Quote:

---

Quote:

---

Quote:

---

I hate even jumping in here, because I'm sure it's going to sound like I'm being argumentative - but I'm really not, honest! Oh sweetie, we know...you're just being helpful...as usual! yes, as usual! I've just found that using frozen ingredients really does not make THAT much of a difference in the cooking time - it might buy you an extra hour at most. I'm sure this depends on how large your crockpot is, and how large the recipe itself is... You're right. The amount of surface and air space it initially has to heat up makes a big difference. but I've found that in my little pot, a recipe that serves 4 takes about the same amount of time whether or not the ingredients start out frozen.

I have to admit I'm not an expert on crockpot cooking, but there are message boards where people are and cook everything from cakes to snakes in them.

Mine happens to be very large and so takes hrs. just to heat up. Besides, it has a delayed timing feature....which brings me to another hint that may work. Shell, if your crockpot doesn't have delayed timing buy a little timer you can plug it in to, to set the start time and finish time. Kandee that is a GREAT idea!! Where can I find something like that? Home Depot maybe?

I've seen them at Wal-mart, Target, yes to Home Depot, Lowes...etc. You can buy them for as little as $5 or a lot more with all the bells and whistles that set mutlitple appliances. I use them for plugging lights into when I go away, so I always have lots on hand.

If you use frozen or very cold ingredients the food will stay safe if it has to sit in the pot a while until it starts to cook.

I'm not saying Kandee's wrong... I'm just saying that it might take a little experimentation with your crockpot and the recipes you want to try!

Experimenting IS the name of the game until you get the desired product. Personally, being a lazy cook the older I get, I've found that cooking or baking extra amounts and freezing to nuke for a quick meal later on to be more to my liking, however there are somethings I love done in the crockpot.

Good luck!

---

---

---