Even before she used her first slow cooker more than 30 years ago, Joan Bishop knew it would be wonderful, and so it has proved.
When she had young children and a job demonstrating kitchen appliances, it was a boon to be able to put on the evening meal before leaving for work and know it would be ready when she came home, with only a salad or green vegetable to add, she says.
Now just she and her husband are at home, she still finds slow cookers wonderful as she can get the meal on early, and not worry about cooking later if she is going out or wants to spend time in the garden.
It takes a lot of stress out of providing a meal at night, she says.
"I'm not a last-minute person and I like to have things done well in advance so I can relax," she says.
Mrs Bishop, who is known to ODT readers for her monthly recipe column, is a slow-cooking expert, having sold more than 100,000 copies of her Crockpot and Slow Cooker Cookbook over four editions.
The fifth, updated version has just been released.
While other kitchen gadgets may languish in the backs of cupboards, slow cookers tend to remain in use, and have even grown in popularity as people want to cook economical, healthy, well-flavoured family dishes without hassles, she says.
They are also economical to run, compared with cooking a similar dish in the oven - Consumer magazine last year estimated the cost of cooking for eight hours in a slow cooker was about 5 cents.
However, when slow cookers (or crockpots as they were called then) first came on the market, there was little information on how to get the best out of them, because they do not cook food in quite the same way as a casserole in the oven.
Having written books on food processors and electric frying pans, in 1985 Mrs Bishop decided to write a crockpot cookbook as well.
When slow cookers, which cook at slightly higher temperatures than the original crockpots, came out she gave cooking times for both.
Each time she revises the book, she goes through all the recipes and cooks those she hasn't used for a while.
If she doesn't like them, she either adapts or discards them and creates others, so they have evolved into recipes she, her husband and friends and family enjoy eating now, she says.
Fashions in food change, we are more health-conscious these days and new ingredients have become available, she explains.
The latest edition has 50 new recipes, but only a handful of earlier ones have remained unchanged, although even with these she may have substituted newer ingredients like Portabello mushrooms for button mushrooms, to give more flavour.
Also, over the years she has simplified methods.
She used to (and many slow-cooker cookbooks still recommend it) cook onions and brown meat first on the stove, or thicken the stew with cornflour near the end of cooking.
"I can't be bothered with these hassles now," she says.
Her recipes are designed so you put the ingredients in the pot, stir and leave it to cook, but still end up with a delicious meal.
As flavours can be diluted by long, slow cooking, she recommends using more herbs and spices than normal, and she likes to add tomato paste or soy sauce to deepen the flavours.
Also, because moisture forms a vapour seal around the lid, liquid does not evaporate during cooking, so less is needed than in an oven-cooked casserole or stove-top stew.
A slow cooker has elements around the side of the bowl so food does not burn on the bottom, and cooking times are generally flexible.
Manufacturers are coy about revealing the temperatures at which slow cookers work, but on low it is below boiling point and on high they simmer very gently, she says.
However, there is no danger of undercooked food if you follow the instructions and use a long enough cooking time, she says.
Nevertheless, it's important to make sure anything frozen is thawed thoroughly, and some recipes call for warming the cooker before starting or using boiling instead of cold water.
Like any appliance, slow cookers do some things well and others not so well, and she discusses these in the introduction to her book.
Meats that normally cook quickly, such as boneless chicken breast, fillet steak or fish, are not well-suited to slow cookers, but cheaper cuts like chicken thighs and drums, blade or chuck steak, and whole chicken, pork and lamb cook beautifully.
Onions generally do not cook well in a slow cooker.
To avoid the raw taste or having to pre-cook them, she either cuts them very finely or uses onion salt, onion flakes or chives for flavour.
Some other vegetables, such as carrots and potatoes can also take longer to cook than meat unless they are cut very small, she says.
Cheese tends to go stringy, so she avoids it in her recipes.
However, slow cookers cook beans, chickpeas and other pulses very well and as an added bonus they do not need pre-soaking.
Porridge cooks to perfection overnight and can be made with whole grain or rolled oats, she says.
Fruit poaches beautifully and this edition of her book has more dessert recipes than previous ones, including apricot and citrus cheesecake, Cointreau and apricot bread and butter pudding, poached quinces, jewelled rice pudding and lemon delicious pudding.
"I had to do a lot of exercise when I was testing them," she said with a laugh.
She also gives recipes for cakes and loaves that cook well in it.
Her recipe for carrot cake has changed over the years to suit modern health-conscious diets.
The new recipe has 3 tablespoons of oil instead of cup, more carrot and a lemon icing instead of cream cheese frosting, she says.
Slow cookers are not expensive to buy these days, and they last for a long time.
Like many people, Mrs Bishop still has her original Crockpot among her collection of five or six slow cookers.
And they certainly get a lot of use in her kitchen - even when she's not revising her book! Recipes from Joan Bishop's New Zealand Crockpot and Slow Cooker Cookbook. (Longacre, pbk, $30)
Chicken and cranberry casserole
This is a special chicken dish that combines the complementary flavours of garlic, orange and tomato with the sweet tang of cranberries. If the cranberries are added at the beginning, they make the sauce too sweet and much of their attractive taste, shape and colour is lost.
Crockpot
low for 6-7 hours
high for 3-4 hours
Slow cooker
low 5-6 hours
high for 3-3 hours
7-8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 1kg)
3 Tbsp flour
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp onion salt
¼ tsp ground cloves
zest of one orange
3 Tbsp tomato paste
3 Tbsp marmalade c
¼ cup lemon juice
½ cup chicken stock
1/3 cup dried cranberries
fresh mint to garnish
Serves 5-6
1. Toss chicken with flour in a plastic bag. Shake off any excess.
2. Place garlic, onion salt, cloves, orange zest, tomato paste, marmalade, lemon juice and chicken stock in the slow cooker and stir to mix.
3. Place chicken in the sauce, turning so that all sides are coated.
4. Cover with lid and cook according to the times and settings specified above.
5. Thirty minutes prior to serving, stir in cranberries.
6. Cover with lid and cook for the final half hour.
7. Garnish with mint sprigs. Serve with couscous or rice accompanied by a green vegetable or salad.
Sticky date pudding with toffee sauce
Lusciously light, but rich and moist too, this pudding, which has achieved cult status, is a firm favourite. I sometimes serve this as a cake, without the toffee sauce.
Crockpot high for 2-3 hours
Slow cooker high for 2-3 hours
200g pitted dates, coarsely chopped (dates chop easily with scissors)
300ml boiling water
1 tsp baking soda
40g butter, softened
120g dark brown sugar
2 large eggs (size 7)
1 tsp vanilla
170g self-raising flour
For toffee sauce
50g butter
½ cup cream
150g dark cane or muscovado sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
Serves 6-8
1. Preheat the slow cooker for 20 minutes.
2. Place trivet inside slow cooker (three $2 coins work well).
3. Choose a fixed-base 20cm cake tin or a 5-cup capacity souffle dish which will fit inside the slow cooker.
4. Lightly oil the sides of the cake tin or dish and line the base with non-stick baking paper.
5. Place dates in a heat-proof bowl, pour the boiling water over the top, and add the baking soda.
Cool a little.
Mash well with a potato masher. Set aside.
6. Beat butter, sugar and eggs with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy.
Add vanilla, flour and date mixture and stir to combine.
This is quite a wet mixture.
7. Pour into prepared cake tin or dish.
Lightly brush a sheet of foil with oil or butter and tightly cover the cake tin or dish with the foil (greased side inward).
8. Using a foil strap (a band of folded aluminium foil placed under the container), lift the cake tin or dish into the slow cooker and place on trivet.
9. Pour enough boiling water into the slow cooker to come halfway up the sides of the cake tin or dish.
Cover with lid and cook according to the times and settings specified above.
10. The pudding is cooked when a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
11. Using the foil strap, lift the pudding from the slow cooker.
12. Let the pudding rest for 2-3 minutes, then invert on to a serving platter.
I prefer to serve this pudding just warm or at room temperature.
Serve with toffee sauce, and yoghurt or whipped cream.
Toffee sauce
1. Place all the ingredients in a small saucepan. Gently heat, stirring until the butter melts and the sugar has dissolved.
2. Boil for 2-3 minutes until the mixture is syrupy.
3. Pour into a jug or bowl to serve. Sauce can be served hot or cold.
Freebies
The Otago Daily Times has six copies of Joan Bishop's New Zealand Crockpot and Slow Cooker Cookbook to give away.
To enter the draw for one, write your name, address and daytime phone number on the back of an envelope and send it to Slow cookers, Editorial Features, Response Bag 500010 Dunedin, or email playtime@odt.co.nz with slow cooker in the subject line, to arrive before Tuesday.
