The slow cooker’s history is not a long one. Back in the beginning of the 1960s, the electric bean cooker was first made by the “West Bend Corporation”. This cooker was brought out as the Bean Pot. It was basically a crock pot on a tray that heated up. The Beanery was the actually the first true forerunner for slow cookers. “Naxon Utilities Corporation” was responsible for developing that one.
In the year 1970, Rival Industries purchased Naxon, which also gave them the rights for the Beanery. This began Rival’s exploration into the world of slow cookers. The company found that many types of foods cooked wonderfully with this same method. Once this was discovered 25,000 cookers were brought out and sold to the public as the first official Crock-Pot during 1971.
Another innovation in 1974 came with this product when the inside crock could be removed for cleaning. Also people were encouraged to save energy. Through using the low-wattage Crock-Pot this was easy.
With more women holding down jobs, Rival started to show them how easy fixing meals would be with their slow cooker. Rival knew that it would appeal to women that they could cook a meal, while they were away at work. Then by the middle of the 70s other companies jumped aboard making their versions. Most of them no longer are around though.
Rival remains the leader in the market today with its slow cooker. They command a whopping 85 percent of the market. They offer a variety of sizes in many different models. These models have proved over the years to be extremely useful.
Now they come with automatic controls and even timers to help them do their cooking more effectively. Many cookbooks have even been written chocked full of meal recipes specifically for the cookers of today.
Rival is not the only brand of cooker made today, but probably still the best known. You can find deluxe large-size models if you have a large family. You can cook everything from beef stew to chuck roast in them.
They are great for spaghetti sauce, chili, and just about any one-pot meal you can come with. Everyone has such a busy life these days the slow-cooker is used on a daily basis in some homes.
You can find them ranging from a 16-ounce size up to a 7.4-quart size. This is the size of the crock. Most have different heat settings for cooking on high or low, some even have a warming setting. The low setting heats things to a temperature of 170 degrees Fahrenheit with the high setting heating food to 190 degrees to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
A certain amount of liquid is also needed to cook food correctly. This amount varies depending on what you are cooking. So follow a cookbook’s instructions on this matter or the operating instructions that come with the manual.
Another innovation that has happened with slow cookers is that of the rice cooker. Special rice cookers are no more than an offshoot of the original slow cookers. So the history goes on for the very convenient cooking tool.