Got my first Crockpot in time for soup season. My friend made a chili with one on Halloween that was so good. Any tips/tricks for caring for your pot and keeping it clean would be much appreciated. Recipes as well!
by allgoodthings96
In Slow Cooking
24 Comments
Not really, its not cast iron you just wash it like you would anything else. I guess just dont cut or shred anything inside of it with metal utensils or knives because they will scratch. Take it out, shred it, and put it back in.
You’re going to make great memories together T_T
Be careful washing it, the crock is heavy. I hit mine on the side of the sink, it slipped in my hands, and it broke into 3 pieces. Luckily, I was able to fins a replacement at a thrift store.
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Plenty of great recipes in this sub and a few others, and there’s tons online (if you’re willing to deal with terribly written articles). I’ve even used chatgpt and some other AI to come up with random recipes in order to make it more “fun” to use up things I have around the house and save money in these hard times.
It’s kind of hard to completely fuck up a dish, just make sure the food isn’t in the danger zone (40°-140°F) for longer than 2 hours (can change based on protein choice, but a good rule of thumb). The high and low settings are actually the same temperature – low just takes roughly twice as long to come to temp. This may not be true for your model, but keep in mind it’s usually the case.
The crock is easy enough to clean, it’s when I drip liquids down between the crock and the pot that’s tough!
I spray mine with a little oil before I load it.
Avoid overfilling it with veggies (like I do far too often). Food in the slow cooker releases a ton of liquid. If you fill it up, it will overflow onto your counter. You really want to avoid getting liquids down by the electric heating element under the ceramic insert. You should not wash the electric part … only the ceramic insert that food goes into. You can use a moist sponge if you have to clean the metal base.
The ceramic insert cleans easily with dish soap & water. But, mine is heavy. Be careful not to lose your grip because the ceramic can chip, even break.
Honestly, it’s so easy and makes wonderful, braised dishes. I think you’ll love it. I’ve used them for 50 years. Although, I only break it out maybe six times per year.
Check out some slow cooker cookbooks from your local library. If your library has the Libby app, you can link your library card and electronically check out cookbooks (and other books too).
Dont put it in the fridge with hot stuff in it. I cracked a few by doing this before I learned. Not big explosive bang but grew small cracks that made them leak
Wash in the sink and dry like any other pan/dish. Do not use slow cooker/crock pot liners as its a waste of money – your crock pot is already enameled perfectly. I feel I have had mine since 1998 and I still use it. They are wonderful kitchen items <3
I just broke the bottom out of mine using an immersion blender in it, so maybe don’t do that.
Slow cooker liners. I used mine yesterday and cleaned up by taking the liner out of the cooker and throwing it in the trash. No need to do anything else except rinse it out.
Good for you. They’re pretty easy to clean and you can use the disposable plastic bags made for crockpots, making clean up a snap. Don’t use metal scouring pads on them though, not like you should have to. Keep the outer unit clean and if stored in a safe place you should get many years of use out of it. We have several that are decades old and still work great. There are many really good “ how to “ videos online to watch about meals, deserts and even holiday treats that work great in the crockpot.
Any chance of a recipe for the chili please?
Use white vinegar don’t store food in the crock after cooking it in there. Wash it immediately after transferring food to serving dish or container.
Never ever preheat the base before putting the crock.
Don’t open it unless absolutely necessary.
No you don’t need to look or stir almost ever
each lid lift adds time needed from lost heat /moisture.
I want to put in a good word for the liners. I have a double sink and it really isn’t big enough to hold the crock. If you have arthritis in your hands, it’s hard to maneuver the heavy crock.
So the liner, let’s you get the food out, dump the liner and at most you have some moisture to wipe out of the crock.
“Bar Keepers Friend” is THE best cleaner for ceramic inserts. It’s an abrasive cleaner with a fine grit that causes no damage to the insert.
Do NOT use the plastic liners to cook in. They’re easy enough to keep clean and not only are the plastic liners going to leach into your food, it can melt on to the crockpot.
I just fill it with water after I use it and let it soak. Then it just wipes clean. No need to scrub . I only use a plastic scrubber on it.
Clean it by hand, not in dishwasher (I’ve lost 2 of them in the dishwasher that created cracks or chips). Don’t cut in it, don’t use abrasives to clean…treat it like you would a non-stick pan.
Past that, it’s a great cooking tool.
Don’t use harsh cleaners or scrubbers. If you have stubborn food stuck, let the crock soak with hot salt water for a bit, it’ll clean right up.
I have the same one. When cleaning I like to toss some distilled white vinegar in with the dish soap and hot water and let it soak for a good long while, then scrub lightly with a scotch pad. Comes out sparkly clean every time and eliminates any hard water deposits that way.