Happy Holidays everyone!

I just received a very nice, and quite large, oval crock pot as a gift. I think it's a 7 quart size. Never having used a crock pot or slow cooker before, I began searching for recipes online. Most of the recipes call for a 3 1/2 or 4 qt pot.

2 questions--

1 - Does it matter if I put a smaller recipe in the larger pot or would it be better to double the recipe?

2 - Does anyone have any delicious recipes they'd like to share?

Thank you! Happy New Year!!!

The food being cooked in a crockpot should pretty much fill the pot. Maynard sent me a link to lots of crockpot recipes but it won't copy/paste to this site. If you'll PM your email to me I'll send the email on to you.

Alloney,

You will love your large, oval crockpot. It is great for making larger cuts of meat such as pot roast and whole chicken and also larger batches of soup.

My favorite crockpot cookbook is "Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker", by Beth Hensberger and Julie Kaufman. The recipes specify what size crockpot to use, so there is no guess work and many of the 125 recipes work for either a medium or large size cooker. The cookbook received great reviews and I have loved every recipe I have tried.

When converting regular recipes to crockpot recipes, remember to use less liquid, as the liquid does not get reduced as it would cooking on top of the stove or in the oven. Also, the newer crockpots have a much higher temperature (both on high and low) than the older units, so beware that if you are using older recipes, you will need less time than stated. This all began when crockpot manufacturers started to worry about liability if consumers get sick from crockpot bacteria which could grow on those lower temperatures.

Hope this helps!

Marlene

Whole Chicken Crock Pot Recipe Recipe #33671 (from Recipezaar.com).

SERVES 4

4 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 large roasting chicken (with pop-up timer if possible)

1 cup onion, chopped (optional)

In a small bowl, combine the spices.
Remove any giblets from chicken and clean chicken.
Rub spice mixture onto the chicken.
Place in resealable plastic bag and refrigerate overnight.
When ready to cook, put chopped onion in bottom of crock pot.
Add chicken. No liquid is needed, the chicken will make it's own juices.
Cook on low 4-8 hours.
Note: I highly recommend a pop-up timer in the chicken because some crock pots cook faster/slower than others (my crock pot cooks this recipe in 4-5 hours).

Always Perfect Beef Roast

2-3lb rump or chuck roast
1 envelope of dry onion soup mix
1 can cream of mushroom soup

1. Place roast in pot, sprinkle soup mix on top
2. Pour soup over top (Use 2 cans if you want more gravy)
3. Cook 10-12 hours on LOW (or 5-6 hrs on HIGH)

This always turns out wonderful with great tasting gravy for mashed potatoes. Add additional mushrooms if desired

The recipe I posted for whole crockpot chicken: I love the seasoning blend, but I forgot to mention that I only use 2 teaspoons salt and not 4 teaspoons as the author suggests. This recipe is great, too, if you roast the chicken in the oven. I use Melinda's high temperature roasting method and cover the chicken's breast for the first 30 minutes so the seasons don't burn.

Chicken skin never comes out crispy in the crockpot, so when I'm using this recipe, I really make sure that I rub the seasons under the breast meat and where else possible like on the backside. And it's true, you don't need to add any liquid!

Sorry I forgot about the salt change -- 4 teaspoons salt is about what I use on the entire 18 pound turkey, LOL.

Marlene

MomLid,

Is the cream of mushroom soup in your recipe 'condensed' (as in Campbells) and used as-is right out of the can?

That's the recipe I've used for years but without the soup. Turns out that it is Melinda's recipe also. I add potatoes and carrots to the pot roast.

Yes-the soup is condensed & right out of the can. I'm terrible at making gravy, so this solves that problem perfectly.