Now the evenings are closing in, its time for the barbeque to step down and the croc pot to take over. Invented by the Crock-Pot company, the croc pot, or slow cooker, uses very little power to cook food over a period of several hours. Because the ingredient never boil, food becomes tender without losing [...]

Now the evenings are closing in, its time for the barbeque to step down and the croc pot to take over. Invented by the Crock-Pot company, the croc pot, or slow cooker, uses very little power to cook food over a period of several hours. Because the ingredient never boil, food becomes tender without losing any of its natural flavour or nutritional value. This is a piece of cookware that is excellent for preparing rich stews. The length of cooking time is ideal for complex dishes that rely on binding diverse flavours. And modern croc pots are ultra-economical.

The concept has caught on. Now manufacturers from Morphy Richards to Breville offer modern, economical slow cookers that are a cinch to use. They have become popular because they are so easy to use. It’s often nearly impossible for modern parents to cook dinner as all family members arrive home after school or work. For many, that’s the most chaotic time of the day – and the worst possible moment to start preparing dinner.

A croc pot allows you to choose the best moment to prepare your meal. You can chop your vegetables and prepare your meat in the morning, place it all in the slow cooker and turn it on before you leave the house. The original croc pots used a simple thermostat to ensure the meal would cook at the required, even temperature. Modern cooking pots now offer a host of features that essentially allow you to expand your culinary repetoire beyond the limit of simple stews. Some feature more complicated temperature control so that food can be kept warm once its cooked automatically. There are slow cookers on the market that automatically switch off when they detect that the joint of meat is cooked. You can achieve crispy toppings by programming more advanced slow cookers to rise to high temperatures for the last 15 minutes of their cooking cycle. But it is worth bearing in mind that an increase in performance can also mean a fall in cost-efficiency. A modern, simple croc pot is still the most efficient way to cook your food.

There are all shapes and sizes of croc pots, but two of them seem to have become standard. These are the ‘4-quart’ and the ‘6-quart’, which hold exactly what they say on the tin. A 6-quart slow cooker is best suited to a big family with a big kitchen. But one factor that has made croc pots so popular over the years is the prevalence of ‘pot-luck’ dinners. In this case, a 4-quart, handled croc pot would be ideal. Just carry the pot to the party and plug it in as soon as you arrive. A lot of croc pots have a ceramic bowl that you can take off the cooker. You can serve your dish straight from the bowl in style. And because the crockery pot is quite heavy, it is sufficient to maintain the food at temperature without power.

Now that there have been so many croc pots and slow cookers on the market for such a long time, there are also plenty of recipes to go with them. Once you have familiarized yourself with the basics, the only limit is your own imagination.