Slow Cooker

[mrbigstuff]

Gutenberg wrote:
The very definition of a slow cooker is that it cooks all day. You can definitely leave it on for eight hours or more on "low."

Cooking with a slow cooker is not as effortless as the manufacturer implies, though. You will want to sear meat, whether red meat or poultry, before putting it in the slow cooker to stew, and that means that you DO have to clean a pan. On the other hand, if you are cooking vegetable stew or vegetable soup, it really is that effortless--chop the veg, throw them in the pot with liquid, turn on the cooker and eat your meal when you get home.

I cannot recall where I read or saw it, but some show/magazine/source tested seared meat versus unseared meat and found absolutely no difference. This is exactly the sort of test that Cook's Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen would do, but I don't recall the source of this info.

Still, I do tend to sear meat when I am making stews and I find the dutch oven routine of searing on stovetop and putting in the oven after to be just as good or better than the slow cooker.