Since I was very young, I’ve been something of a collector. I figured that if having one of something was good, then having three or four was even better. As a kid, this meant that I had more pens and pencils in my school bag than necessary and felt most comfortable when I had a back-up security blanket.
In my adulthood, this propensity towards duplication has most actively manifested itself in the kitchen. I have at least two dozen wooden spoons and spatulas (when just a handful would really do), three vintage waffle irons (because you never know when one might break) and five slow cookers.
There’s no really good defense for the wooden implements or the waffle irons, but I do have a rationale for the slow cookers. My slow cooker needs often vary and so having different shapes, sizes and eras to choose from give me options.
Dips go in the mini-cooker. When I make overnight oatmeal, the 2 1/2 quart pot is best. If I’m doing a batch of blueberry butter and want really low, slow heat, nothing works better than my vintage, 4 quart, avocado green cooker. I also have kept a basic 6 quart cooker in the rotation for a while for stocks and soups, though I must confess, it has never been my favorite.
Then there’s slow cooker number five. It joined the line-up recently and rocketed to the top of my slow cooker hit parade. It’s the Hamilton Beach Set ‘n Forget model, with a lid that can be locked into a place and a thermometer probe that you can use to test internal temperatures without lifting the lid and releasing the heat. It allows you to set the cook time and temperature (when the time is up, it shifts to a keep warm setting).
This time of year, my slow cookers are in regular rotation for the production of apple and pear butters. I typically go with my vintage cooker, because I know that I can trust it not to burn (older slow cookers have lower set temperatures than the newer models). However, because of its capacity, it ends up yielding just a couple of pints. As you know, most of the time I like a small batch just a little more than the next girl. During the holiday season that changes and I appreciate the option of larger yields for gift giving.
I realize now that I’ve avoided the newer cookers and their higher temperatures because I’ve never worked with one that had an auto shut-off before. I tend to let my fruit butters cook overnight. That was too much time for my brute force, either-on-or-off cooker. But having the option to set it to cook for 5 or 6 hours and then shift to warm has changed everything. I know this technology has been around for a while (my mom had a slow cooker when I was little that did something along these lines), but I’d never before experienced it. I am in love.
My fruit butter yields are higher because the new Hamilton Beach machine has a larger capacity and I’m not running the risk of burning the butter because it shuts off when I ask. I am a happy canner.
Before we get to the apple butter recipe I’ve made three times in the last month in machine, I have to tell you one more reason why I really like it. It’s that “Stay or Go” feature. This slow cooker has a lid fitted with a silicone seal that can be locked into place. That makes it an able traveler, which is terrific for a regular potluck-attender like me.
I used it to transport and serve mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving (sadly, they were the worst mashed potatoes I’ve ever made; both lumpy and gummy at the same time. But the quality of the potatoes wasn’t the cooker’s fault) and it will be pressed into travel service again soon.
The formal recipe I’ve been using for this slow cooker apple butter is after the jump, but here’s the narrative version. You begin by filling your slow cooker to the top with sliced apples (I got about eight pounds into my cooker, but there’s some natural variation here). You add a little water (maybe 1/2 a cup) to help things along and then you let the cooker for for four to six hours on low, until you can mash the apples into sauce.
Then you puree the heck out of the applesauce, until the skins disappear. It works best in my Vitamix, but I’ve also achieved this same effect with an immersion blender and persistence. Then you return the puree to the slow cooker (it will only fill it 2/3 of the way up at this point) and cook on low for another six or so hours with the lid slightly askew for venting purposes, until the sauce has reduced into butter. Stir in sugar, spices, and lemon zest/juice for balance. That’s it! Easy and makes such good holiday presents!
Finally, the giveaway. Hamilton Beach has generously given me eight (yes, that’s eight) of these Set ‘n Forget Slow Cookers to give away to my readers. Here’s how to enter.
- Leave a comment on this post and share your favorite slow cooker use.
- Comments will close at 11:59 pm on Saturday, December 22, 2012. Winners will be chosen at random and will be posted to the blog on Sunday.
- Giveaway open US residents only.
- One comment per person, please. Entries must be left via the comment form on the blog at the bottom of this post.
Disclosure: Hamilton Beach gave me one Set ‘n Forget Slow Cooker for review and photography purposes and they’re providing eight additional units for this giveaway. They did not pay for inclusion on the blog and my opinions remain entirely my own.
Ingredients
- 7-8 pounds apples (any varieties you like)
- 1/2 to 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- zest and juice of one lemon
Instructions
- Slice apples and heap them into a six quart slow cooker.
- Add 1/2 cup water and set to low.
- Cook until apples are tender and can be easily pressed into sauce. On low, this will take 4-6 hours. On high, it should only take 2-3 hours.
- Puree softened apples into a smooth puree (it shouldn't be necessary to peel).
- Return to puree to slow cooker and cook on low for 6 hours with the lid set slightly ajar so that it can vent.
- Add 1/2 cup sugar, spices and lemon zest/juice. Taste and add more spices and sugar, if necessary.
- Funnel hot apple butter into prepared jars.
- Apply lids and rings and process in a boiling water bath canner for 15 minutes.
- When time is up, remove jars from canner and let cool on a folded kitchen towel.
Notes
My batch yielded just over 3 pints, but with all things that depend on reduction, yields will vary. I can see this batch ranging from 2 to 4 pints, depending on the water content of the apples and the length that you cook them.
This recipe can be canned in pints, half pints, quarter pints or any other small jar designed for boiling water bath canning. All jars pints or smaller are processed for 15 minutes. Should you want to can it in quarts, increase processing time to 20 minutes.
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I like to use a slow cooker for meals mostly. I have yet to use any for any canned goods.
I don’t have one so I don’t know yet
Two cookers, one vintage 7 qt. ( whole chickens) and one newer and programmable 3.1/2 qt. ( steel cut oatmeal or any hot cereal)
I’ve only used a slow-cooker when I was in grad school and had a tiny one-person slow-cooker. I think I remember making a pasta and spinach dish that was pretty gross but somewhat healthy and edible/filling. My MIL makes a lot of really good soup in her slow cooker though — I think I’d have to get her to share some of her recipes if I got this one.
my favorite use for my slow cooker is a good, hearty chicken broth! I let it go for a couple of days to extract every nutrient out of the bones!
My favorite thing to make in a slow cooker is roasted chicken. I LOVE roast chicken but don’t have time after work to do it in the oven before dinner. Instead it gets to cook away all day and my house smells amazing when I get home!
In addition to more common soups and stews, I like to attempt not-typically-slow-cooked meals in the slow cooker, like falafels. The family favorite is a hot fudge cake. There’s always room in my heart for another slow cooker even if there isn’t much room in my kitchen
My favorite thing to cook is pot roast.
My favorite use is cooking a cheaper cut of beef for a good 8 hours and by dinner time it practically melts in my mouth!
If I had a slow cooker I would slow cook beans, as well as experiment w/fruit butters and jams. Thanks for the chance to win one!
I love putting a pot roast in and letting the cooker work it’s magic!
I have several little slow cookers that we use for fondue every Christmas. From cheese, to Thai peanut sauce to chocolate and vanilla custard fondues, I love keeping them warm with my slow cookers!
I’ve been looking at the new slow cookers – thinking about getting one. I’d love to win this one! I make apple butter in mine too but my favorite use is for barbecue sandwiches: beef, pork or chicken. It’s the easiest way to cook a very easy fast supper or something to take on picnics/potlucks.
My favorite slow cooker use is making Pot Roast. I love the fact that I can put the meat in the pot, leave the house and come home to a fully cooked meal. Make a little gravy and eat. Yum, yum, yum.
I think I currently own three slow cookers… small, medium and large. I would love one of the programmable ones!
My favorite things (I had to pick two) to make in the slow cooker are Beef Stew and Applesauce. And, either coming home when it’s dark and cold out, or waking up on a dark morning and having those wonderful, delicious aromas all through the house… that’s the best!
So… question. I’m cooking the purée for 6 hours before I put in the spices and sugar?
I have used mine mostly for things like pot roast or a roast pork, but I’d sure love to try this apple butter recipe of yours! I also need a larger capacity cooker than I have.
Good Ol Fashioned Chicken Noodle Soup for me, it reminds me of home.
I love making barbecue short ribs in mine. My grandpa didn’t use a slow cooker to make his, but when the smell fills my house it’s like I’m in my grandparents’ kitchen again.
So far I have only made soup/stews, but fruit butter is the next adventure for sure!
Pork barbecue is our favorite but any lesser cut of beef always comes out wonderful. This holiday I have been making tortilla chicken soup and always a hit. A necessary cooking tool.
My favorite is a thick layer of sliced onions on the bottom, a pork roast on top of it, and some spices ( I like Tony’s salt-free seasoning) shaken all over the top. Let it cook all day and when you get home, you have a roast that has completely fallen off the bone because it’s so tender. Skim the excess oil/fat from the top and mix it together after shredding the meat. The juices make a wonderfully flavored “gravy” to serve over top of mashed potatoes…I think I’m going to have to make this soon, I made myself hungry just typing, and it’s been too long since we had this, I think!
I rarely use my slow cookers – I always found that slowly braised hunks of meat did best in this particular appliance but since we are not a meat eating family they had been neglected for quite a while. Until I discovered your blog and the slow cooker fruit butter recipes. I have also made ketchup using the same lid off method. I have a new appreciation for my old appliances.
I have an old hand-me-down crockpot I use for everything from beans to soup to pot roast.I hsve never tried jellies. Would like to, though!
I love using my slowcooker for potroasts and stews.
I don’t own a slow cooker and have never used one; would love to try making fruit butters some day.
I love my slow cooker…This year I used it for my first apple and pumpkin butter, and its amazing! Tomorrow I am making slow cooker chocolate candies to give away for christmas…I am hoping to be able to get another slow cooker soon, i often find myself needing one bigger than the one I have!
I like to use it to bake potatoes in the summer. It’s so nice to not have the hot oven (on) on a hot summer day. Sometimes I use the slow cooker outside.
I love to make pulled pork in a slow cooker. Or, acually anyting that I can start in the morning and then have dinner ready at night. I’ve never tried fruit butters but they sure sound good!
chillis and soups, no doubt. but i might use it for apple butter!!
My slow cooker has always been for pot roast and occasionally chili. I also have an older “low-high-off” type.
I’ve always wanted to try some of the newer ones. I’ll definitely be making apple butter if I win!!
It’s unanimous…apple sauce!
I’ve never used a slow cooker. I was about to buy one for my husband for Christmas but changed my mind at the last minute. We don’t eat meat so I wasn’t sure how useful it would be for us, but this post has given me lots of ideas and makes me think that I do need one for my kitchen.
Making fruit butters is the ONLY way I use our slow cooker. I should branch out, but just haven’t yet. I use my roommate’s slow cooker, and have now broken it twice (my fault the first time, not the second), and need to replace it again. Gah!
My favorite thing to make in a slow-cooker is chili! I also use the overnight method for fruit butters but would love to try this Set n Forget model!
I don’t have a slow cooker anymore. I’d like one, though. I’d use it for New England type corn beef meals with lots of root vegetables and I’d use it to cook more apples from our small orchard–applesauce, apple catsup, apple chutney.
BBQ Meatballs in the slow cooker. The whole house smells like heaven when they are cooking. I even take them to work in the crockpot. They are always a hit. Slow cooking improves the flavor.
I have an itty-bitty slow-cooker that makes just 2 servings, and I use it constantly for small meals-for-one. I have a big old one that I use for making stock or cooking big batches of stuff for potlucks- my slow-cooker enchiladas are what’s requested most often!
Have not tried this recipe yet… But, I love all the step by step photos you post on your blog! It makes it so easy to get it done! My mouth is already watering just thinking about this… Just need the slow cooker!
Happy Holidays Marisa!
I use my slowcooker for so many things! I bake in it, One pot dishes, ham, Mac ‘n’ Cheese. I have never used it for canning but I am sure going to try it now!!! Oh And I use it for mashed potaoes all the time!
Braised meats. Slow cookers are great at turning cheap tough cuts of meat into tastyness. Also, I have a tiny cooker that’s great at making just enough steel cut oats for me and my husband.
I use my slow cooker mostly for soups, but I have made apple butter in it a few times and it worked perfectly!
Red Beans and Rice, or Baked Beans are my favorite ways to use a slow cooker.
I like to make apple, pear butter as well in my slow cooker. In addition, I also like to make yogurt in my big one. it’s an easy, overnight thing, just right for my busy life. (I have to confess, I have 3–a big one, a medium and a small one) : )
I love to make cheater pulled pork, soups, and veggie chili!
I use my slow cooker all the time. Most recently, made applesauce. Tonight, there’s white chili cooking away. Couldn’t live without it!
I have the older model (minus the timer function) of that slow cooker and I love it! Great for taking hot/splashy things to pitch-ins! The only thing I wish mine had was a timer function.
Fruit butters in the crockpot have been game changing for me!
i’ve actually never used a slow cooker so i don’t yet have a favorite use, but i would love to experiment with fruit butters and other fun recipes.
I cook apples in mine before I run them through the food mill. I have very little waste. The applesauce or applebutter is very thick when I am done making it.