2. Stew<\/strong>
\nThink of stews as a pot roast with more liquid.<\/p>\nWhere you can serve a pot roast on a plate, you need to serve a stew in a bowl.<\/p>\n
From Polish bigos to Louisiana gumbo and South African potjiekos to Hungarian goulash, stews are eaten across all cultures by those who want to eat healthy on the cheap.<\/p>\n
Oh, and I\u2019ve saved one type of stew for its own category\u2026<\/p>\n
3. Chili<\/strong>
\nFor most American men, chili takes on a sort of mythical status.<\/p>\nLike barbecue, it\u2019s one of the few dishes that the average guy is going to have at least a fighting chance of knowing how to cook.<\/p>\n
Having your own \u201csecret formula\u201d is on the bucket list of most guys, and having a slow cooker makes it all the easier.<\/p>\n
Beans or no beans? Tomatoes or no tomatoes? Hamburger meat or ground chuck? Everyone\u2019s got their own take, and you should as well.<\/p>\n
4. Soup<\/strong>
\nWith more liquid and less solids, soup is similar to the others on this list.<\/p>\nSoup really benefits from the \u201ceverything but the kitchen sink\u201d philosophy. You can toss just about anything into a pot with plenty of stock to simmer in and you\u2019ll probably end up with a great soup.<\/p>\n
Some classic examples include French onion soup, ph\u1edf, and tom yum.<\/p>\n
5. Stock<\/strong>
\nOne thing the previous four on this list have in common is that they all use liquid in the cooking process.<\/p>\nYou can use water, or even wine, but I\u2019ve found the best to be stock, or liquid that has been infused with compounds from meat and vegetables by slow simmering.<\/p>\n
Now, you can pick up a can or box of stock from the supermarket, or, if you are more adventurous, you can make it from food scraps you were going to throw away anyway!<\/em><\/p>\nAll those potato and carrot peels? Those celery trimmings? Meat bones and gristle? Keep \u2018em in a bag in the freezer instead of throwing them away. Once you\u2019ve got enough, fill up the slow cooker, add some herbs and spices, then cover with water and a little vinegar.<\/p>\n
Slow Cooker Buyer\u2019s Guide<\/h2>\n
At the heart of it, a slow cooker is a very simple piece of equipment, a ceramic pot with a well-fitting lid that sits in a heating unit.<\/p>\n
As a result, most of the slow cookers you\u2019re gonna find will be good enough for your needs. No need to splurge if you don\u2019t have the cash. Used ones will also work just fine.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d suggest buying something in the range of 5 quarts. I\u2019ve found that this size is enough to make a week\u2019s worth of whatever dish I\u2019m preparing.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d also recommend going with an oval-shaped cooker rather than a circular one if you get the option. This makes it easier to throw in large cuts of meat.<\/p>\n
In all, I\u2019d say you should set aside about $40 for your slow cooker. It will pay for itself in the first couple months by how much less time you need to spend in the kitchen. Trust me.<\/p>\n
Although I think that most of the kitchen appliances that have been invented in the past 100 years are utterly dispensable, the slow cooker stands out as the greatest exception.<\/p>\n
The \u201cbusification\u201d of American society has meant that old ways of food preparation are now all but impossible for all but the most unemployed of us.<\/p>\n
Traditional ways of cooking that stretch back thousands (and possibly millions) of years have been pushed aside so that we can work long hours and take on other activities.<\/p>\n
As a result, methods of food preparation with a proven track history of keeping people fit and healthy have been relegated to the sidelines while new methods of dubious health benefit have taken their place. (Microwaveable sliders, anyone?)<\/p>\n
But with a painless investment in a slow cooker, you can once again have access to these traditional methods of cooking, without the hassle and labor they traditionally required.<\/p>\n
Whatever you do, buy a slow cooker<\/em>. Like, now<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\nPhoto<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you don\u2019t have a slow cooker, you are wasting too much time in the kitchen. Did that get your attention? Good. I started using a slow cooker many years ago. And through many moves, times when I consciously tried to get rid of anything I didn\u2019t want to haul around, this baby always made […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cooking"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/theguycancook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/theguycancook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/theguycancook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/theguycancook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/theguycancook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2317"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/theguycancook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2317\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2323,"href":"http:\/\/theguycancook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2317\/revisions\/2323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/theguycancook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/theguycancook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/theguycancook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/theguycancook.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/slow-cooker-e1330706245216.jpg\" "\\"slow")
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