D.C. Area Nesties
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Re: dutch oven vs crock pot
in theory, they cook the same way. however, the "dutch oven" refers to a pot your put on the stove/in the oven & crockpot/slow cooker are appliances you plug into the wall.
that said, i like my dutch oven better. I feel like a low oven does better at the "low & slow" Plus, my dutch oven is a pretty green color!
i have and love both for different reasons. i would not leave my house with my dutch oven on the stove or in the oven but i am ok with leaving my crock pot on when i'm not home. i use my dutch oven for things like brisket and my amatriciana sauce. i use my crock pot for things like pulled pork or italian drip beef.
if i had to only choose one, i'd probably go with the dutch oven because it is more versatile.
To me, I consider my dutch oven as more of a multipurpose pan. Whenever I have to do something on the stove top (like caramelize onions) then bake with other ingredients, I use that. I also like to use it to braise. You can sear meat with a dutch oven too if you do the stove/ oven process.
For me my crock pot is a set and go thing. I make soups, shredded meats, and stew type things primarily, but also do drinks in it for parties in the winter.
Stand up for something you believe in.
You can't do fried chicken in a crock pot. (or maybe you can, I don't know). My DH bought the dutch oven specifically to make the America's Test Kitchen recipe for southern friend chicken, and we've been making many ATK recipes in it ever since.
Besides frying (so far we've done chicken and fish), it's good for recipes in which you first sear meat, then put it in the oven.
We're falling in love with our dutch oven. I hardly ever use my crock pot but that's just because it cooks too fast - we're gone from our house ten hours a day and our crock pot cooks things (even on low) in like 4-6 hours. Not handy, unless we're cooking on the weekend.
ETA: we keep our dutch oven on our stove because it looks pretty and it's kind of heavy to be lugging in and out of a cabinet, so we tend to use it for other recipes that would just call for a regular pan. Like last night I did an ATK recipe with chicken and parsley and a garlic/wine sauce. Sure I could have gotten out my frying pan for it, but that dutch oven just cooks so EVENLY compared to my other (more lightweight) pans. The dutch oven we bought was $$ (for us anyway) so we joke that it's totally worth it, because you can boil water in it!
The dutch oven has way more uses than a crock pot. Like cheeky mentioned, I think the crock pot's main advantage is that you can leave it plugged in and walk away.
For most slow cooking and braising, I still prefer my dutch oven. So many recipes call for you to brown meat first anyway, that I figure I might as well dirty one pan. I mostly use the crock pot to keep things warm for parties.