Crock Junior

I just couldn't help myself.  As much as I love my big, 6Q slow cooker, I couldn't resist picking up this smaller, 4Q slow cooker.  I bought it secondhand for a song and have been very happy with it.  I cleaned it like Martha Stewart was watching.  It's another Hamilton Beach, though this one is manual, which means I can't set a timer to tell it when to switch to warm.  So far this is not a big deal.

Crock Jr and Crock

It's great for two things.  First, for making smaller quantity recipes. A crock should be half to two-thirds full and when you put in a smaller volume, it doesn't cook properly.  You can put a smaller dish into the crock and cook that way, which I have done with success for baking sweet breads.  But since my big slow cooker is oval, large round dishes won't fit.

I've made some great soups in crock jr already. The broccoli soup, which was perfect on a chilly day and mushroom soup, which tasted nothing like the stuff in the can.  

I also like it when I want to make a side to go with whatever I'm making in the big crock.  Last week I made chicken drumsticks in the big crock and soup in crock jr. It was a breeze!