I am completely new to crockpot cooking. My mother gave us one this year and I've tried it twice so far. It is a Rival 5 quart chrome smart pot and has a setting for 4, 6, 8, and 10 hours. It adjusts the temperature accordingly.
The first time I used it I came home after 8 hours to find a pool of water all over my counter. I guess water condensed on the lid, got on the wide lip of the ceramic pot, and boiled right off the edge onto my counter. It was a LOT of water. Meanwhile, my split pea soup had burned around the edge of the bottom of the ceramic dish!
I tried it again today with beef stew. I didn't fill the pot as much (about half full) to keep it from boiling over and I added more liquid than the recipe called for to try and curb the burning on the bottom. I checked in on the stew after 5 hours (came home on my lunch break) and lifted the lid to stir it. I found that food was already sticking to the bottom. Water was collecting on hte lip of the ceramic pot and when I lifted the lid it fell back into the stew. When I returned 4 hours later, there was some stew stuck to the bottom of the pot and no water spilt on my counter. The steam was lifting the lid up and down making a clanging sound!
What do you think??? Is there something wrong with my crockpot or do I need to learn some tricks of the trade!
Thanks!
The first time I used it I came home after 8 hours to find a pool of water all over my counter. I guess water condensed on the lid, got on the wide lip of the ceramic pot, and boiled right off the edge onto my counter. It was a LOT of water. Meanwhile, my split pea soup had burned around the edge of the bottom of the ceramic dish!
I tried it again today with beef stew. I didn't fill the pot as much (about half full) to keep it from boiling over and I added more liquid than the recipe called for to try and curb the burning on the bottom. I checked in on the stew after 5 hours (came home on my lunch break) and lifted the lid to stir it. I found that food was already sticking to the bottom. Water was collecting on hte lip of the ceramic pot and when I lifted the lid it fell back into the stew. When I returned 4 hours later, there was some stew stuck to the bottom of the pot and no water spilt on my counter. The steam was lifting the lid up and down making a clanging sound!
What do you think??? Is there something wrong with my crockpot or do I need to learn some tricks of the trade!
Thanks!