The Benefits of Crockpot Cooking

About author / Sarah Christine Bolton

Coffee addict; professional food writer; food fusion. Her slow cooker recipes go above and beyond your normal crockpot fare.

Even though I use and write about my crockpot all the time, it’s easy for me to forget just how cool crockpot cooking is.

I remember my mom’s crockpot. The outside was scarred with burnt food and nicks from being crammed into a low kitchen cupboard. The deep brown, almost adobe-colored liner was heavy and old-fashioned looking.
She cooked just about everything and anything in that crockpot: chicken with carrots and red onions, meat stew with chunks of white potatoes, and chili, thick and saucy and warm. When she made roasts in that crockpot, they came out uber-tender, meat that melted in your mouth.

I read that when the crockpot was first “invented” in the 1970s, it was one of the most common wedding gifts. I guess times have changed, because surprisingly, my husband and I didn’t receive a single crockpot as a wedding gift in 2006. We did get plenty of casserole dishes, crystal vases heavy enough to use as a weapon, and an unknown piece of silver that we referred to as the “silver spoon thing.”

My first crockpot was a late-night Bed, Bath & Beyond purchase. I spent exactly 30 seconds comparing crockpots before deciding on the cheapest one. So far, it has served me well.

It’s my husband’s favorite appliance. Whenever I tell him I’m going to cook something in the crockpot, he knows he is about to get a home-cooked meal. And since that happens about once a month, he gets excited.

The history of slow cooking goes back way before crockpots were in existence. Apparently, even prehistoric people used slow cooking. They would take tough cuts of meat and hard root vegetables and cook them in a slow burning fire pit for up to 24 hours.

Since most of us don’t have easy access to a fire pit, the crockpot was a handy little invention.

A company in Chicago called Naxon Utilities Corporation invented a small slow cooker called a Beanery, which could be used to cook, you guessed it, beans. When the Rival Company bought Naxon out in 1970, they redesigned the Beanery and introduced the Rival Crock-pot slow cooker.
The crockpot might not be as popular as it once was, but I think it should be an important part of every kitchen.

Just for fun, I made a short list of all the reasons why I like cooking in a crockpot:

1. There is only one dish to clean. The other night, I made a chicken and rice casserole (not in the crockpot). It was delicious, but by the end of the whole process, I had six pans to wash. That’s just ridiculous!

2. Cooking in a crockpot is a great way to get rid of old vegetables and cheap meats. Just throw it all in, add some seasoning, and you end up with a tender, tasty meal.

3. Your house smells really good. If your schedule is anything like mine, you spend more time away from your house than you do at your house. Maybe your house doesn’t feel like “home.” But nothing says “home sweet home” and all that ooey gooey stuff like the smell of a tasty meal wafting through the air.

4. Slow cooked food is more flavorful and tender. Basically, I’ve already said that, a couple of times. But it’s so true. It’s usually pretty hard to mess up a meal in the crockpot.

5. It’s convenient to cook in a crockpot. You can throw all the ingredients in and then do your thing: go to work, school, Yoga, whatever. And when you come back, the house smells awesome (see number 3) and it’s really easy to clean up (see number 1).

6. Blame it on the crockpot if it all goes wrong. The great thing about making the crockpot do all the work is that if it comes out horribly, you can always blame the appliance and go for takeout.

What about you? Why do you like crockpot cooking? Share your thoughts. I’d love to hear them.

And if you are that person cooking in a fire pit…I’d like to know who you are!