Do you use your slow cooker in the summer time?
06-22-2011, 05:59 AM
#15
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: NE Ohio
Posts: 1,541
I use mine year round & more than anyone I know! When I roast garlic in it I put it outside- I love the smell, but my DH doesn't. We are having a party on July 4th & I am doing baked beans in it. Love my slow cooker!
06-22-2011, 06:48 AM
#17
Super Member
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Frederick, OK
Posts: 2,031
We have two of them, a big one and a little one, and we use them regularly year-round. We still use our microwave, gas oven and cook top, and Big GF Rotisserie regularly too, but some things are just best cooked in the crock pot.
As far as heat in the kitchen during the summer, our kitchen temperature is close to whatever the outside temperature is at the time. Right now, we’ve been having several days of 100+ temperatures. We decided to quit trying to cool the kitchen back a few years ago. We prepare nearly all of our meals in our kitchen (except when I cook on the wood grill out in the backyard), including the ones that we take to the shop for our lunch. In the hot part of summer, preparing meals daily created a lot of heat that we in turn had to spend money to cool back down with the AC. Add to that the dishwasher heating element, the compressors on two refrigerators and a freezer, the gas water heater, the coffee pot that’s on all morning, and the clothes dryer. All of these appliances are in the same kitchen and adjoining utility room area.
We finally installed a clear plastic curtain between our kitchen and the rest of the house (arched doorway without a door), and disabled the AC cooling in the kitchen. I got the idea from a warehouse that I visited that use the plastic strips hanging in some of their doorways to control air flow between two temperature controlled areas. Our house happened to have a floor plan that made it work for us with one small curtain. Now we don’t care how hot it gets in the kitchen, we’re still cool in the rest of the house. The fridges and freezer may run a little more this way, but we can see a huge savings in our summer energy use. Preparing the evening meal gets a little warm, so when it gets too hot in the kitchen, simply step behind “Curtain #1” to be cool.
CD in Oklahoma
As far as heat in the kitchen during the summer, our kitchen temperature is close to whatever the outside temperature is at the time. Right now, we’ve been having several days of 100+ temperatures. We decided to quit trying to cool the kitchen back a few years ago. We prepare nearly all of our meals in our kitchen (except when I cook on the wood grill out in the backyard), including the ones that we take to the shop for our lunch. In the hot part of summer, preparing meals daily created a lot of heat that we in turn had to spend money to cool back down with the AC. Add to that the dishwasher heating element, the compressors on two refrigerators and a freezer, the gas water heater, the coffee pot that’s on all morning, and the clothes dryer. All of these appliances are in the same kitchen and adjoining utility room area.
We finally installed a clear plastic curtain between our kitchen and the rest of the house (arched doorway without a door), and disabled the AC cooling in the kitchen. I got the idea from a warehouse that I visited that use the plastic strips hanging in some of their doorways to control air flow between two temperature controlled areas. Our house happened to have a floor plan that made it work for us with one small curtain. Now we don’t care how hot it gets in the kitchen, we’re still cool in the rest of the house. The fridges and freezer may run a little more this way, but we can see a huge savings in our summer energy use. Preparing the evening meal gets a little warm, so when it gets too hot in the kitchen, simply step behind “Curtain #1” to be cool.
CD in Oklahoma
06-22-2011, 06:50 AM
#18
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Plainfield, IN
Posts: 390
Oh heck yes! We go through a whole lot of meat in our house, so we try to buy less-expensive cuts. The cheap cuts tend to be best suited for slow-cooking. Lately I've been doing a lot of pork shoulder. Sure makes dinnertime a lot more pleasant! The main course is done, so all I have to do is steam or saute some veggies and we're ready to eat.
06-22-2011, 06:51 AM
#19
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 3,198
Yes I do use it year round. I just hate cooking over a hot stove in the summer time even with air conditioning. Sometimes it is already grilled beef or chicken, shredded/torn apart and barbecue sauce (sometimes homemade) for sandwiches. Thanks for the dessert recipe.
06-22-2011, 06:54 AM
#20
Super Member
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: California Girl exiled in DC
Posts: 1,337
We have a solar cooker that works much like a slow cooker (and uses the same recipes) and doesn't use electricity!
This is the one we use:
http://www.amazon.com/Global-Sun-Ove...8754468&sr=8-1
(We didn't pay that much; must have bought it on sale.)
This is the one we use:
http://www.amazon.com/Global-Sun-Ove...8754468&sr=8-1
(We didn't pay that much; must have bought it on sale.)
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