Hamilton Beach Crock Watcher Auto Shift

[human]

I'm giving the Crock Watcher a second run this weekend. This time it'll be eastern N.C. style pulled pork barbecue! I got a Boston butt pork shoulder roast (I've never understood why they call it a 'butt' when it comes from the shoulder) on sale yesterday. Gotta get the rest of the ingredients together today to make that and some slaw to go with it. Granted, it would be better if I had the facility to actually smoke the meat, but that's one area where my gas grill falls woefully short. The finished product from the slow cooker is mighty good, though. The recipe linked below is pretty close to what I do.

https://www.food.com/recipe/eastern-nc-pulled-pork-bbq-in-a-crock-pot-494551

 

[suckolux]

Edgar, what about some liquid smoke?? I have before, but not much

 

[human]

Liquid Smoke...

Yes, I use that in the slow cooker; in fact, I just bought a brand new bottle yesterday in preparation for this weekend's cooking. It's an okay substitute but it doesn't really infuse the meat with smoky flavor the way actual smoke does.

I use wood chips in a stainless steel smoke box on my gas grill and it works reasonably well for smaller cuts of meat like chicken or pork chops but at best, I can only get about a half hour of smoke with that setup, which is not nearly enough for a seven-pound Boston butt roast. Part of the problem with the slow cooker in this respect is a lot of the fat is dissolved into the liquid and ultimately discarded; whereas on a grill or in a smoker, the fat is where most of the smoke flavor is absorbed.

The recipe I use for the slow cooker uses a lot of vinegar, a little red pepper and brown sugar, which infuses the meat with a very different flavor profile but the liquid smoke tends to get lost in that mix.

 

[kirbyklekter]

Chili flavored beans

Hi Edgar, For some reason I can no longer find the chili flavored beans as called for in your recipe. At first, back when you posted the recipe, I had no problem, but now can't find them in any store. So I was wondering if you know of the actual brand who puts them out? Armed with an actual brand name I might have better luck trying to convince my local grocer to order a case or two!

Thanks, no hurry! Bill

 

[human]

I mainly make chili in the fall and winter, so I haven't looked for any chili flavored beans lately. I'll make a point of doing so next time I'm at the grocery. I've noticed that the stores around here are stocking smaller quantities of things, as well eliminating slower moving SKU's from inventory. I think that's one way they're coping with persistent supply chain issues. While it's not too surprising, it can be somewhat frustrating. That said, I'm pretty brand agnostic when it comes to canned beans and usually just grab the store brand or whatever's on sale. I looked in my cabinet and what I have on hand is "Dakota's Pride," chili flavored beans, which is an Aldi store brand.

 

[kirbyklekter]

Thanks Edgar

I'll keep an eye out for them. I mean I've made it with just doubling up on the other beans in the recipe and it's still the same good chili.Thanks for responding!

 

[human]

I was in Aldi yesterday and this thread came to mind so I checked the shelves and sure enough, they had the Dakota's Pride chili flavored beans in plentiful quantity. that said, you can certainly make it with whatever beans you have on hand or want to use and it'll still be great.

 

[kirbyklekter]

Thanks for checking

Nice to have the confirmation that they indeed exist. The last time I saw them in this store was around the time stores began having shortages. I had the beans on my list. As I was walking down the aisle to pick up a can there was this man literally swiping all the canned beans on a 4ft. section into his cart.

He had easily over 100 cans. I asked him if I could have just one can as I drove down here specifically for said beans. He side eyed me and begrudgingly handed me a can. What a guy,sheesh. Hoarders!

 

[human]

Saturday was a dreary, rainy day with highs in the mid-to-upper 60s, cool for this area this time of year, so I decided to break out the Crock Watcher and make some chili. I had ground beef and all the necessary seasonings on hand, but I needed a bell pepper, an onion, and cans of beans and tomatoes, so I headed out to Aldi in the rain. They had everything I needed, including the chili flavored beans, but not the diced tomatoes with green chili peppers (it's always something), so I substituted fire roasted tomatoes, which worked out just fine. On a whim, I also added a pinch of red pepper flakes, which gave it a subtle bite, but not really enough to qualify as a 'kick'. This ended up being just right for my palate. I ended up with about three quarts of chili, two of which are headed for the freezer today. I'd rather enjoy it when I'm in the mood than burn myself out on it, simply because it's there. At this point, I have to say the Crock Watcher is now my favorite of the three slow cookers I own.

 

[kirbyklekter]

I've been adding red pepper flakes all along for a little extra heat and also smoked paprika. I don't know why I have trouble finding diced tomatoes with peppers, so I just open a can of chilies and chop them up.

The good will, thrift stores almost always have a couple crock pots back in the appliance section for $5-7 bucks. I think I'll pick one up next time I go in. Heck, if wait until half off day and use senior discount on top of that they'd practically be paying me to take it home!

The newer style cooker I have which can also be used as a pressure cooker cooks too hot to be like a crock pot. The slow cook setting is about 300degrees. I can't leave it for too long without having to stir the contents or risk scorching. It doesn't have that thick ceramic insert like crock pots so when the heating element comes on it's too hot all at once.

I don't think pressure cooking chili beans would be as tasty as slow cooking is.Plus I believe the beans would come out mushy, like re-fried beans. What is the main difference between a crock watcher and a standard crock pot? I may look for that instead.

 

[human]

Two different manufacturers...

Crock Pot brand slow cookers are made by Rival and the Crock Watcher was made by Hamilton Beach. It was their upper end model back in the '70s. Its unique feature is a timer setting that would start it off on 'High' and then drop it to 'Low' after a couple of hours. Hamilton Beach also sold them under the Slow Cooker name without the automatic setting. They still use the Slow Cooker name today.

 

[kirbyklekter]

Lucky Crock Pot find (I think)

I cruised through the local thrift store near me and as always there were crock pots galore on aisle 10! I think there were nine pots available this week. Two were "instant pots"a newer version with more features. Then I spotted a Crock Watcher on the top shelf. It is the same as yours and looked brand new. I paid 8.95 which is higher than if I waited for half off day, which only happens once a month there.

No big. Question to you. Does the outer shell get hot to the touch on yours? Mine does. I'm heating up about 3 qts. of water to test with a candy thermometer at both settings. I'll see if I can download an owners manual that hopefully will describe what temps are achieved at either setting.

I just checked the temp on high setting and it's not even at 150 yet. I'll give it more time, it seems like I read that most crock pots go to 150 on low and 250 on the high setting. Have you ever checked yours for accuracy, it sounds like yours is working as it should.

 

[human]

I have not checked it for accuracy but it definitely does get hot to the touch on the outside and it does bubble/boil on high, but it can take a while to get there. The first time I used it and I tried the 'Automatic Shift' setting, it cut back to low before things came a boil. I could tell it had shifted to low because it didn't feel as warm in close proximity as it had when I previously checked it. After I turned it manually back to high, it reached a boiling/bubbling point within roughly another half an hour.

 

[kirbyklekter]

Wow

I finally got it up to 200 on high,but like you said, it takes a while. This is up from 120 on any setting so progress. I believe this is a NOS pot and about 45 yrs. old. I wanted too open it up to see if everything looked alright but they did a good job disguising the way it buttons up! No screws that I can see. Not even the legs are screwed to the base.

I was thinking maybe a control switch has a loose wire or was corroded so that there's only half power or maybe a condenser/resister was going out after 45 yrs. of hanging around. I'm also curious about the auto shift and how it works. Like is it a bi-metallic type of switch similar to thermostats,because I could see that acting up and effecting the amount of power going to the heating coils.

Well I'll just have to spend a little more time getting to the innards and checking it out. I did pull the knob off and spray some contact cleaner on the switch and worked it back and forth a few times. After that I started seeing higher temps. One thing for sure, with the amount of radiant heat it delivers it will double as a portable space heater this winter! Make chili and heat a room at the same time. I
'll let you know what I find out.

I wish I knew how to test the amp draw, my friend gave me a few testers from his fathers collection. I've only used one of them to test batteries around the house. like flashlights,remotes,mice and clocks,lol. Thanks for responding!

 

[kirbyklekter]

Well, I tried

Hi Edgar, Well finally spent the time to figure out how to open up the crock pot, to see if anything looked wrong. I couldn't get the pot up over 200 on any setting. The hollow tube centered in the bottom of the base acts as a drain and also holds the bottom to the metal housing.

After removing that the bottom plastic base just falls off. There are teo heating bands that wrap around the side of the cylinder, that's why the outside is so hot while running. I suspect the switch is faulty, it's the only moving part. Everything else looks fine.

The thrift stores almost always have crock pots, so I'll just check back until I find a suitable replacement. I will ask if I can return said crock pot if this happens again. Have you ever returned something to a thrift? For 8.95 I'm not going to return this, I've had it for a couple months anyway, and lost the receipt. I may try my insta-pot again.

I went to a crock pot web sight today (!) and people kept complaining that the lid to their c-pot doesn't fit very tight. They aren't supposed to, it's not a pressure cooker! On yours and mine the crock has a couple ridges that make it easy to use other lids. Pyrex casserole lids work for instance. You can use a higher domed lid if you need to. Ideally you want most of the steam to drain back in to the pot and not down the outside of the cooker.

One lady on the sight says her Hamilton Beach same model has been going strong for 35 years and she uses it a lot! Good news.

 

[human]

Thrift Store Returns...

The thrifts I frequent around here—Goodwill, Freedom House, Habitat ReStore—all allow returns on electrical items such as household appliances and electronics. They usually give you a week or 10 days and issue a store credit instead of a cash refund. I've returned a few things without any hassle.

 

[kirbyklekter]

Chili shortcut!

IO still haven't replaced my crock pot that would only reach 200f on high. So in the mean time I'm back to using my stock pot and my gas stove. I got to thinking abouit how I've made chili beans where the dry beans are soaked over night and rinsed the next day.Those recipes called for about 4-5 hrs. cooking.

So given that canned beans are already cooked and basically heat and eat, I decided to reduce the cooking time and see how it goes. I was aiming for 2-2 1/2hrs. I put all the beans and diced tomatoes and the cooked onions and garlic and all the spices in and brought it up to boil,then put a cookie sheet over the top of stock pot to simmer for about an hour.

I waited until the second hour to ad the lightly browned hamburger The bell pepper and chilies went in the first hour also,forgot to mention. Along with the hamburger I added another can of diced tomatoes and a little more water.

Let it go for an hour and thirty min.Same great results in half the time.Cooking on stove-top means you can't leave the house or forget to 'stir the pot' now and then. This was my main push to shorten the time I'd be tethered to the kitchen.I don't think the chili suffered a bit by a shorter cooking time.

Looking forward to getting another "set it and forget it" crock pot. That's still the easiest way! Just thought I'd share this with you. Even when I use a crock pot I'm going to wait and ad the hamburger in the last hour,same with spaghetti sauce, so it won't dry out the meat as much.

Warming up about a cup of this and pouring it over freshly scrambles eggs with grated cheese makes for a hearty satisfying breakfast too!! Sloppy Joe's for lunch? Nice.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

Once I had a 'brunch'

for the family after a death anniversary Mass.  I made 7 dozen scrambled eggs, etc.  Those eggs stayed perfectly warm in a Crock Pot, on low.   Was amazing.


  I always make  spaghetti sauce in one, overnight.


 

 

[human]

I'm making some Brunswick stew in my slow cooker tomorrow. It's the best thing I know to do with a rotisserie chicken carcass.