I'm looking for a slow cooker to cook a bunch of food at one time in order to refrigerate it and reheat latter for easy meals. What size of slow cooker should I go for? I'm trying to decide between either a 5 qt slow cooker or a 7 qt slow cooker. The 7 qt slow cooker will obviously let me prepare more food at once but I am wondering if it might actually be too big?
Also, does anyone have any suggestions for good slow cooker cook books for healthy but simple to prepare foods?
I use the Chefman, pic related.
I use it too make bone broth over days. I add my seasonings. Onions, Carrots, Whatever.
I do this regularly.
Did you get the 5 or 7 qt version?
Not sure what the dilemma is here. I am pretty sure you are not obligated to fill a crockpot all the wall to use it. In fact I am making a half pot of BBQ meatballs right now for my brother's cookout.
Unless counter space or price is an issue, just get the larger one so you're covered no matter what.
I don't have much counter space and it's a 1br college apartment. So I'd prefer to get the smallest one that will still be big enough for bulk food cooking to freeze and refrigerate.
I don't see the 2 quart difference being a deal breaker. Even if you had to do a second meal prep during the week the beauty of a crock pot is there is little work involved. Get what you have space for.
I'm probably going with the 7qt I just can't find any measurements on it's actual size.
This book is fantastic. Loads of great recipes as well as a lot of information on slow cooking at the start from how to prep your food for the cooker to the basics of soup and stock making. Cooked the jerk pork recipe from it today and it was delicious.
I have a 5 quart Brella slow cooker. Works great, but it can easily make more food than I can eat in a week. To be fair, I detest eating the same thing over and over so I go through leftovers pretty slowly. I just make smaller batches or forcefeed it to my roommates.
I'm considering going with that chefman one but don't like how it isn't programmable. One of it's selling points is that it's naturally nonstick so it doesn't need a nonstick coating.
Are the non stick coatings really that bad? I found a programmable one with a ceramic nonstick coating for the same price.
>buy pic related
>plug it in and set it to when you want slow cooker to start
>plug slow cooker into it
>set slow cooker to desired temperature
>wa la it's now programmable
I've got no idea why you're referring to slow cookers as qt's. Mine is ugly, it's also too small. If I had my time again I'd have bought the larger version (6.5 litres). Mine still works fine so I can't justify a new one just yet.
qt=quart he's asking what size to buy. 5 quart or quart
5 quart or 7 quart *
Get a qt3.14 :3
Make multiple types of food in large batches. Divide it up and fridge/freeze it. Then you have a variety of choice through the week.
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5 quart can make enough for a fuckton of leftovers for one person with a big appetite. To give another analogy, I got a 6 quart dutch oven and if I make Japanese curry that fills about half of it, my girlfriend and I can eat that for dinner that night and then as lunch for a week, big portions every time. No such thing as too big with your crock pot, as it's all relative to how much counter space you have.
No suggestions since I'm vegan and mostly use mine for meal prepping such as beans and stocks before I go to bed. I'd recommend youtube and type in a type of cuisine (e.g. Greek, Chinese, ...) and slow cooker and go nuts. It's a great time to be a cook today.
okay but they are both the same price but the ceramic one is slightly bigger. I just want to know if the ceramic non stick is really any worse for your health and the "naturally non-stick" stoneware.
I've never used a nonenamel one in my life. Never had a problem with chipping with a $15 Crockpot I've been using for maybe...7 years now? Don't use metal utensils or sponges and you'll be good.
Okay, I'll probably go with the ceramic programmable one. It's the same price, is bigger, and the programmability is nice. Plus I've been googling and it seems like the ceramic non-stick is pretty safe if you buy from a reputable company.