[Spirit Deer]

I'm trying to figure out cooking times for a 2-quart small batch Crockpot. The instruction book says for regular recipes for stove or oven, a cook time of 30 minutes translates to 6-8 hours on LOW in a Crockpot. No way! Not in a little one. I rarely cook things that long even in my big 6 quart version. I'm guessing 2-3 hours at most for the small size, but if anyone has tips for using this size cooker, I'd love to hear them. I do realize times will vary due to the particular food and other factors.

 

[marthamfi]

yes most recipes don't as long as they say. I never would do overnight like lots do. It seems newer crockpots are hotter too. But it depends on what you are making. I only do things that would require long simmering like chili, pot roast etc so I can pop it in and forget it. but even that only takes 6 hours and I start on high then turn down.

 

[Spirit Deer]

I think they decided older Crocks didn't get hot enough to meet food safety guidelines, or something.

I suspect I'll have to do trial and error, as usual. I'm not finding anything much about reduced cooking times for smaller cookers.

I usually par-cook hard veggies like potatoes and carrots, which shortens cooking time and prevents everything else from turning to mush.

 

[Tim Horton]

For 2 people it would make sense for some meals to have a 2 quart, 2 liter crock pot.. In some of my times as a single guy I used a small crock pot a lot..

 

[marthamfi]

yes I used to have an older one but forgot why I got rid of it..maybe didn't use much but the one now was new from thrift store after xmas. always a good time for stuff lol everyones unwanted presents. I don't have problems w veggies but then I only put certain recipes in there. even w stroganoff and canned mushrooms still works. but never any recipes they say takes 10hrs no put on before work and come home etc. but then I don't brown stuff etc either I have made spaghetti sauce etc with frozen meat even. I just stir and break up while cooking. pasta I do on the stove but easy way for dry pasta boil add pasta cover and turn off heat leave for 20mins and done.

 

[Spirit Deer]

Tim, I bought a 2 qt Crock on a Black Friday sale, 2019 (day after American Thanksgiving) for our camper. We haven't had a chance to use it yet. At home I use large Crockpots because we like having leftovers, not so much camping where leftovers can be hard to deal with.

Martha, I still have an older one, too. We had it in the motothome and I'm keeping it in case we get a bigger trailer. I don't use it in the house because it doesn't have a removable crock.

 

[Spirit Deer]

Martha, I don't do pasta in the Crock either. It always gets overcooked. Ew.

I made a simple scalloped potato hotdish last night, 1 box potato mix, 1 can corn (drained), some diced ham, and diced fresh bell pepper. Nothing frozen, 1 cup of milk from the fridge, plus cold ham. It also had 2 cups hot water. I set it on low the first hour and the pot was barely warm. I turned it to high and it took about 2 hours to finish. The potatoes were cooked but the sauce hadn't thickened as much as it should have. It needed less water because of being cooked in the Crock, I guess. In the future I'll try starting it on high, then turning to low once it's boiling. I can also preheat in the camper's micro if the Crock will fit into it, just to move things along a little.

It will take some experimenting but I'm sure I'll eventually get used to using it. I was surprised how long it took to get warm, though. The element in it must be very small.

Maybe I'll try cream cheese chicken in it tonight. That's an easy camping meal with baked potatoes and leftover pea salad. Not much work for me!