So many cooking devices are sitting on the shelves of Targets, Walmarts, Big Lots, Macys, and other chain stores, just waiting for consumers to buy them.
Many homes have a crock pot, and so did your mom and grandma, so you should buy one too! But can you use it to heat water? Can you cook food and liquids in the crock pot?
You can heat water in a crock pot. It will take almost two hours to heat the water in the slow cooker, but you won’t need to use your gas or electric stove. Never fill a crock pot to the top with water, however, as it could easily boil over.
The user can fill the pot to the halfway point or slightly higher. But if you fill the pot with water or another liquid, then it will bubble and spill over.
Leaving a crockpot on and on high on your kitchen table is much safer than heating and simmering a pot of water on the stove. You can also boil water on the stove, then transfer it to a crock pot, and turn it on high to keep it hot.
Can You Put Water in a Crock Pot?
The crock pot is one of the best cooking inventions and every small and big time cook should own one. The reason the crock pot is so great and beloved over the past several decades is its safety.
Instead of leaving the burner on in your home for several hours, just pour the food into a crock pot, leave it on the table, and come back to it in 5 or more hours. This works the same for heating water.
When you put water in a crock pot, do not put so much water that it overflows when it boils. Also, do not put a crock pot that is full of water on a weak table or uneven surface.
If you are cooking food in the crock pot, you do not have to add water. The crock pot warms or cooks food, and it can do this with or without water. You can heat steak and potatoes, lasagna, soup, rice and beans, or even desserts.
What are some foods that can be cooked in the crock pot?
- Pulled pork
- Short ribs
- Chicken alfredo
- Spaghetti
- Chili
- Mac and cheese
- A whole chicken
- Ham
- carnitas
As you can see, these dishes have a small amount of liquid in them, but then ingredients are not submerged in liquid.
Why Would You Want to Heat Water in a Crock Pot?
The crock pot is safer and more convenient than heating water in a pot on the stove. It is not faster, but in some cases, speed is not important.
If you always leave your crock pot on the counter or nearby, then you just have to put water in the crock pot and then turn it on high.
According to cooking sites online, it will take over two hours to heat a half filled crock pot to its boiling point.
The user is not supposed to fill the crock pot with water completely, so it is not a good idea to fill the crock pot to the top with any liquid.
Once the water boils, just leave the lid on and the heat on high. You can leave the crock pot on high all day. You will not have to worry about over cooking or a sudden flash fire happening when you are not in the kitchen.
Also, you can heat boiling water with a pot on the stove and carefully pour it into the crock pot to keep it warm.
What is Better to Heat Water: the Insta-Pot or a Crock Pot?
If you have never used an instapot in your life, you should know that mastering the Insta-Pot does not happen overnight.
Yes, millions of people use it every day, but they have to watch videos, learn from YouTube videos, and experiment with it for a while. As much as the Insta-Pot commercials want you to believe that it is an easy device, it is not.
Using a crock pot is much easier for beginners. All they need to do is take the crock pot out of the box, plug it in, pour the water, place the lid on the pot, and then switch the settings to high.
But if you have the experience, then heating water and food in the instapot will be a snap for you.
However, because of the intensity of the Insta-Pot, most users would not use their device to heat only water. They would use it to heat a soup. It takes too much time and effort to heat water in an Insta-Pot.
Each device has their own unique ways of cooking and heating food. It is not uncommon for a home cook to have both devices in their home.
Conclusion to Heating Water in a Crock Pot
Yes, you can put water in a crock pot. You do not need to add ingredients into the water. It will take around 2 hours to boil the water.
Cooking food without water in the crock pot is possible. The Insta-Pot will boil water faster, but you may not find it worth the time and effort to put this device together and then monitor it.
