Shrimp, stews and roasts.....YUMMY

My husband earns points at work for staying under budget, his drivers having safe driving months, etc. One day he came home carrying a box and hands it to me. I had been wanting a slow cooker with a removable liner but there was nothing wrong with my old cooker so I just plugged along with it and ranted every time I had to clean it because it didn’t have a removable liner. In this box that my husband handed me was a beautiful Presto slow cooker. Well, maybe beautiful wouldn’t really describe this slow cooker but it sure looked beautiful to me when I opened the box and saw that this cooker had a removable liner. I ask him why he was giving me one of these and he said he turned in his points for it! He could have had a new jacket, a new shirt or a number of other things for himself but he chose the slow cooker for me! How sweet is that? Wait a minute….slow cooker…meals for him….maybe he wasn’t really thinking about me!

I couldn’t wait to get started using the Presto slow cooker. It has such great features, it makes it a pleasure to use. There are six pieces to this slow cooker. A very nice tempered glass cover with a stay warm knob on the top, a steam/fry basket with a handle, the ceramic crockery liner, the nonstick surfaced kettle (both the inside and outside are nonstick), the Control Master heat control and the magnetic cord assembly. The cord is shorter than most appliance cords so you don’t have a cord dangling over the side of your counter, I especially like this feature.

Before using the Presto slow cooker you should wash it in warm soapy water first. Everything except the Control Master heat control and the magnetic cord assembly are dishwasher safe. I have not washed any of it in the dishwasher because by the time I fix a meal and get the dirty dishes into the dishwasher (okay, I confess, there are some dishes in there from breakfast and lunch) I don’t have room to put the Presto slow cooker so I have only washed it by hand. After taking the food out of the liner I ran water in it to keep it from drying out and it was a breeze to wash.It is so much easier than
washing my old cooker because the liner fits into the sink whereas the old cooker cannot be immersed.You should also, before using for the first time, season the cooking surface by rubbing lightly with cooking oil. Remove the excess oil with a paper towel.

The Control Master heat control has a probe that is inserted into the cooker. Then you attach the magnetic cord assembly to the heat control. The magnetic cord assembly has two little magnets that align with two post on the heat control. It can only be attached to the heat control one way so if you have it upside down the magnets and the post won’t align. This connection isn’t very deep so you must be careful once you have it plugged in that you don’t bump it and accidentally disconnect it. You should always put the probe into the cooker then attach the magnetic assembly before you plug in the cord. The heat control has settings of warm, 200° to 400° and off.

The Presto slow cooker has lots of uses. You can roast, braise, blanch, boil, deep fry, stew, steam, make casseroles, soups and desserts. I have used it to do roasts, stews, chicken and noodles and steam vegetables, also a delicious sweet and sour pork that I made from the recipe that is in the book that comes with the cooker. They tell you in the booklet that the crockery liner is for slow cooking and removing the liner you can roast, braise, stew, etc., but I leave the liner in when I do stews or roasts.The Presto slow cooker will hold 6 quarts of product.

I also used the cooker to fixed shrimp. I put my water and spices in the surface cooker and brought it to a boil with the heat control set at 400°, I then placed the shrimp in the basket, lowered it into the kettle and boiled for three minutes. The basket is so handy and has a hook that allows you to hook it to the side of the cooker and allows the basket to set about an inch from the bottom of the cooker. Lifting the basket from the cooker then allows your food items to drain. The handle on the basket comes off so that you can position it to use as a handle using a lock bar to keep it in place and when you want to store the cooker and basket the handle can be reversed and then sits inside the basket out of the way.

The Presto slow cooker is a dark gray in color with black plastic handles and four black plastic legs. A feature I really like about this cooker is that on bottom of each of the four legs is a little rubber like washer. These washers prevents your cooker from sliding or getting accidentally shoved when it is on the counter. The washers make it very hard to move the cooker without first picking it up.

There are a few precautions that you should heed if you own and use this Presto slow cooker:
The surface cooker gets very hot so you should always use the handles or potholders.
You should not use with an extension cord.
You should not use outdoors.
This appliance is not intended to melt wax, gels, plastics, or other materials for making candles or other hobbyist activities or any commercial or business application.
Never use the lid when frying or heating oil.
Do not use abrasive cleaners or steel wool to clean.
Do not store the heat control or magnetic cord assembly near metal objects.

This cooker is really a nice looking small appliance and would hold its own if you elected to leave it out on the counter but it is small enough to go into a cabinet if you are like me and don’t like your small appliances out when not in use.

I have a crockpot pumpkin pie recipe that I am anxious to try in this cooker. YUMMY

There is a limited warranty on this Presto slow cooker but if it lasts as long as my other slow cooker, my children will inherit it.