Another Utilitarian Tool in My Cooking Arsenal

Modern American life leaves those with families precious little time to function like the families of yesteryear. Between the job commutes, working out, kids, chores, and other pressures, there is little time to cook a decent dinner. I do the majority of cooking in our household and it is something I enjoy, but it is increasingly hard to accomplish because of my ever demanding schedule.

I had two slow cookers; one small 2 quart model and a larger 4 quart multiple setting pot. But all too often my slow cook meals turn out bland and tasteless and despite numerous attempts to spice things up so to speak, I have met with little success. Part of that has to do with overcooking the meal, or cooking it on too high a setting.

So I had a two pronged problem; time and blandness, both of which I hoped to solve with the Cuisinart CSC-650 6.5-Quart Slow Cooker. The Cuisinart CSC-650 comes with a feature that was lacking on my other two slow cookers: a timer. The slow cooker has a low and high cooking setting with a zero-to-eight hour timer (that can be set at half-hour intervals) that automatically shifts to a "Warm" setting when cook time ends.

The 6-1/2-quart brushed stainless steel finish Cuisinart CSC-650 also features a removable (dish washer safe) ceramic cooking pot, glass lid, non-slip rubber feet and a retractable power cord. However the unit is square and not round like most slow cookers which can make storage a challenge; the retractable power cord helps in that regard. The unit also ships with a 70-page recipe booklet that I have found somewhat useful.

Use

I tend to cook meats, sauces, and stews in the slow cooker and this one is no exception. To date I have cooked barbequed beef short ribs, chili, beef stew and spaghetti sauce in the Cuisinart CSC-650 and all have turned out reasonably well. I was a little disappointed in the spaghetti sauce, because I cooked it too long and it turned out watery (I hater watery spaghetti sauce), but that problem was resolved with a little flour.

The beef ribs and stew turned out perfect, while the chili was a little bland; one again the problem of overcooking reared its ugly head. Even on the low setting care must be taken not to overcook the meal. I have started collecting slow cook recipes from various Internet sites, so I have a good base from which to choose. Next up: chicken drumsticks and thighs.

Care must be taken not to touch the Cuisinart CSC-650 when it is doing its thing, because the outside of the unit does get hot to the touch. And on the “High” setting foods can stick to the ceramic pot, so it is recommended you spray the inside with Spam, other some other non-stick cooking spray.

Cleaning

After a prolonged period of cooking, food will stick the sides of the ceramic pot (see above), so I usually soak it for a few hours afterwards in warm soapy water, after which to food usually comes right off without too much elbow grease. The ceramic pot is a little large for my dishwasher even on the bottom rack, so hand washing is my only option at this point. The brushed stainless steel exterior can be wiped clean with Formula 409 or Windex depending on the severity of the stain.

Conclusion

The Cuisinart CSC-650 is a keeper. With its combination of large size and timed cooking I have found another hand the help me get decent nutritional meals on the dinner table for my family.