Slow Cooker Baked Potatoes! Time Saving, Money Saving Kitchen Tips ~ Noreen's Kitchen

This week's time saving, money saving tip is all about potatoes!  If you are like me, you purchase potatoes in large bags with every intention of using them faster than they can sprout eyes.  Truth be told, I never can do this and invariably end up scrubbing my potatoes free of their eyes when using up the bottom of the bag.  When this happens, I like to bake them all off and use them in other recipes.  Because this will encourage me to use them and not waste them, and while they will end up in the compost bin, I would much rather have my groceries end up in our bellies, fueling our bodies instead of making good soil!  

Baking potatoes in a slow cooker or crockpot, may not be something you have considered, however a quick search on YouTube will reveal that a lot of people have been doing this for a long time so maybe it's time for you to start!  This is a great way to bake potatoes in bulk without heating up your kitchen.  This saves both time and money because you don't have to babysit your spuds while they are in the oven and you get to use up the groceries you have spent your hard earned money on to nourish your growing family!

There are lots of different ideas about how to bake your potatoes in the slow cooker.  My preparation is really no different than how I prep my potatoes to go in the oven.  I scrub them up really well using either a green pad or a stainless steel scrubbie or even a brush will work.  I remove any eyes or bad spots from the potatoes and then dry them off with paper towel and let them sit for about an hour before proceeding.  I like to make sure the residual moisture from the scrubbing is pretty much gone.

I like to place the potatoes in a really large bowl then drizzle over a couple tablespoons of olive oil and give everything a good rub down, making sure the potatoes are completely coated with the oil.  At this point you can say you are done prepping your spuds.  You don't have to add anything else.  However I do like to add some Kosher salt and some steak seasoning to my potatoes.  You add as much or as little as you prefer.  You are the master of your tubers!   I will most likely be peeling these potatoes before I use them, however I may not.  The steak seasoning will permeate the potatoes during the long baking process and as a bonus they will perfume your kitchen so how can that be a bad thing?

Once everything is all oiled up and seasoned, place the potatoes in your slow cooker.  No need to add any water.  The potatoes will produce enough of their own moisture to cook and prevent drying.  Then pop the lid on, set the cooker to low and allow the potatoes to bake for 6 to 8 hours or until a knife will easily pierce the potato with just a little resistance.  You don't want these mushy, just nicely cooked.

The one major difference between potatoes baked in the oven and potatoes baked in the slow cooker is the skin.  Baked this way your skin is going to be soggy and not crispy like when you bake them in the oven.  I can over look this, especially in the middle of a hellish summer where I don't really want to be firing up my oven to 450 degrees just to make a baked potato to eat next to a delicious grilled steak.  You can always plug your slow cooker in on your covered deck, carport or garage (make sure it's out of the weather) and that will not heat up your house at all!  

Saving time by baking off potatoes in bulk is a great way to have them on hand for quick dinner, potato salad, casseroles, and home fries or any dish calling for potatoes.  Saving money is using what you have already purchased as well as saving energy.  A slow cooker will use about 8 cents of electricity over an 8 hour span of time as compared to an electric oven that will use 24 cents an hour.  I would say that is a great savings overall!

I hope you give baking potatoes in the slow cooker a try sometime soon and I hope you love it!

Happy Eating!

You can see how I did this in my YouTube video:

Perfect Hard Cooked Eggs in the Pressure Cooker! You Will Never Boil Them Again!

When I first purchased my pressure cooker, I had visions of quick and easy pot roast and chicken soup, however as the years have gone by and I have fallen more and more deeply in love with my pressure cooker, I have discovered a host of wonderful things that I can do with this fantastic electronic appliance.  

I have shared many different and delicious recipes using this pressure cooker and another that I had several years ago that was a different brand.  I actually went through two of those.  The old versions were only 5 quarts.  A couple of years ago this model was featured as a value of the day on HSN and angels sang LOUDLY!  This has been an amazing pressure cooker and I highly recommend that every one get one of these fantastic appliances because it will make your life easier!

Today I wanted to share with you how to make perfect hard boiled eggs in your pressure cooker!  I had no idea that this could even be done and when I learned about it, I was still skeptical.  My model did not come with instructions for how to do this so I went looking.  Then I saw my friend Heather make some and I had to try.  Additionally, a viewer gave me some sound tips on how she did hers so I employed her technique and the rest is history!

To pressure cook eggs to perfection you need to have a rack in the bottom of your pressure cooker.  I have a rack that is for cakes, but any rack will work as long as it will fit in the bottom of your cooker.  You can even use a small plate if you like.  It will need to hold the eggs above the water so keep that in mind.  I do recommend getting a rack if at all possible.  Pour in 1 1/2 cups of water then lay your eggs in there in a single layer.  Some people say you can do multiple layers, but I don't recommend that.  

Put the lid on and follow the manufactures instructions for sealing up your cooker then set for 5 minute on the "rice" setting.  Allow to come to pressure, cook and then time out.  Quick release your pressure being careful to avoid the stream of steam and remove the lid away from you.

Using tongs, remove the eggs to an ice bath to cool.  You can choose to peel them all at one time or place them in the fridge in their shells.  The one thing I will say about pressure cooking eggs, aside from the ultimate perfection of a purely pale yellow and creamy yolk, these eggs will nearly leap out of their shells for you with little effort and sticking.  This is especially nice if you buy farm fresh eggs, which can normally be a bit of a bugger to peel.

I am not exaggerating when I say I will never cook my hard boiled eggs another way again.  This method is a sheer winner overall and an energy saver and a water save and a time saver and a sanity saver!  You will always have perfect eggs now when you want to make deviled eggs or just have eggs on hand for breakfast or snacking!  

I hope you will get that pressure cooker down off the shelf and give this method of hard cooking eggs a try!  I think you will be pleasantly surprised to be sure!

I hope you try it and I hope you love it!

Happy eating!

You can see how I did this in my YouTube video!

I have an Elite 10 Quart Electronic Pressure Cooker.  You can get one for your own by following this link: http://amzn.to/28WXOWW