Rating: 
Summary: Leave it on the shelf!
Review: "Send your crock pot on a world tour," one reviewer wrote. Well, if your crock pot can't behave any better than this, you ought to lock it in the cabinet and never let it out. I borrowed this book from the library and purchased ingredients for 3 recipes. The Savory Cheddar Cheese Soup was a C-. If it hadn't been for all the salt and msg in the beef consomme, I'm not sure it would have had any flavor at all. Next, I tried Shepherd's Pie with Creamy Corn Filling. It was Ok, as in "strictly OK." It looked nothing like the lovely picture of a potato-topped casserole. Instead, it was a sloppy stew-like mixture. As for the third recipe. . . well, I'm not going to try it at all. As others have noted, the majority of the preparation is outside of the crockpot. Basically, the crockpot is your cooking device - just like you might prepare everything on the stovetop and then put it in the oven. For example, for the Sheperd's Pie, I (1) browned the meat, (2) separately sauted the onions, garlic, and spices, (3) added beef broth and thicken it with flour, (4) made and seasoned mashed potatoes. Then, I layer it in the crockpot and cooked. Definintely not the "dump and go" system that many crockpot users desire. I wish I could recommend a better crockpot cookbook. All I can recommend is "this ain't it, honey!"
Rating:
Summary: Leave it on the shelf!
Review: "Send your crock pot on a world tour," one reviewer wrote. Well, if your crock pot can't behave any better than this, you ought to lock it in the cabinet and never let it out. I borrowed this book from the library and purchased ingredients for 3 recipes. The Savory Cheddar Cheese Soup was a C-. If it hadn't been for all the salt and msg in the beef consomme, I'm not sure it would have had any flavor at all. Next, I tried Shepherd's Pie with Creamy Corn Filling. It was Ok, as in "strictly OK." It looked nothing like the lovely picture of a potato-topped casserole. Instead, it was a sloppy stew-like mixture. As for the third recipe. . . well, I'm not going to try it at all. As others have noted, the majority of the preparation is outside of the crockpot. Basically, the crockpot is your cooking device - just like you might prepare everything on the stovetop and then put it in the oven. For example, for the Sheperd's Pie, I (1) browned the meat, (2) separately sauted the onions, garlic, and spices, (3) added beef broth and thicken it with flour, (4) made and seasoned mashed potatoes. Then, I layer it in the crockpot and cooked. Definintely not the "dump and go" system that many crockpot users desire. I wish I could recommend a better crockpot cookbook. All I can recommend is "this ain't it, honey!"
Rating: 
Summary: Some unusual recipes
Review: Clear directions, good photos, and some good basic recipes make this a fairly good cookbook. Many of the recipes, however, have unusual/exotic ingredients that the average person would not have on hand. Personally, I would have preferred for the majority of recipes to use more basic/easy-to-find ingredients.
Rating:
Summary: Some unusual recipes
Review: Clear directions, good photos, and some good basic recipes make this a fairly good cookbook. Many of the recipes, however, have unusual/exotic ingredients that the average person would not have on hand. Personally, I would have preferred for the majority of recipes to use more basic/easy-to-find ingredients.
Rating: 
Summary: From dips and main dishes to desserts and even roasts
Review: From dips and main dishes to desserts and even roasts, 150 Best Slow Cooker Recipes packs in a range of tips and recipes for using the slow cooker to maximum effect. Add color photos of finished results and tips on using different sizes and shapes of slow cooker and you have a guide which is appealing and delicious.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent book for the slow cooker cook
Review: I actually returned a newer text because I saw this one a day later and preferred it. This book has the right mix between newer and more "progressive" recipes and the good old mainstream dishes you'll want to make every week. The pictures are a real help--they make you want to try certain recipes. So far I have slightly tweaked every recipe I've made from this book (as any good home cook will do)--and everything has come out perfectly. I am still looking for some really baisc items like how to cook dried beans. The book has bean recipes, but I want the "skeleton" recipe I can plug my own ingredients into. I guess that will come with experience. I disagree with another reviewer about the necessity for multiple crock pots...it might help to have multiple units, but you'll do fine with any pot 5qt and larger.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book for the slow cooker cook
Review: I actually returned a newer text because I saw this one a day later and preferred it. This book has the right mix between newer and more "progressive" recipes and the good old mainstream dishes you'll want to make every week. The pictures are a real help--they make you want to try certain recipes. So far I have slightly tweaked every recipe I've made from this book (as any good home cook will do)--and everything has come out perfectly. I am still looking for some really baisc items like how to cook dried beans. The book has bean recipes, but I want the "skeleton" recipe I can plug my own ingredients into. I guess that will come with experience. I disagree with another reviewer about the necessity for multiple crock pots...it might help to have multiple units, but you'll do fine with any pot 5qt and larger.
Rating:
Summary: Slow cooker gourmet
Review: I cooked several recipes from this book and loved every one of them. The dishes are simply delicious. I cooked the Beef Bourguinon for my family and our visiting friends and it was a big hit. A little bit leftover got consumed over buns the next day! But, I have to admit to two personal biases: I love food with lots of flavors, and I always brown the meat before putting it into soups or stews--and this book suits me in both fronts. (I believe the author does state that one does not need to brown the meat, but that the meat tastes better if it is browned.) With the slow cooker relieving me from keeping constant watch over the food, I find the recipes in the book easy and the payback (of a great meal) more than worth the effort. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: This is my FAVORITE COOKBOOK!
Review: I LOVE to cook, I HATED ancient crockpot recipes. They are so bland. I bought this for myself back when I didn't have a lot of time to cook when I got home from work. There are recipes in here that have become a staple of my weekly cooking. The Mellow Chicken Curry is absolutley wonderful - sometimes I use low-fat coconut milk in place of the yogurt. The Tarragon Cream Roasted Chicken is delicious. Carribean Pork Rum Roast - Oh my gosh! Beef Burgenion (sp?), Vegetarian Chili - has a lot of ingrediants but is so worth it.
Anyway - You'd be crazy not to try it. I bought one for everyone in my family for Christmas who owned a crockpot.
Even when I'm not using the crockpot, I reference this book for recipe ideas. They are just so flavorful.
Rating: 
Summary: Does a Good Slow Cooker Cookbook Actually Exist?
Review: I purchased The 150 Best Slow Cooker Recipes in hopes that my question above would be answered in the affirmative. Unfortunately, my quest for good Crock Pot recipes is still very much on. The photos in the book are lovely and appetizing, and I hoped that the quality of recipes would match the quality of the book's presentation.
I tried two recipes from Finlayson's book, and one was mediocre, while the other was downright awful. Her recipe for Beef Stew with Stout sounded mouth-wateringly good, but was vastly inferior to my regular stew recipe; watery with very little flavor. The Jambalaya recipe was a disaster. Rice was mushy, and the meat was rubbery and underseasoned. I know it may be unfair to judge a whole book based on two recipes, but I'm honestly scared to try again. It's such a waste (of time, money, effort, etc.) to throw out uneaten food, but that's what ended up happening. My husband and I simply could not stomach the results.
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