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Thread Number: 66806
/ Tag: Small Appliances
I finally found a Hamilton Beach slow cooker w/ auto shift. |
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Post# 894831 8/20/2016 at 17:48 (2,798 days old) by polkanut  (Wausau, WI ) |
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 Today there was a small estate sale just 2 blocks up the street from our house so I decided to take a look. Well, I didn't need any rosaries, but the woman must have had about 3 dozen or so. But, amongst other things on the kitchen counter was this lovely. It looks very pristine, and apparently was well taken care of. I've never used a slow cooker with the auto shift feature. I know some of you have them and use them. Pros & cons? Any opinions on this option?
The box and all of the original paperwork came with it along with a few paperback slow cooker recipe books. The paperwork shows the year 1976 on it. | ||
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Post# 894837 , Reply# 1 8/20/2016 at 18:11 (2,798 days old) by appnut (TX) |
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Post# 894838 , Reply# 2 8/20/2016 at 18:39 (2,798 days old) by polkanut (Wausau, WI ) |
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Post# 894846 , Reply# 3 8/20/2016 at 20:17 (2,798 days old) by appnut (TX) |
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Post# 894849 , Reply# 4 8/20/2016 at 21:55 (2,798 days old) by Frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie) |
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Nice vintage slow cooker; congratulations!
A question: Does it shift from high to low or from high (or low) to hold warm? If it shifts to hold warm, it's a wonderful feature. I've come home a few hours late a number of times and the hold warm feature kept the food at a safe temp without drying it out. Rosaries: My mom was a Catholic from Italy who prayed the rosary every day. She had a bunch of them, too, her favorite being one with white beads that she wore around her neck while seven months pregnant when she and my Dad came to America on a Red Cross boat in 1946. | ||
| Post# 894853 , Reply# 5 8/20/2016 at 22:05 (2,798 days old) by Maytagbear (N.E. Ohio) | ||
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Nice catch! Really nice, Tim! I have a slow cooker with auto shift, with the "Corning Electrics" brand. I almost always use the auto shift setting with it. So handy. Mine just shifts once, from high to low. Lawrence/Maytagbear | ||
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Post# 894860 , Reply# 6 8/20/2016 at 23:18 (2,798 days old) by Petek (Ontari ari ari O ) |
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| Post# 894918 , Reply# 7 8/21/2016 at 12:40 (2,798 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan) | ||
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I rarely use my slow cooker. I don't prefer the under browning of meat from it. | ||
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Post# 894925 , Reply# 8 8/21/2016 at 13:04 (2,798 days old) by appnut (TX) |
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I don't prefer the under browning of meat from it. | ||
| Post# 894932 , Reply# 10 8/21/2016 at 14:40 (2,797 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan) | ||
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Today, I made Spanish Pallela for the family. Halibut, shrimp, chicken, Portuguese sausage, bomba rice, little neck clams. Onion, garlic, peppers, tomatoes, saffron. | ||
| Post# 894943 , Reply# 11 8/21/2016 at 16:00 (2,797 days old) by perc-o-prince (Southboro, Mass) | ||
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I brown my meats on the grill before popping them in the slow cooker. The grill's always out and available so it's handy that way. Chuck | ||
| Post# 894948 , Reply# 12 8/21/2016 at 16:19 (2,797 days old) by firedome (Binghamton NY & Lake Champlain VT) | ||
Tim:
we have the identical HB Auto-Shift slow cooker, only difference ours has a brick pattern on the outside, otherwise the same. We bought it a couple years ago from an older couple who'd only used it a couple of times. Unfortunately they had lost all the paperwork so I don't know the timing when the shift goes from Hi to Lo temp, but it seems to work very well, we like it!
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| Post# 894951 , Reply# 13 8/21/2016 at 16:52 (2,797 days old) by LordKenmore (The Laundry Room) | ||
I, too, seldom use a slow cooker. Make that "almost never." My mother was just about as bad--she used her slow cooker more than I use mine, but it was only used to make vegetable soup. Thus, during a period she wasn't making soup for whatever reason, it collected dust in the cupboard.
I keep thinking I should try to use one more. But I'm programmed to use regular pots and pans, and much of the time these days my eating seems to be get something made and served fast. | ||
| Post# 894952 , Reply# 14 8/21/2016 at 16:57 (2,797 days old) by LordKenmore (The Laundry Room) | ||
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has a brick pattern on the outside
I've seen those, at least in photos and maybe in person. I have to admit mixed feelings. I guess I personally prefer simple, understated design these days. But those certainly have 1970s flair to them! Indeed, as I think of it, 1970s design was--in general--a bit much, but at least there was some content there that I really don't see in most of today's appliances.
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| Post# 894954 , Reply# 15 8/21/2016 at 17:02 (2,797 days old) by LordKenmore (The Laundry Room) | ||
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>Auto shift is something of a food safety feature. it heats the food up more quickly to lessen the chance of bacterial growth then shifts to low to slow cook
A point worth considering. I know slow cookers of yesteryear have been targeted as potentially unsafe in that they might not heat up fast enough on the low setting to a temperature that will kill the germs. I'm not an expert, but it seems like a auto shift system would help address this issue. Of course, I've seen the suggestion that one's old faithful slow cooker should be retired in favor of a new slow cooker. Which is made in China, and may poison one with bad glaze for all I know. Or burn the house down with bad electrical components. (Plus one wonders if the "experts" suggesting a new slow cooker work for a slow cooker manufacturer...) | ||
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Post# 894992 , Reply# 16 8/21/2016 at 23:32 (2,797 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Post# 895017 , Reply# 17 8/22/2016 at 06:07 (2,797 days old) by polkanut (Wausau, WI ) |
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Roger "Firedome", the instruction booklet says that it when using Auto-Shift it switches from Hi to Lo after about 1 ¾ hours.
John "LordKenmore", I was very happy that this cooker had what the box calls "Harvest Wheat" as the pattern on it.
I'm going to give the crock & cover a good washing in the dishwasher and then I think a nice beef stew may be on the menu now that the temps have a definite Fall feel to them. | ||
| Post# 895115 , Reply# 18 8/22/2016 at 18:18 (2,796 days old) by firedome (Binghamton NY & Lake Champlain VT) | ||
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Thanks! | ||
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Post# 895576 , Reply# 21 8/24/2016 at 19:36 (2,794 days old) by paulg (My sweet home... Chicago) |
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A tip | ||
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Post# 895579 , Reply# 22 8/24/2016 at 20:25 (2,794 days old) by appnut (TX) |
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I believe I have that "Crockery Cookery" | ||
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Post# 905653 , Reply# 23 11/6/2016 at 08:08 (2,721 days old) by polkanut (Wausau, WI ) |
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Here's a couple of pics taken this morning with the "new to me" Hamilton Beach Slow Cooker in action with a pot of beef stew. I think I'm going to bake a pan of "Johnny Cake" to go with it for tonight's supper.
Correction to Reply #17: the pattern on the cooker is called "Herb Garden". This post was last edited 11/06/2016 at 08:35 | ||
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Post# 1087597 , Reply# 24 9/2/2020 at 05:56 (1,325 days old) by polkanut (Wausau, WI ) |
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Post# 1087604 , Reply# 25 9/2/2020 at 06:17 (1,325 days old) by SudsMaster (SF Bay Area, California) |
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 Seems like the latest cooking rage is all "Instapot" and similar devices. Basically electric self-contained pressure cookers with a variety of specialized options.
I got my 6 qt Instapot about a year ago, and have been using it to make brown rice, and also soup bone stock - chicken or beef. It works quite well for both, and is something of a relief from the hours I used to cook bone broth on the gas cooktop. One of these days I'll have to thaw out a chunk of pork butt and make some pulled pork in the Instapot with that. If it will fit! In the past I've done that with a big oval slow cooker.
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Post# 1094465 , Reply# 26 10/25/2020 at 11:09 (1,272 days old) by petek (Ontari ari ari O ) |
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Haven't tried it but I think you can cook from frozen in the IP, of course it will take longer.
I use mine a lot for quick soups and cooking potatoes and carrots. rather than boiling them.. Just put a couple of cups of water in.. then pile all your 1/4 chunked potatoes on a steam rack or basket above the water... and cook under pressure for 8 minutes, quick release, done.. No hovering around the stove to check if they're done. | ||
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Post# 1094470 , Reply# 27 10/25/2020 at 11:30 (1,272 days old) by appnut (TX) |
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I've had my IP for a year now and love it. I made my first stock on Friday, from last Christmas' turkey carcas that was at the bottom of the chest freezer double sealed in freezer bags. If you can fit the frozen state pork butt in the pot it can work I suppose. But in frozen state you cannot sear it easily I'm sure. I've discovered making pulled pork by cooking the pork butt in my convection oven at 300F for like 4 or 5 hours. The internal tempo goal is 190 to 200F. Have done it 3 times and it was perfect. From what I researched, the perfect pulled pork needs this internal temp of 190 to 200. I discovered this by simply wanting to convection roast the pork butt and this was one of the approaches discovered. I also use the IP to make brown rice, but I use the ot in a pot cooking method. Also use my IP weekly to make about 2 quarts of plain Greek yogurt. I serve it over frozen blueberries as my nightly sweet treat. Sometimes use the yogurt as a dipping sauce for sliced apples. Got some bacon ends & pieces Friday and will us that as part of my components for making IP Boston Baked Beans in conjunction with our first real cold front on Tuesday. And make a beef vegetable, barley soup tomorrow too. I love my IP.
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Post# 1094511 , Reply# 29 10/25/2020 at 18:35 (1,271 days old) by RP2813 (Sannazay) |
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 I don't own an instant pot, but do have a few stove-top pressure cookers in sizes varying from 4 to 10 quarts.
I won't make turkey or chicken stock any other way than in a pressure cooker. The end product is superior in every way to plain old simmering all day.
I was surprised to read in the OP that the "Auto Shift" bumps down to low after 1 3/4 hours, although that makes perfect sense to me. I wonder if my Farberware slow cooker has an issue. It bumps down after about 20 minutes, which seems way too soon and entirely ineffective. | ||
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Post# 1094552 , Reply# 30 10/25/2020 at 20:48 (1,271 days old) by SudsMaster (SF Bay Area, California) |
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Post# 1094567 , Reply# 31 10/25/2020 at 22:05 (1,271 days old) by petek (Ontari ari ari O ) |
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Post# 1094598 , Reply# 32 10/26/2020 at 03:06 (1,271 days old) by SudsMaster (SF Bay Area, California) |
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