Customer Reviews

Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Slow Cooking: Recipes and Techniques for Delicious Slow-Cooked Meals

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I bought this book after receiving a new slow cooker as a gift - what a fabulous purchase! I am a serious foodie and these recipes are simply mouth-watering. So far, I have made 1) pulled pork, 2) teriyaki chicken thighs, 3) country-style pork ribs, 4) chicken with shallots and balsamic vinegar, 5) maple-braised pork chops, and 6) the texas-style beef chili. Every recipe has been straightforward, easy to follow, and most importantly, delicious! Many of these meals are even better the second day, so make plenty and enjoy the left overs.

Truthfully, if you are looking just to dump all the ingredients in the slow cooker and turn it on...this is not your book. Most of these recipes do involve a couple of steps, such as browning the meat and deglazing the pan. However, these additional steps really do not take that long - so don't be intimidated by them. All in all, I would say the active cooking time for most of the recipes I've tried is around 30 minutes, although some may be more involved. Considering the high quality meals these recipes produce, investing 30 minutes into dinner is easily worth the sacrifice.

In response to an earlier post, there are a few typos in the book. While this may reflect on the professionalism of the Williams-Sonoma book editors, it does not tarnish the superb recipes within. Enjoy!

I bought this book because I was looking for gourmet-type meals to cook in the slow cooker. I have several other cookbooks that cover all the American Standards involving condensed cream soups, Lipton Soup Mix, and other processed convenience items.

In that respect, this book does have lots of recipes that use fresh ingredients to produce a higher-quality end result than the old-time "gloop with glop sauce" that so often comes out of a slow cooker. There are also gorgeous pictures of every recipe. I love that.

Now for the downsides. The editing in this book is terrible. There are tons of typos throughout, and it is also obvious that one of the vegetable recipes was only slightly altered from another similar recipe a few pages before--I could tell because the first recipe was for cabbage, so it said cabbage throughout the recipe. The second was for spinach, and halfway through the recipe, it started talking about cabbage. The two recipes were the same--someone had just done a half-hearted job of changing the word cabbage to spinach. There are lots of other examples of bad editing, but that's my job, so that kind of thing bothers me.

The other thing that irritated me is that I wanted a slow cooker cookbook. This is a "SLOW COOKING" cookbook. In other words, while many of these recipes have instructions for slow cooker use, others do not. Some of the recipes are stove top or oven only. I was disappointed by that. Most of us have plenty of recipes that just take a long time, what we want is something we can put in the crock before heading out to work for the day.

I feel like the high price of this cookbook is solely because of the pretty pictures and the strength of a few good recipes. They also have the big name behind it, but some of the recipes are just not that good, or they aren't made for slow cookers. Another downside was that there was nothing in here that I found very innovative, but there are a lot of familiar dishes like Osso Bucco, Bolognese Sauce, Beef Stroganoff, American Pot Roast, Chicken Fricassee with Dumplings, and other dishes that have been around for ages and that I already have recipes for.

I am a full time mom going back to work after nine years. I knew that I was going to have to learn to love my slow cooker if I ever decided to feed my family a home cooked meal again! I have been a fan of Williams Sonoma books for a long time but I wanted to check out all the offerings before I picked out my new slow cooking bible. Having scoured Amazon and local book shops I feel confident saying this book is the most comprehensive with the best sounding recipes. A lot of the slow cooking cook books pander to the "lowest common denominator" cook and the ingredients aren't that healthy. This one has recipes that seem much fresher and better tasting which is a good thing if you plan on using your slow cooker as much as I do! Plus, the photos and layout are gorgeous.

I bought this book and was just ordering another as a Christmas Gift! I do end up buying Williams-Sonoma cookbooks regularly, I find the photos beautiful (and therefore helpful) and the recipes great and easy to follow. I have made two dinners from this book already and can't wait to try a third. Give it to all your busy Mom friends, its a must.

This updated cookbook for slow cookers, especially the new All Clad with the non-stick metal insert pan, is the best we've seen. This is definitely not your mother's 1960 crockpot cookbook! Excellent recipes.

While this book has wonderful photos, it is badly written and many recipes seem to have the wrong quantities and poor descriptions of ingredients and cooking times. In fact, there is no mention in many recipes what temperature setting you should use to cook in a dutch oven on the stove top. I cook from recipes five times a week and have never had a problem before. I have cooked three recipes from this book and had three disasters. For example, a recipe will call for a yellow onion but not mention the size or a recipe will instruct you to strain out the ingredients from the pan juices at the end but the ingredients are clearly visible in photograph. I challenge anyone to make the apricots and pork loin recipe work based on the quantities listed and the instructions.

The big problem with this book is that it feels like it has been written by an organization and not a person. There is no personality behind the recipes and no care given to their accuracy.

I have returned this book, steer clear or be prepared for potential frustration at the end of three or four hours of cooking.

I got this book as a gift, and I love it!

Like some of the other people have noted, this is not a "throw a bunch of things in the cooker" type of book. Most of the recipes require more prep time, and many of them require pre-cooking (like sauteing meat briefly in a pan to brown it) prior to adding things to the cooker.

That being said, the photos are amazing, and my first meal I cooked with a recipe from this book was simply exquisite. I cooked the "Summer Coq au Vin" for my mom this week for her birthday, since she loves Coq au Vin. The recipe required a few steps prior to adding the items to the slow cooker, but the meal was so amazing. It was probably the best meal I've ever made! (I'm not a huge cook, and this recipe was more involved than what I typically make...but it was PERFECT for a special occasion). And, I have to say that the gorgeous photos really helped me in deciding what to cook, since I probably wouldn't have tried the recipe if it weren't for the photo.

After this experience, I'm quite excited to try my next recipe from the book. I'll probably be using this book mostly for weekend cooking and/or for dinner parties, since I like to cook more super-quick type meals during the week, and it seems that most of the recipes in the book require more time than I'm used to.

Anyway -- love, love, love this book. Super weekend cooking and dinner parties, here I come!

Great cookbook. Out of all five crock pot cookbooks I own, this one gets the most use! The recipes call for ingredients found in most kitchens and although the recipes seem simple, the flavors are complex. I would definately buy it again! Plus I like that the recipes don't call for processed, preservative& sodium-filled ingredients like many crock pot cookbooks do.

The REASONS I believe this is the best "slow cooking" book yet, is because it not only gives you slow cooker directions, but it also gives you STOVE TOP directions!!! That way you can decide what method you prefer - as for me, I always prefer the stove over the slow cook pot IF it is not 100 degrees outside... AND this book has several GREAT fairly SIMPLE but tasty recipes - NOT "Julia Child" level stuff most people don't have the time or the tools to get in to.

I am a sucker for the Williams-Sonoma cookbook collection, and this one does not disappoint. Unlike many other slow-cooker cookbooks, which have basic and simple recipes (which all have their place), this book has some delightful recipes that are both creative and quite fancy. I made Chicken and Dumplins the other night for my husband and he LOVED it. It was the first time I had ever tried dumplings, and I was surprised at how easy they were! The recipe called for fresh ingredients, which I love, and the instructions were easy to follow. Everything tasted delicious.

If you are looking for a slowcooker cokbook with recipes other than your usual chilies, soups, and dips, this is for you. The variety of recipes is unmatched... you will not be disappointed!