On Jun 10, 4:44*am, Geoff Lane > wrote:
> I have a large slow cooker but live alone.
>
> Often I will cook a large meal, use what I need then freeze the rest so
> despite its size it is used often.
>
> I have recently tried putting a smaller pot within the slow cooker for
> small meals, I have a 16cm Le Creuset pot which fits nicely in the slow
> cooker and seems to work OK.
>
> So far it has appeared to work OK but have any readers any comments as
> to if this increases cooking time due to smaller pot not covering
> heating area of larger slow cooker pot.
>


I would take two sets of time to temperature measurements inside the
regular pot and inside your inner pot. My concern is that your inner
pot contents stay much cooler than you think they are, because of the
inefficient heat transfer into the smaller pot. Use water, or better
yet, use actual stew or other real food.

My current slow cooker heats from the bottom, and has a continuous
temperature control, so I could match the food temperature fairly well
if I tried your method. Some slow cookers, I believe, wrap the heating
element around the pot, so your inner pot approach may never get up to
temperature.

Have you considered just buying a tiny crock pot?