Slow Cooker Ready & Waiting: 160 Sumptuous Meals That Cook Themselves

As to the ongoing controversy in these amazon[.com] reviews over time versus flavor, I personally like to see the beef or chicken browned first. It adds to both the flavor and appearance and it really doesn't take that long. If you want to throw everything in a crock pot and hope for the best, then buy an older book with can of creamed whatever soup in every recipe instead of this book.


Great!   February 21, 2003
 8 out of 8 found this review helpful

I LOVE this book! Everything my husband and I have made from it has been delicious. I'm truly impressed! I've even made a convert out of my in-laws who previously hated crockpot food.


FINALLY![.] Thank You Rick Rodgers![.]   February 20, 2003
 46 out of 46 found this review helpful

Well thank you. FINALLY a cookbook with recipes and techniques for the slow cooker that yields excellent vs. mediocre results. It is rare that I write a book review (despite buying most of my books through Amazon) and even rarer that I truly hope the author might sometimes log on and read his Amazon.com reviews, but I really hope Rick that you do! Just so I can say thank you. I cook a lot but I work long hours. I cook and bake and I have high expectations and most of what I do is from scratch, without skimping on prep or method. . . and the busier my workload has become this past year, the more desperately I wanted to be able to use my crock pots to make those "delicious one pot meals" that so many books and recipes and websites rave about . . only when I made them, they tasted .....strange...or bland....or just plain -- well, mediocre. Even when I tried to do some things like reduce/thicken the sauces, it just wasn't enough. After 20 years of cooking, creating and baking in my kitchen I can honestly say I believe the crock pot is the HARDEST appliance to get excellent results from - until I bought this book I had only five good recipes (all of them that I'd made up myself) for my crockpots and about 8 crockpot books - all of which had sounded great but yielded substandard results. This one is so different. It is about time. And if you're one of those cooks who wants to just do the minimum, throwing ingredients in at 7am and slopping them out at 7pm without regard to the basics of the cooking methods necessary to yield tasty good quality meals, you'll not want this book. It's like cookware - if you're more interested in how easy it is to cleanup your pots and pans vs. the actual results of the food that is cooked in them, then stick with the low budget teflon t-fal stuff.....same concept.

If you're a frustrated semi-gourmet type cook wishing those darn slow cookers lived up to all they claim but never getting decent results, you'll love this book. I do think the book should be retitled though - to something that reflects that this book holds to a higher standard.


Better crockpot cookbook with modified techniques   February 12, 2003
 49 out of 50 found this review helpful

For slow cooker cookbooks I have this one and Fix it and Forget it. Of the 2 I vastly prefer this one. The added preparation is worth the extra taste. I also find that the ingredients in this book are much, much healthier. Many readers criticise that the extra preparation negates the advantage of a slow cooker. My answer is "Don't do it -- just follow the ingredients". IF you don't brown the meat or reduce your sauce it still tastes good, but not as good as if you had. If you have the time, then reduce the sauce, or whatever. In either case, you have a healthier meal than adding 1 cup of Velveeta cheese and a can of cream of mushroom soup. I regard the advantage of using a slow cooker as not so much saving overall time, but moving my preparation and cooking time to a better time for me. Hence I am spending 1/2 hour in the morning preparing dinner and it cooks all day. Otherwise I would be spending 1/2 hour when I get home from work, then it has to cook and I don't eat until 7:30 or 8:00.


The definitive slow cooker cookbook?   December 23, 2002
 22 out of 22 found this review helpful

I'm no cookbook groupie, but having had Rick Rodger's "Ready & Waiting" for over six months now, I feel oddly compelled to write in to say how much I'm enjoying it. When I purchased my Rival Crockpot from Target less than a year ago, I wondered if I'd actually use it. With several books on the subject, I find myself pulling out Rodgers' cookbook often. The red beans and rice recipe is worth the cost of the book alone -- a good rice and dab of creme fraiche and you're a star. From the goulash to the pot roasts to the chicken recipes, I've been really pleased with the flavors,textures and taste of everything I've made. I don't agree with other reviewers who say prep takes a lot of time. True, these are not "dump ingredients and run" recipes, but the time to prepare is pretty modest relative to the outcome. This cookbook's definitely worth a try.