Back a couple centuries ago in high school, I had a female friend that lived with her dad and younger sister... The three were a bit 'granola' if you know what I mean, but I don't mean that in a bad way at all...
She told me that for the most part, meals at home were a hunk of bread and whatever was going in the crock pot... so I guess basically bread and 'soup' or 'stew'...
I never got to try the food, the only time I was there I sat in a chair and she gave me a haircut for my senior picture...
She said that every day they just added some of this and that, so the contents morphed over time...
I've always been intrigued with this idea but have never really tried it out... Having made quite a number of soups and stews, I know that some things you add can just get terribly mushy and not very appealing... but I guess if you let it sit there long enough and turn to mush and just blend in, what difference does it make?
Are there secrets to doing this successfully that I don't know about?
Having hooked up a crock to a killawatt meter they aren't the cheapest things to have running all the time, but then again not having to spend time cooking has a payoff as well....
“… the light in his heart blinded him to the gleam of the knife. The longing for peace deafened him to the sound of the murderers lying in wait.” ~~ Moshe Dayan, kibbutz Nahal Oz, 1956 at the funeral of Ro’i Rothberg
The 2024 election will be here soon... Brace For Impact and Fix Bayonets
I watched a historical documentary or a YouTube thing or something awhile ago and it had a blurb about food preservation. Or rather lack of back in the "old" days. Hence why there was always a big ol' pot simmering on the back of the stove. Makes sense really, simmering can't spoil. Add water as necessary and, of course veggies and meats too. You'd never have the same bowl of soup twice. Crockpot would be simply be the new and improved way of doing it.
We do a lot of cp soups and bread. Hot, filling, minimal effort, and economical it's a win-win as far as I'm concerned. Beans and potatoes would make for creamier thicker stews, water would thin it down to a soupier consistancy.
Ever read Tightwad Gazette? She talks about "freezer soup." Kinda the same concept...waste not everchanging soup varieties. She had a container in her freezer that she would put leftover meat, veggies, the juice from canned goods, etc. When the container was full she'd boil it up and that was dinner.
I knew a Mexican family who kept a big pot of refried beans going constantly, adding occasionally as the level would diminish. I don't know that pot ever got emptied and washed.
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Interesting concept, I think it would be hard to keep a constant brew, unless you used the same meat, i.e. beef, chicken, or pork.
The most run time we have is two days for split pea/bean soup. The ham shank one day, followed by the beans and ham the next. We use our CP about two times a week from fall until spring. Tomorrow will be one one of those days I will put something in the CP. My wife does a turn around shift once a week, so having a meal ready at 9 p.m. when she gets home and left overs ready for the early shift make life a little easier.
Like said.... About 100 years ago, when I was a young guy, there was a little beer joint that had coffee, or ice tea depending on the season, beer, and chili dogs.. Along with bag snacks, chips and such.. Plus hard boiled pickled eggs, regular or spicy... The electric skillet behind the till was periodically refilled with Korn King hot dogs, and Hormel canned chili.. It never cooled off and never got washed that I know of.. Great place...
The farther north you go, the more things that can eat both you and your horse. Grandpa Gilbert.
Interesting concept, I think it would be hard to keep a constant brew, unless you used the same meat, i.e. beef, chicken, or pork.
I was actually laying in bed in the middle of the night wondering about just that....
Assuming I started off with something like a chicken soup, add noodles, then top off with more stock, some veg, throw in some leftover cooked rice...
Then maybe brown up some pork and toss it in with some lentils or other beans...
Then maybe do the same with some sort of beef, barley, more veg and stock....
I dunno... this could morph into something decent - or awful....
bd
“… the light in his heart blinded him to the gleam of the knife. The longing for peace deafened him to the sound of the murderers lying in wait.” ~~ Moshe Dayan, kibbutz Nahal Oz, 1956 at the funeral of Ro’i Rothberg
The 2024 election will be here soon... Brace For Impact and Fix Bayonets
My wife worked at a truck stop for 30 years. They had a commercial coffee maker that was about 3ft x 3ft, regular and decaf, auto fill and held about 3 gallons of coffee on each side. Each customer that ordered coffee would get their own pot at the table. It was standard practice to pour the left over coffee from the pots back in the machine for years. One day the unit stopped working and the service guy was called. What they found in the strainer would gag a maggot, everything from diamond rings to other things I don't need to give you all a visual description on. That practice was stopped that day. I swear if you didn't get a communicable disease from working or eating there after all the years, the covid is like getting a hang nail.
It was standard practice to pour the left over coffee from the pots back in the machine for years.
One day the unit stopped working and the service guy was called. What they found in the strainer would gag a maggot, everything from diamond rings to other things I don't need to give you all a visual description on. That practice was stopped that day.
I don’t drink much soda but the above is why I don’t drink soda from machines.😧
For true patriots to be silent, is dangerous.”—Samuel Adams
My wife worked at a truck stop for 30 years. They had a commercial coffee maker that was about 3ft x 3ft, regular and decaf, auto fill and held about 3 gallons of coffee on each side. Each customer that ordered coffee would get their own pot at the table. It was standard practice to pour the left over coffee from the pots back in the machine for years. One day the unit stopped working and the service guy was called. What they found in the strainer would gag a maggot, everything from diamond rings to other things I don't need to give you all a visual description on. That practice was stopped that day. I swear if you didn't get a communicable disease from working or eating there after all the years, the covid is like getting a hang nail.
Your post reminded me of a train wreck per se -- I've read through it three times now with such disbelief - the phrase "totally gnarly" comes to mind. Yikes!
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Interesting concept, I think it would be hard to keep a constant brew, unless you used the same meat, i.e. beef, chicken, or pork.
I dunno... this could morph into something decent - or awful....
bd
I’d think with a crockpot you’d have to let each addition cook for quite awhile. Not sure a CP is hot enough (esp. on low) to kill all the germs from cold/lukewarm leftovers being added constantly. Even lifting the lid to stir drops the temp considerably. Saving a bunch of leftovers in the fridge/freezer, then cooking them all at once would be a better option, plus the food wouldn’t turn to mush as easily.
I’m surprised you found the CP not all that economical, everything I’ve ever read says they surpass almost all other appliances in electric usage.
As much as I try to avoid cooking, I‘d still prefer to cook more often then have an unknown slurry soup...the thought sorta gets my gag reflex going... Sorry, I think I’d pass. 😁
For true patriots to be silent, is dangerous.”—Samuel Adams
I don’t drink much soda but the above is why I don’t drink soda from machines.😧
I'm with you there. Gas station/fast food fountain pop machines need regular cleaning and it's a gamble if they do. The machines get what is called a ice mold. The taverns in Wisconsin here like to let customers know there is no tap beer until x time as they are cleaning the lines, and that's a positive thing.
I think my original plan would work, more or less, but w/ me being in no-mo-mojo-mode this might not be a great time to get too experimental...
Since refrieds are a staple around here, I may try something with that... fire up the small crock and cook up a some beans, pull out a serving for dinner, toss in some new beans, repeat the next day... if I'm just usually going to be mashing them up it doesn't really matter how broken down they get...
One day throw in some onion, the next some garlic, the next some hot peppers... just see what happens....
And every morning for example, crank it up to high for an hour or two just to be safe...
bd
“… the light in his heart blinded him to the gleam of the knife. The longing for peace deafened him to the sound of the murderers lying in wait.” ~~ Moshe Dayan, kibbutz Nahal Oz, 1956 at the funeral of Ro’i Rothberg
The 2024 election will be here soon... Brace For Impact and Fix Bayonets
Keeping on the forever crock pot theme. Years ago my wife got a recipe for a Mexican type party dip from a co-worker, that I refer to as the calf scour dip. It consists of a hot pork sausage, hot velveeta cheese, green chilis, ro-tel tomatoes and jalapeños
We decided to make it for a super bowl party we were hosting. Cooked every thing up on the stove and transferred it to the crock pot. At the start of the game it had some zing to it, by half time she was getting a bit warm but still tasted good, by the end of the game it was getting hotter. As it typically went in those days, everyone was a bit over served on the refreshments and the CP was left on over night. By the next morning the calf scour dip was so incredibly hot it made your eyes water just opening the lid. We still make it today, but keep out enough for the party and freeze the rest.