36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Finally--good slow cooker food, October 18, 2004
This review is from: The Everything Slow Cooker Cookbook: 300 Delicious, Healthy Meals That You Can Toss in Your Crockery and Prepare in a Snap (Everything (Cooking)) (Paperback)
I love the concept of a slow cooker. I love the idea of being able to dump some ingredients in, leave it all day, and come back to a tender, delicious meal. But somehow it almost never seems to work out that way.
We've tried all sorts of slow cooker recipes over the years; almost every one comes out tasting very bland. Or the flavors get jammed together and you lose the subtlety and richness you'd get out of a "normal" recipe. Or the recipe author solved the lack of flavor by finding a strong ingredient or two and pouring them on, producing a dish with a very unbalanced taste. Finally we stumbled across "The Everything Slow Cooker Cookbook," and we found recipes we actually liked.
The book provides an unusual variety of recipes, for a slow cooker cookbook at least. There isn't as much as a regular cookbook, but then most slow cooker recipes out there are variations on stew or pot roast, so I'll take what I can get. There's a serious limit on what you can do with this kind of cooking appliance so you can't really expect the variety of a generic cookbook.
The author provides information on how slow cookers affect the flavors of things like spices and aromatic vegetables (this makes it much easier to adjust recipes to your taste). She also gives information on converting regular recipes to the slow cooker. These pieces of information alone make this book valuable.
She also has a good sense of flavor, in my opinion. I've always thought I *should* like baked beans, based on the ingredients, but I couldn't find a version that appealed to me. I've made the two versions from this cookbook and they were both delightful! We've made other things as well, including soups and a rice pudding, and all of them came out quite well. My only issue with them is that some of them didn't store well at all, which can be a pain when you're making an entire crock-pot's worth of food. Also, the author sometimes drastically underestimates the number of servings, I think (but better that than over-estimating...).
For the life of me I can't figure out why the author converted things like cookie recipes to the slow cooker, but oh well. These recipes don't take up that much space. Other than the storage issues we've really enjoyed this cookbook. The flavors are very good, the recipes are straightforward, the information is comprehensive, and the variety and number of recipes is extensive. If you want the convenience of a slow cooker but don't like typical slow cooker recipes, this is a very good cookbook to try.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing, December 23, 2003
This review is from: The Everything Slow Cooker Cookbook: 300 Delicious, Healthy Meals That You Can Toss in Your Crockery and Prepare in a Snap (Everything (Cooking)) (Paperback)
I bought this book at the same time I got my first slow cooker. I was attracted to it because it seemed to contain so many different recipes. However, I have to agree with the reviewer who said that many of the recipes are essentially variations on the same idea. In addition, there are whole sections of the book that I would never even bother with--making bread in the crockpot in a 2-lb coffee can? I'd rather get a bread machine or devote a few hours on the weekend to making bread in the oven. Cookies in the slow cooker? Why would you spend time making 4 cookies at a time when you can just as easily slide a cookie sheet in the oven and have a dozen in 10 minutes?
I've also found that several of the recipes contain sloppy errors, such as calling for a "can of tomato sauce" without specifying the size. Or there are strange contradictions, such as the page containing the "tip" to always put your cut-up vegetables on the bottom of the crockpot, when the recipe on the same page tells you to do the exact opposite. There's also a "tip" telling you never to use frozen vegetables, but several recipes call for just that.
Almost everything I tried needed more liquid--even cooking on the lowest setting, the dishes were done well before the specified time.
I'm still looking for a better slow cooker cookbook--but in the meantime, I've found several tasty, reliable recipes for free on the Web.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Okay, but not great, November 16, 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: The Everything Slow Cooker Cookbook: 300 Delicious, Healthy Meals That You Can Toss in Your Crockery and Prepare in a Snap (Everything (Cooking)) (Paperback)
I found this book to be adequately written and produced, but just didn't like many of the recipes. I ended up copying half-a-dozen onto index cards and then giving the book to my public library ... I'm sure others will find more to enjoy than I did. I ordered "The Biggest Book of Slow Cooker Recipes" by Better Homes and Gardens, at the same time, and much prefer it . . . marked lots of recipes to try. . . so you might want to look at that one too.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
