I’ve never been one to jump on the bandwagon of kitchen appliance fads. Never owned a bread maker, rice cooker, or Instapot. I’ve survived without a hand mixer, electric can opener, and waffle iron. Of the four crock pots on my kitchen’s Lazy Susan corner cupboard, not one has a digital display or timer. None are programmable. But all are used regularly and considered indispensable.
I guess it began with a wedding gift in 1977. I wish I could recall who gave us the Rival brand avocado green appliance (I found this photo of one exactly like ours on the website of the National Museum of American History. Can’t tell you how hip that made me feel.) With only three settings—OFF, LOW, HIGH—our first crock pot came with its own cookbook which still sits on our shelf, its cover long gone and its pages yellowed. That pot lasted for decades.
When newer ones came out featuring a removable pot for easy cleaning, I began to wish mine would kick the bucket so I could justify replacing it. Eventually, it worked on only the high setting, providing all the reason I needed. I splurged on a new model in the late nineties or early aughts. That one still works great and is light years more advanced than my original. Besides the aforementioned settings, it has one called AUTOSHIFT, which starts on high and turns itself down to low after two hours. Fancy shmancy.
Then my mother downsized and offered me her larger, oval-shaped crock pot. This one also lifts out for cleaning. Since it holds a whole chicken for roasting, I said yes. I love it for soups, too. This one, in addition to HIGH and LOW, has a SERVE setting, great for simply keeping things hot.
After we became empty nesters, both crock pots frequently proved too large. Naturally, when I saw a smaller one at our local MCC thrift store, I grabbed it. Maxing out at around six cups, this one is perfect for holding four pieces of chicken or a small casserole.
Each of these beauties cooks at its own rate, requiring me to learn through trial and error which one I can count on to do the job in the time allotted. Christmas gatherings with our children have seen all three in use at once—one filled with meatballs, one with ham, and one with simmering apple cider.
So why would I need a fourth? Again, browsing in MCC one day, I spied the cutest little baby. Holding all of one cup, it’s designed for hot dips. I couldn’t resist. It’s not been used a lot but I love knowing it’s got my back should I ever feel the need for a hot dip.
One Sunday morning, I threw together my standard pineapple barbecue bean dish for our church’s monthly potluck. As a joke, I turned to Facebook to pose a question. “Preparing my dish for church potluck. Do I put the food in my smaller crock pot and risk spilling some on the drive, or do I put it in my larger crock pot and risk looking like a cheapskate because it’s only two-thirds full?”
My query sparked lots of interesting and funny comments. I took the advice of the majority. The joke was on me when I arrived at church, carrying my larger crock pot, and was greeted by a friend who’d seen my Facebook query.
“I see you decided to go with the small one,” she said.
Oh boy. Maybe I really am a cheapskate. Maybe next time, I’ll walk in carrying my little baby dip-sized one.
May my crock pots last forever so I never need to figure out how to program a newfangled one.
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