Art of the Slow Cooker: 80 Exciting New Recipes for Easy Meals & Family Dinners | Slow Cooker Cookbook for Busy Weekdays & Cozy Weekends

I bought this book 13 years ago, so it's about time to do a review. First of all, if you're looking for a gazillion recipes in which you just dump all the ingredients in the crockpot and cook, this is probably not the best cookbook for you. On the other hand, if you enjoy cooking and are willing to spend just a modest amount of time preparing the food for the crockpot, you will be richly rewarded with superior results. The author uses the same cooking principles you would use if you were cooking on the stove in a Dutch oven, for example. I really doesn't take all that long to sauté onions and a few other items before putting them in the pot.The book is beautifully printed. A brief but very useful 10 page section precedes the recipes. The author discusses the art of slow cooking, about slow cookers in general and how to choose one, and two pages of extremely useful background information about the "do's" and "don'ts", use of liquids and spices in slow cooking, thickening, and so on. There is a useful two-page list of various ingredients with their preparation and slow cooking time. Each recipe includes a descriptive introduction, a clearly presented list of ingredients, and preparation instructions which are brief but very clear. At the side of each recipe the number of servings is shown, with a breakdown of precooking pre time and slow cooking time. Additional "what else" information about substitutions or additions is at the bottom of each page. Many (but not all) of the recipes have a full-page photograph of the dish.There are only 80 recipes, but that's more than enough. Every recipe sounds excellent and special. None of them is difficult to prepare. Even a beginning cook can easily follow the very clear directions and succeed beautifully.I've come back to using my slow cooker more frequently as I just bought a new one that can be programmed to cook for a specific time and then switch automatically to warm, a feature I've long wanted in case I'm not around when the time is up. I've overcooked things far too many times with my old on-off/low-hot cooker from 2010. I plan to try more recipes from this book, but it's worth noting that the Expresso Braised Beef, Bistro Beef Stew and Teriyaki Chicken are all superb. Author Andrew Schloss clearly knows his stuff when it comes to cooking. Highly recommended book.