunately the chicken fillets were a bit dry anyway. An additional advantage of the preparation of the chicken was that the vegetables and the liquid from the bottom of the pot, diluted with water the next day, formed an excellent vegetable soup.
Afterwards
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The ceramic inner pan is very easy to clean. Both by hand and in the dishwasher.
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5 minDrink without alcoholbananas, cool fresh apple-pear raspberry juice, Soy drink vanilla,soy fruit shake -
20 minMain dishsauerkraut, sticking potato, liquid baking product, half-to-half minced, Spice meatballs, pineapple, olive oil, liquid baking product,gratin sauerkraut dish with minced meat -
40 minMain dishlemongrass, fresh ginger, Red peppers, onions, tomato cubes, fresh cod fillet, coriander, oil, ground turmeric (koenjit), coconut milk, salt,fish in creamy coconut sauce -
15 minSide dishsweet potato, soft goat cheese, egg, spring / forest onion,stuffed sweet potato with egg
Conclusion
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Cooking with the Crock-Pot is easy and the result is impressive. But for a weekday, the cooking times are actually too long for me. A timer could be a godsend.
Tips
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The Crock-Pot does not brown meat, if desired, pre-fry the meat in the frying pan first. The product loses very little moisture during cooking, so do not add more liquid than indicated in the recipe. Meat needs little stock or water, vegetables a little more. Fresh herbs lose their flavor during long cooking. So use dried herbs or add some extra herbs at the end. Milk and cream are best added during the last hour of cooking. It is important to leave the lid on the Crock-Pot while cooking. Especially if you cook on the low setting, because then you lose a lot of heat when you open it. Cooking for a shorter time on the high setting will benefit the food from time to time. The Crock-Pot costs € 69.00 for four people (3.5 liters), € 99.00 for six people (4.7 liters) and € 129.00 for 8 people (5.7 liters). The latter does contain a timer. Sales addresses can be found on the Crock-Pot website.
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