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We use our slow cooker to make food while we're entertaining, whether its homemade Italian beef while watching football or chili while playing board games with friends. It doesn't need to be watched and is ready whenever you are, so we aren't beholden to our kitchen, either!

Sometimes, if I need to precook beans or something for another dish, I'll do it overnight in the crockpot.

My fave no-brainer for the crockpot is: place frozen chicken breasts in crockpot, dump in a jar of salsa, cook on low all day while you are at work, right before you're ready to eat, turn heat off and add 1/2cup of sour cream and stir (chicken will shred). Serve in tortilla shells with your favorite toppings.

I just received a slow cooker as a gift and haven't used it yet, but was wondering if it makes sense to sear meat prior to cooking it in the slow cooker.

We made a double-batch of stuffing at Thanksgiving, and put what wouldn't fit in the bird in our crockpot. It stayed nice and moist, and even got a little caramelized on the edges.

I don't yet have a crockpot ... but that will soon change! My boyfriend's mum is buying us one for Xmas :D

I'm considering getting a crockpot (with my xmas bonus) but also considering a pressure cooker. I definitely don't have room for both...so which should it be?

amarrano, do you place actual frozen chix breasts or dethawed ones?

I made my Thanksgiving sweet potatoes in the crock pot; it was easy, tasty, and made my house smell delicious overnight.

I make a lot of things...but my usual is veggie chili and beans.

Arin -- Since meats won't brown in the slow cooker, you may want to do that before you add them to the pot, but you don't have to. The meat will come out fine even if the color isn't beautiful. When I make beef stew I just throw in everything raw.

I usually use it for veggies.

I don't have one but I bet short ribs would be awesome in it.

Arin, yes definitely sear your meat first. It will make your dishes taste much better. I use mine for stews.

Arin - I find that if I sear meat, it enhances the flavor and stays in one piece. If I don't sear it, it tends to fall apart more and shred. I often skip searing for soups, because it doesn't matter much.

I make soups in the crockpot every 2 or 3 days in the winter, as well as stews and short ribs, tagines, curries, etc. Basically any recipe with a lot of water content can be adapted to the slow-cooker risk-free. I find that it's a little iffy-er if for dryer dishes.

Yes, you pretty much want to sear any meat before adding the slower cooker. Enhances the flavour immensely.

Nothing like coming home to an already-cooked, piping hot soup or stew when it's -30C outside!

Crock pots are perfect for pot luck dinners. There's never enough stove top space, and everyone always seems to have last minute tweaks. It's great to be able to just plop it down out of the way and plug it in.

Even if it isn't a crock-pot cooked meal - keeps most things warm on low until serving time.

I cook my marinara sauce in mine. Other than that, I dont really use it much. I dont eat meat and dont like beans and that seems to be the two biggest uses for a crockpot. It makes the best slow cooked marinara ever though.

Thanks everyone for your comments re: searing meat. Maybe I'll try out my slow cooker this weekend.

Any recommendations on a good crockpot?--this topic reminds me that my partner wants one. We've actually used the juicer so I'm hopeful this too would get a workout . . .

Slowcookers are one of those things you don't think you need until you use it; i've used my ex-roommate's for just about everything you could imagine... (and now am looking for another, but the price-quality hasn't been right yet; recommendations would be much welcomed)

the best part is, they save lots of time spent over hot stoves stirring and simmering; and if you can get dinner in the pot before leaving the house, it's so nice to come home to yummy stuff

my favorite short-cut: fruit jam... pressure cookers will mush them fast, but locks in too much moisture; stovetop has high risk of burning (and who wants to stand in the hot kitchen over a stove in the summer when those fruits are in season?); slow-cookers are awesome, releasing moisture without burning

I'm the laziest of the lazy...some days I'll take it out, and this is around noon, when often, I'll rummage around for a package of meat of some sort, look in the pantry for jam, tomatoes, soy sauce, add onions, any combination of items that meet my fancy, throw them in there, put it on high, and in about 6 hours, it's not only done, it's tender! That thing is a miracle worker!

I have both a pressure cooker and a slow cooker and use the slow cooker much more frequently of the two.

A hint for cleaning cooked on crud: Fill the slow cooker with water and a tablespoon of dishwasher detergent. Turn it on and let it cook for a few hours. Your stoneware liner will clean up without scrubbing or scratching the liner.

Even if you don't have a dishwasher, dishwasher detergent is a great cleaner for specific things. Very hot water and a dash of dishwasher detergent will get coffee and tea stains out of carafes and cups, as well as your cotton blouse. Just let them soak for a while.

A pork shoulder, put in a slow cooker dry with no water, and cooked for 8 hours on low makes the closest thing to pit cooked bbq that you can get outside of the south! I made some last week. I love coming home from a hard day to find dinner both done and hot.

Aldyth: Thanks for the cleaning tips!

I only use my slow cooker between mid-November and early March, but it's worth it nonetheless. There's nothing better than dragging yourself home on a soggy, cold winter evening and finding fall-apart-tender short ribs waiting.

I have been hesitant to consider a slow cooker--my thinking is always, "do I need another thing in my kitchen," as it is a typical NYC apartment without a ton of storage space or counter space. But I'm starting to reconsider and just might go for it!

I love the slow cooker because I can make dinner during my son's nap time and not have to try and entertain him while cooking in the evening. I make a lot of chicken and vegetable soup, stew, jambolaya, and tortilla soup at the moment. Nice plus is that babies and toddlers can eat it all because the vegetables and meat come out nice and soft. And, yes, I almost always put in the chicken and shrimp frozen.

I throw all the ingredients for chicken stock in my crock pot and leave it on low overnight. It cooks nice and slow so your stock is nice and clear. I strain it out in the morning, throw in veggies, beans, meat or whatever, and leave it on low for the rest of the day. It makes the best soups ever.

For anyone hesitant to embrace a single-function kitchen tool, I highly recommend the West Bend Versatility cooker. It's an oval nonstick pan on a flat slow-cooker base. The pan can also go on your stove top or in the oven, while (on my the deluxe model at least) the flat base can be used as a griddle.

You don't get the full-surround heat like you do on a traditional slow cooker--all the heat comes from the bottom, so it's more like leaving something on a low burner for a long time--but so far that hasn't affected the soups and braises that I make, and the trade-off is worth it if you have a small kitchen.

I use my crockpot for a lot of stews, chili, and roasts. As a hack, I make chili con queso in it and put it on the serving table for parties.