Shameless Commerce: The Slow Cooker

Yesterday was destined to be full of struggles meriting exclamatory retaliation. I guess because I subconsciously knew I would need a preventative mouth-washing, I accidentally put A and D ointment (that’s what we use for diaper cream around here) on my morning toothbrush.

But the day turned out much better than that, and even when I hit my finger with a hammer (with some good help, I made a lot of progress on the shed I’m building out of free materials) the A and D kept my language utterly pure.

Besides the construction work, I cleaned the chimney and wood stove, harvested Japanese and June beetles, made a killer apricot crisp for dessert, and finally pulled out our new Hamilton Beach 7-quart slow cooker encased in smudge-proof stainless steel.

I’d been given the slow cooker to review by an online store that also sells tons of other stuff, too. (I had to write a teaser post that included a link to whatever particular store they’re promoting and then I got to choose an item to review. They give me this “unique opportunity,” I guess, to boost their standing in internet search results listings and get “grassroots” promotion.)

Anyway, to test the new slow cooker’s prowess, I decided I needed to work it, baby, so with our after-church lunch just 20 hours away, I got busy.

First, I sizzled nearly two and a half pounds of salted and peppered ground beef along with several onions, lots of minced garlic, and a generous splash of olive oil. Once the meat was all browned, I stirred in about two and a half pounds of spaghetti sauce and several sliced zucchinis, and then, in the slow cooker crock, layered that with almost a whole box of raw lasagna noodles, just over a pound of grated mozzarella cheese, and a pound of cottage cheese. The slow cooker is a seven-quart monster, but my lasagna conglomeration filled it to less than an inch from the top.

We’re talking some heavy serious business, here. I put it in the refrigerator.

At 5:10 this morning I awoke and pulled the crock from the refrigerator and let it warm up on the counter. At 6:40, I dropped it into the cooker and turned it on “high.” As the smell of burning newness merged with and then was overcome by the smell of lasagna cooking, I went about my other business of the day. At 9:00, then, I loaded my culinary offering in a corner of the trunk, the cooker lid (with its okay-to-grab-when-hot-knobby-handle) strapped on by the convenient bungee-cord thing designed for keeping things intact en route. (At church one lady said, “Oh, that strap is so convenient!” It works, too.)

At church I plugged the cooker in, set it on “low,” and listened to the morning service; then, during Sunday school, I switched it back to “keep warm.” (Total cook time: two hours on high, two hours on low.)

Then we had lunch. The noodles were a bit mushy, but our friend DC made appreciative gestures over the lasagna and even though our church is small and there was plenty of other foods to eat, too, now I have just a little lasagna left, maybe enough for our supper tonight, if we eat light.

The bottom line: The slow cooker with its simple temperature selections, handles that allow it to be lifted, and a handy bungee thing, works as a it should. And I make a solid lasagna.

Before actually going out and purchasing any goodbadi-reviewed item, please email goodbadiblog@gmail.com to confirm that the reviewed item’s features include longevity.