confession: i hate 95% of food that I make in the crock pot.

groovygrl

I'm ready to throw in the towel, I have tried so many recipes from blogs, recipe sites, cookbooks... part of the problem on some days is that I leave at 8 am and we don't eat dinner until after 7 so the stuff is in there overcooked and dried out unless I make something really soupy like or add way too much liquid but the meat still gets funky (mine is digital so I can't use the handy timer trick that some people use with the dial ones, I"m totally jealous of that) .  But in general, I just don't like food prepared that way I guess. I'm kind of sad about it b/c I love the ease of it but getting sick of throwing away food or eating food that I don't like so I think I am giving up unless it is a soup or something.

Anyone else feel this way?? 

SallyJean95

I had my grandma's dial hand me down and I loved that thing and everything I made in it.  I would put it on before work (8 am) and it would be perfect at 5:30.  I stupidly sold it in a garage sale and got a new one for my shower because I wanted one that the crock came out so it would be easier to clean. 

BIG MISTAKE!  I absolutely hated my new one.  Everything tastes overdone and the same.  It cooks way too fast and I can only use it when I'm home and start it no more than 4 hrs on the lowest setting.  I blame the crock pot.  I am doing everything the same as I did with G'ma's so that could be the only thing.  When I looked up reviews on amazon it got terrible results and it sounds like the world hates this one. 

But I'm not giving up.  I got yet another one for Christmas but I haven't made anything in it yet. 

lindylogana

Does you DH get home earlier to turn it down to low?  I leave around 8 and don't get home until 6:30.  Luckily DH comes home a little earlier and he will turn it down to low instead of the high its on. 

groovygrl

No- I get home an hour before he does and I usually cook everything on low for about 6 hrs and then it changes to 'warm' after the preset time for low....

MeghanF13

FWIW - with the dial ones, you can't put meat in it and leave it to turn on later. That's not food safe. Once you put meat in it, you need to turn it on. Maybe try recipes that are meant to be cooked longer? I don't like much of what I have made in the crock pot, but it's mostly because I am just not a fan of the types of food cooked in them. I have 1-2 recipes I like.

katie.i.do

bummer dude.

i have definitely had crock pot mishaps in my day, but there are some things that are just right.

abrazz

I have never got the hang of the crock pot, but I love love love my roaster!  I season the meat, wrap it in foil and leave it all day.  You don't put water in it because the meat has enough in it if you wrap it tight enough in the foil.  My mom does her briskets this way and puts them in semi frozen and it produces more juice.  The longer you cook it, the better it is.  You would still have to make sides but that wouldn't take too long.  HTH

2-Step

I have the same problem. The only things I have had success with for long days are soups, chili and pulled pork. Everything else gets super overdone, no matter what I do. Sometimes I'll use it on the weekends, but it literally cooks everything in 4-6 hours on low so no way I can use it for most recipes on weekdays. 

SeaStar430

I always had the overdone problem with my Rival crockpot, have never had it with my Hamilton Beach.  It's generally the consensus on the cooking board that Rivals overcook everything.

KYmama9286

This might be a silly suggestion since I dont really use my crock-pot so I dont know if it would work but what about attaching it to a christmas light timer (or really any kind of timer) so that it turns off at a certain time. Granted you might need to rewarm some of the food depending on how long it has been turned off but I would guess that the crock would keep it pretty warm even once its been turned off especially with the lid on it and if nothing else I would rather have to zap something in the microwave than have dried out food. Just an idea!

groovygrl

SeaStar430:

I always had the overdone problem with my Rival crockpot, have never had it with my Hamilton Beach.  It's generally the consensus on the cooking board that Rivals overcook everything.

Huhhhhhhh interesting. Mine is a Rival. I don't know if I'm willing to reinvest in another though, I think part of it is just not liking that type of food (for example I hate pot roast in any form) maybe? I will say that I do like chili in it though! And soups.  I just always feel like people rave about some recipe & I try it & don't like it but that is good to know that maybe part of it is the crock pot itself!

jenn&Dave2005

groovygrl:

I don't know if I'm willing to reinvest in another though, I think part of it is just not liking that type of food (for example I hate pot roast in any form) maybe?

that's how I feel.  Everything tastes like beef stew, a zillion recipes out there and they're basically beef stew.  I always just thought its because we don't eat chicken so things were limited!  Maybe I just don't like beef stew all that much.

diana.filipi

I have several different sized/shaped crockpots.  My favorite thing to make these days is pulled pork or pulled chicken BBQ.  I also like salsa chicken a lot.  It always comes out really juicy and tender.