What is a Slow Cooker?
A slow cooker is a small kitchen appliance that uses electricity to heat food over low heat over long periods of time. It's typically composed of a stoneware crock, an electric base and a lid. The stoneware crock works to help distribute heat evenly throughout the slow cooker to ensure your dish cooks properly. Tough meats and vegetables cook well inside a slow cooker, it helps keep moisture in while tenderizing.
What's the Difference: Slow Cooker vs. Pressure Cooker?
They might look similar but a slow cooker and a pressure cooker are two very different appliances. For people who don't like to plan ahead, a pressure cooker uses steam to cook frozen or raw ingredients fast. Quicker than you could cook them in your oven or on your stovetop. Also, while some pressure cookers have a slow cooker feature, a slow cooker will never give you the option to pressure cook your food.
The Best Slow Cooker Features
When you're shopping for a slow cooker, here are a few important features to consider to make this easy-to-use appliance even better.
Choose the Right Quart Size
Slow cookers aren't one size fits all anymore. Different quart sizes allow you to cook the right amount of food — whether it's just you, two or a whole family. Before you buy, think about your favorite recipes to cook in a slow cooker. If it's large roasts or whole chickens, you'll want to buy at least a six quart size. If you're regularly cooking for large family gathering, go even bigger, up to 12 quarts.
Find a Programmable Slow Cooker
For busy households, a programmable slow cooker means you can prep dinner and forget about it without worrying about overcooking. This feature allows you to program the slow cooker to start and stop automatically. Some models can even switch over to the warm setting once the cook time is complete. Another bonus is that it can be found in a range of slow cooker price ranges, so even if you're on a budget you can still shop this helpful feature.
Cool Touch
Don't be fooled thinking that a slow cooker doesn't get hot. If you're short on counterspace the cool touch feature for a slow cooker might come in handy. That way you won't have to worry about accidently brushing up against a hot surface while you're prepping other parts of your meal. It works well for big holidays too. A slow cooker is a great way to free up a stove burner or an oven rack when you're prepping lots of food. People can serve themselves and you won't have to worry about them accidently touching a hot surface.
Keep Warm Settings
If everyone's not ready to eat, don't worry about your food getting warm in the slow cooker with the keep warm setting. Again, great to use at a potluck or in a buffet setting where people will be grazing over a longer period of time. It also works well for breakfast when you have guests. It keeps things warm no matter when people wake up.