Using a Slow Cooker/ Roaster Oven when the insert is ruined

[Darienne]

So the insert to my 6-quart (second-hand) Aroma Roaster Oven is finally ruined.  It was enamel covered and the last Apple Butter was just too much for it.  Ed is still using oven cleaner just to get the burnt sugar off, but it was well on its way to ruined long ago. How stupid I was to make Apple Butter in it a second time.

 

 

I've read the 2013 eG thread of Slow Cookers: Slow Cooker Quality & Recommendations and it was all very depressing.

 

I have a couple of questions: 

- has anyone tried lining a somewhat destroyed insert pan with large-size heavy aluminum foil and would that work?
 

- has anyone tried using a slow cooker with a different 'non-slow cooker' pan inside it and how did that work?  Apparently you are supposed to be able to do it.  None of my larger pyrex dishes will fit...but a smaller round one will...which basically is pretty useless for a large pork shoulder.  

 

Please don't bother with 'use the oven'...I know that one and can do it.  I want a slow cooker of 6 quarts.  Sorry.

 

Or has anyone since 2013 found the ideal 6-quart slow cooker/roaster pan?   ...please do let me know.   Thanks.

[rotuts]

Im not sure this will help, the the Ubiquitous America's Test Kitchen has a book

 

The Slow Cooker revolution  or some such tittle.   they may have more than one iteration of the same basic ideas :

 

they completely lined the slow-cooker pot with heavy aluminum foil for a number of dishes   ;

 

lasagna  etc  

 

I think you can try this idea  just makes sure the aluminum is as close to the 'pot' as possible for heat conduction

 

if the total cooking environment is 'moist'  i.e. little water loss

 

you might add a little water to the pot before the aluminum foil to improve heat conductivity.

 

FD   Ive not tried any of this as I gave my slow-cooker away some time ago

Edited October 13, 2015 by rotuts (log)

[Darienne]

You are both a scholar and a gentle person. 

Tell, if you can, do you mean by the 'pot', the insert liner or the actual container which holds the insert?  Many thanks.

[rotuts]

Im not at all familiar w the Aroma Line.  does it have an insert as most slow cookers do ?

 

that's what I was referring to.

 

Im not sure what you mean by a liner.

 

I tried to google the Aroma line, target has them, but i could not get a close enough look to see if it had a

 

discrete insert.

 

I also tried to find 'parts' and go nowhere.

[Deryn]

I realize you are trying to rescue/save an 'old friend' but sometimes one may have to admit it is time to say goodbye, Darienne.

You could buy a cheap slow cooker with a ceramic insert (which could break but won't lose a coating) to replace yours or a more versatile IP (Instant Pot - 6 quart) might be worth considering right now too. You can slow cook, regular cook and pressure cook in one of those. The insert is stainless steel so that should not wear out too quickly. Failing that, if you are still too attached to your cooker to part with it yet, perhaps you could scour 'want ad' papers or online or thrift stores to see if you can find a suitable sized replacement pot to fit your Aroma.

Since I tend to give up the ghost quickly if a small appliance doesn't work or has issues of some kind - rather than try to jury-rig a way to continue using it, I am sorry but I cannot really help you with your specific 'how to make it work despite the current issue' questions. But, I do send you a hug!

Edited October 13, 2015 by Deryn (log)

[rotuts]

is this the sort of item that needs resuscitation ?

 

[Darienne]

I don't anything about the Aroma line.  It was $5 and I bought it at our favorite Utah second hand store...the source of so many of our 'goodies'.  And Target came last year to Canada and now has left I believe.  Certainly the one in Peterborough has.

YES. My Aroma Roaster has an insert as do most slow cookers.  It's discreet, (ruined), removable, metal, coated with enamel, like your grandmother's roasting pan. 

 

So here I am, looking for a graphic representation to explain the removable liner...and lo and behold!...I come upon images under "Slow Cooker Liners"  https://www.google.ca/search?q=slow+cooker+liners&biw=1536&bih=707&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAWoVChMIi6nE-Pa_yAIVghY-Ch3moQlw

 

Hooray!  Hoorah!  No, oh, wait a second...they are not available in Canada.  Quelle surprise.  They were for a while...but now are not.  But no doubt will be again. 

 

But at least I know where I can get them next summer and in the meantime, I'll buy the heavy large aluminum foil at Costco (no tomatoes please) and use it as a 'lining' in my 'liner.'   I think.

 

Meantime, I'll make Apple Butter on the stove or in the oven.

Thanks again.

[Darienne]

rotuts...the video says nothing about a removable insert which mine has.  I looked on the bottom of the outside container to see if I could tell where the heating element is.  And I can't. 

 

Oh, just checked the manual...which I downloaded and may not be exactly correct to my model...says there's a 'ring of heat' surrounding the side wall.

Edited October 13, 2015 by Darienne (log)

[rotuts]

http://www.amazon.ca/Reynolds-Aluminum-00504-Cooker-Liner/dp/B00578EKRY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1444756973&sr=8-2&keywords=slow+cooker+liners

 

[Darienne]

You could buy a cheap slow cooker with a ceramic insert (which could break but won't lose a coating) to replace yours or a more versatile IP (Instant Pot - 6 quart) might be worth considering right now too. You can slow cook, regular cook and pressure cook in one of those. The insert is stainless steel so that should not wear out too quickly. Failing that, if you are still too attached to your cooker to part with it yet, perhaps you could scour 'want ad' papers or online or thrift stores to see if you can find a suitable sized replacement pot to fit your Aroma.

 

But, I do send you a hug!

Thanks for the hug anyway.

Had a ceramic insert...it quietly cracked right into two.  Don't know about the Instant Pot...I'll google it.  As for replacement parts...I don't think so.  Aroma seems to be an American only brand at Target which we don't have.  Too bad I didn't wreck before we went to Ohio last weekend.  No, I'm not attached to it.

[rotuts]

http://www.amazon.ca/Reynolds-Metals-Cooker-Liners-LINERS/dp/B00I7JHU2W/ref=pd_sim_sbs_79_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=0J4GPPSBDC0ZK9QND0KV

 

25 CND  free shipping

 

for 16 liners ?

 

they are a lot cheaper S. of the border :

 

http://www.amazon.com/Reynolds-Metals-Cooker-Liners-LINERS/dp/B00I7JHU2W/ref=sr_1_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1444757293&sr=1-2&keywords=slow+cooker+liners+7+quart

Edited October 13, 2015 by rotuts (log)

[sparrowgrass]

How about a roasting bag like you make a turkey with?

[rotuts]

I was just thinking that the company and the materials have to be the same.

 

Kudos 

sparrowgrass

 

http://www.amazon.ca/Standard-oven-roasting-bags-PK/dp/B003JCT7Q4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1444763644&sr=8-1&keywords=roasting+bags

Edited October 13, 2015 by rotuts (log)

[ElsieD]

I have used bags specifically for slow cookers and they work well. They are not particularly expensive and might be worth trying out.

[Darienne]

What Ottawa store carries them?  Maybe I can find them here in Peterpatch.  Thanks, Elsie.

[natasha1270]

Darienne - was the slow cooker insert too far gone to try a long water & baking soda simmer? I've read that tip alot for cleaning enameled cast iron and would assume it would work for enamaled steel as well.

[Darienne]

Ed is still working on the insert using oven cleaner.  Too many other things...like our huge apple harvest...have intervened and he's not finished yet.  I think. 

I now know that Loblaws (aka Super Store in Peterborough) carries 'Slow Cooker Savers' made by Regency, 20"x11", 5 quart capacity.  Will pick some up tomorrow and take a look. 

[ElsieD]

Darienne, let us know if you buy them and what you think of them. One thing for sure - clean up is a breeze when you use them.

[Darienne]

One more step is taken.  Found Slow Cooker Liners by Reynolds, 4 13"x21" $3.29 at Super Store which is a Loblaws.  Ed is doing the last cleaning on the insert and then we try the insert with the slow cooker bag. 

 

No, slow cooker insert hasn't been in heavy cleaning mode all along...Ed just keeps forgetting to get back at it.  And, as noted above, we are overwhelmed this year with apples.  In fact, it was my second batch of Apple Butter which burnt onto the slow cooker insert so badly.

 

I might even make Apple Butter #3 as the test event.  Tomorrow.

[Joe Blowe]

Forget all that namby-pamby stuff like baking soda, vinegar... and oven cleaner.

 

What you need is handy-dandy Carbon-Off!

[Darienne]

Finally, finally I get to use the slow cooker liner in my ruined slow cooker insert.  I admit I haven't taken the food out of the pot yet, but so far, so good.  Thanks all for all the help.

Mexican spiced chicken (can't remember where I got the recipe and it's dead easy: salsa, chipotle peppers in sauce, chile powder, garlic)

[Darienne]

Alas.  I spoke too soon.  I never turned the heat up over 250 degrees Fahrenheit.  Still the chicken and sauce broke through the liner and there is quite a burnt mess around the edge of the wrecked insert.  It was a name brand...Reynolds.  (Not that that means anything anymore.)   Perhaps the fact that the insert was already deceased made the difference.  Maybe the heat is not holding steady, but the chicken is not burnt anywhere.  I don't know. 

 

Deryn was right.  I'm going to buy a new 6 quart slow cooker and end this frustrating period.  Good-bye Aroma Roaster. 

 

Still, I have to say that the chicken is the most delicious I think I have ever tasted.  :wub: Will use that concoction again.