With healthier eating on the forefront of people’s minds going into the new year, the slow cooker is a great option to eliminate the temptation of stopping for fast food after a long day when you know that a meal is waiting for you once you get home.
I use my slow cooker regularly, especially in the colder months when soups and chilis make the perfect comfort food.
If yours has been collecting dust, or you made it your New Year’s resolution to eat healthier meals at home, I encourage you to make your slow cooker one of your go-to kitchen appliances.
Or, at least experiment with it and see how you can fit it into your lifestyle.
The history of the slow cooker as we know it goes back to the 1930s.
But the concept of it dates back to the 18th century, when Jewish families in eastern Europe would prepare a traditional stew for Shabbat.
Because cooking wasn’t allowed on Shabbat, the day of rest, they would bring pots of stew to a bakery the day before and leave it in the ovens overnight.
The residual heat from the ovens as they would slowly cool would cook the stew for several hours, according to Smithsonian Magazine.
Fast forward to the 1930s, when electrical engineer and Jewish American inventor Irving Nachumsohn started his own company focusing on his inventions, Naxon Utilities Corp.
He was aware of the stories of families using bakery ovens after hours to cook stew on Shabbat because his family experienced it themselves and he grew up hearing about it.
This was his inspiration for the “low and slow” cooking method, while also solving the problem of allowing a warm family meal to be prepared without heating up the home in the summer.
He was granted a patent in 1940 for what he called the Naxon Beanery, but it didn’t gain much traction, with mostly coffee shops and diners being marketed to.
The turning point came when he sold his business to Kansas City’s Rival Manufacturing, when they acquired multiple products invented by Nachumsohn.
At first, the slow cooker was seen as more of an afterthought.
The company’s team of home economists were assigned to assess the Naxon Beanery’s practicality, where they quickly realized just how versatile it is.
It was renamed Crock Pot, and the home economists created numerous dishes to go in a recipe booklet that came with each device.
It was revealed by Rival at Chicago’s 1971 National Housewares Show.
The timing was perfect: with more women entering the workforce in the ‘70s, advertising was heavily focused on working moms.
Sales went from $2 million in 1971 to $93 million in 1975.
Other companies eventually entered the slow cooker market, and now 70% of American households are said to have a slow cooker.
There’s nothing like being welcomed home by the smell of dinner after a long day.
Besides saving time, the slow cooker also saves money on your electric bill and grocery budget; it uses less electricity than the oven and doesn’t overheat the house when cooking in the summer, and it tenderizes cheaper cuts of meat.
Cooking food on “low” will cook the food in six to ten hours, and cooking food on “high” will cook it in four to six hours.
Slow Cooker Pork Roast (Iowa State Extension)
Ingredients:
Juice of one orange
Juice of one lime
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup water
1-3 pound pork roast (recipe nutrition was analyzed using a 3 pound pork loin roast)
1 onion, sliced
Instructions:
- Stir the orange juice, lime juice, garlic powder, cumin, salt, ground black pepper, and water together in a small bowl.
- Spray a slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray.
- Cut the pork roast into large chunks (about 3 inches by 3 inches). Place in bottom of slow cooker.
- Pour the juice mixture over the pork. Top with the onion slices.
- Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Pork should be cooked to a minimum temperature of 145°F.
- Shred the pork with a fork and serve.
Shari Bresin is the Family & Consumer Science Agent for the University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Cooperative Extension Pasco County, An Equal Opportunity Institution.
