Using a crock pot is a great way to cook your food. You put whatever you want into the crock pot and turn it to low or high and just let it do its thing cooking your food to perfection. A few weekends ago my Dad came to help us work on our basement. Mrs. SPF had things to do while Dad and I worked but she wanted to make a scrumptious chicken dinner for her father-in-law so out came the crock pot and 4 hours later, with the whole house smelling of wonderful herb chicken we had a delicious feast.
Not only does a crock pot save on electricity use (and how much money you spend cooking!) – see below – using a crock pot helps retain vitamins and minerals in your vegetables so it is a healthy was to cook as well!
| Temperature (degrees F) | Time | Energy Used | Cost | |
| Electric oven | 350 | 1 hr. | 2.0 kWh | $0.24 |
| Gas oven, electric ignition | 350 | 1 hr. | 0.112 therm +0.35 kWh | $0.21 |
| Gas oven, pilot | 350 | 1 hr. | 0.112 therm | $0.16 |
| Electric oven, convection | 325 | 45 min. | 1.39 kWh | $0.17 |
| Toaster oven | 350 | 1 hr. | 0.33 kWh | $0.04 |
| Crockpot | 200 | 7 hours | 0.70 kWh | $0.08 |
| Microwave oven | High | 15 minutes | 0.36 kWh | $0.04 |
I’ve always wanted to know just how much energy is being saved when something is cooked in the toaster oven vs in our electric range but never bothered to work it out. I’m sure the number are slightly different at our energy rates, but the ratio should be the same if our appliances have roughly the same efficiency as yours.
Thanks for the info!
Given we’re in Ontario SM our rates may not differ that much! ;)
Still – the comparison is valid – just adjust the rates!
I have a crock pot but rarely use it. I need to get in the HABIT of planning one meal a day in my crockpot. Thanks for the post. grace
I meant a week . One meal a week.
Thanks for the cool comparison chart. It’s nice to see how little the crock pot costs to run. I love our crock pot. I use it all year long but particularly in the summer to keep the house from heating up. I use it cook my dried beans that I then can freeze for recipes. Works awesome.
Good call on the beans. I read that you can cook them on low overnight instead of soaking and then cooking. Very handy.
I LOVE MY CROCK POT. LOVE IT.
I love it so much, it’s so effortless and it makes everything taste SO good.
I love making chili with it, making pulled pork sandwiches, and I also made some soy sauce beef short ribs with it.
delicious and fall-of-the-bone tenderness with minimal effort (maybe 3 minutes) and minimal cost. Win win win win!
It sure is! Great to see you again Y&T.
We also make some killer chicken wings in our crock pot.
Hi,
your statement about vitamins is not entirely true. Simmering veggies in a slow cooker is actually not so good for the vitamins in the vegetables. Most sources on slow cooking and veggies will talk about this, check wikipedia for an easily accessible discussion.
As an option, a pressure cooker is a better option w r t energy consumption and especially healthy food – the best option for keeping the vitamins in the vegetables (steam cooks, better than normal stove cooking). A pressure cooker is fast, and saves time in that way, but it does not give any “load it and forget” benefit, that the slow cooker does, though.
BR!
Yes crock work well and the are a low cost way of doing things. I like to prepare a nice chili before I head out to work and when I get home it is ready to eat. It is really that easy!