Cholent not getting cooked well

amother

Mon, Mar 11 2024, 7:36 pm

We have a Crockpot brand crockpot; I'm pretty sure it's 6 quart oval. We turn it on high Friday afternoon for a few hours, then low all Shabbos. We always use a crockpot liner. It's getting cooked but not coming together like a cholent should--it's just a mixture of beans, barley, potatoes, and meat. We make a small-ish cholent each week.

This past Shabbos, we attended a simcha and brought 2 cholents along--1 in our crockpot, with a liner, cooked the same way as always. Came out okay but nothing special. We also brought a crockpot liner with the exact same ingredients. We put it in our hosts circular 4 quart I think.
Both on low.

Theirs came out amazing, just like a cholent should be. Ours was drab and dull like always.

Are we doing something wrong? It the problem that we are using an oval and large crockpot for a relatively small size cholent? Maybe the heat has too large of an area to cover?

Suggestions of what to do?
DD who makes the cholent thinks we should try leaving it on high for the whole Shabbos. I'm worried about doing that.

amother

Turquoise

Mon, Mar 11 2024, 7:41 pm

It sounds like your crockpot is faulty.

I've had this also (different brand). My high setting seemed lower than a regular low setting.

amother

Pewter

Mon, Mar 11 2024, 7:50 pm

I put my cholent on high before I leave for work on Friday morning. Then I add water and switch it to low before Shabbos.

amother

Honeysuckle

Mon, Mar 11 2024, 8:06 pm

How old is it? Could be the cooking unit is dying.

amother

Mon, Mar 11 2024, 8:10 pm

amother Honeysuckle wrote:

How old is it? Could be the cooking unit is dying.

5 years? maybe more.

chocolate moose

Mon, Mar 11 2024, 8:18 pm

if you didn't have enough in the crockpot, it would burn. is it maybe too full?

amother

Camellia

Mon, Mar 11 2024, 8:20 pm

I think it might be because of the crock pot size to cholent size ratio. It’s getting more dried out/cooked separately as opposed to melding together.

613mitzvahgirl

Mon, Mar 11 2024, 8:37 pm

Sounds like you might need a new crockpot.

amother

Black

Mon, Mar 11 2024, 8:57 pm

amother OP wrote:

Buy a slow cooker by Hamilton Beach.

MiracleMama

Mon, Mar 11 2024, 9:09 pm

amother Turquoise wrote:

It sounds like your crockpot is faulty.

I've had this also (different brand). My high setting seemed lower than a regular low setting.

For sure. Crock pots are made to slow cook meals of all kinds usually in 6 or 8 hours. Cholent cooks way longer than that, even if you put it up raw right before lighting. Something is definitely wrong with that crock pot. (Unless of course you're putting it on "warm" rather than "low" - which might yield the results you're describing).