I want to buy a gift for an elderly woman in Berlin and thought she might actually like a Crock Pot…she loves to make roasts on Sundays.
However, I don’t even know if they have crock pots in Germany.
(I remember trying to track down a bread making machine 7 years ago and got nowhere - in the meantime you can get them everywhere.)
I tried to find crock pots in Germany using Google with no success, but I think my problem is that I don’t know what they are called in German (Langsam kocher? Dauerkoch geraete? Kleingeschwindigkeitsbegrenzungselectronischebratkocher?)
Maybe they don’t even have them. Any suggestions would be helpful. Danke!
Sorry, I don’t recall ever seeing a crockpot in Germany, but from now on, I’m calling my crockpot a Kleingeschwindigkeitsbegrenzungselctronischebratkocher.
No, I don´t think they have it in Germany. I found one website that sells them over the internet (but are out of stock) and call it a “Schongarer” (mit Steinguteinsatz/Keramikeinsatz), to specify. I don´t think you´ll get anywhere in a shop with that description.
There´s something similar, though - theRömertopf. Just the crock, without the electricity. You have to put it in the oven, but otherwise I think it does the same job.
Thank you! The “Schongarer” is exactly what I am looking for. Now I just have to find one in stock somewhere…
I know the Roemertopf from when I lived there, but the problem is a crock pot is a small, low power electrical unit designed to be left on 12 hours or more (at 74C), but I don’t think many Germans are going to want to keep their entire oven on for 12 hours, no matter how low the temperature!
And, when I look up “crockpot germany” on Froogle, I discover the interesting information that the first four or five hits are crockpots that are made in Germany.
Or, here’s a thought–they have Wal-marts in Germany. If they have Wal-Marts, they’ve gotta have crockpots.
So I would guess that yeah, they have crockpots in Germany.
Find out the biggest department store in Berlin that carries small kitchen appliances and send them an e-mail.
The first site you mentioned is exatly the site that is out of stock. But I have to admit, the WalMart idea is a stroke of evil genious…if anybody would carry crock, it would be WalMart!
Plus…Froogle is so new, I haven’t even tried it yet. This is as good as time as any!
(Whoda thunk this would turn into a major project…but there is probably someone sitting in the US complaining they can’t get a decent Electric Goat Head Steamer like they had at home…)
I lived in Germany for three years…we had current converters so that North American appliances could fit into european elcectrical plugs…I’m sure that might be a decent alternative to finding a German crockpot - just buy a regular one and a current adapter!
Or is there a safety/legality thing there? I don’t recall any problems with ours, and we had lots of North American-designed appliances and stuff (TV, toaster, stereo, etc).
Hey, yeah, Duck´s idea is great: got to the KaDeWe - they have just about everything. And if they don´t have it, they´ll probably be so freaked out about it they´ll actually order one. (I used to work there, that´s the way they think…)
Oh well, of course, you might find some special shops where the American soldiers used to do their shopping - or their wives. Bet there´s some little shop in the West that at least knows what a crock pot is, because they´ll have had people asking for that a million times.
Then again, it might be esier just to order one from the states and get an adapter.
Firstly, I am SO impressed with the fact that you worked at KaDeWe universe.zip! That store makes Bloomingdales in NYC look like Kmart. Of course the problem is, even if they had one, they would probably charge $487 for it. They ain’t known for being cheap. I like this elderly lady in Berlin, but only to a certain gift price range.
And duck, the German crockpots you saw are not actually crockpots like we know in the US…those are non-electric ceramic pots used to make fermented fruit punch…a long (but tasty) process that extends weeks, if not months.
I am not sure about the adapter idea…there are some appliances that just don’t seem to do well on adapters and I don’t want to risk it with something that will be turned on, unattended, for long periods of time. Call me paranoid…but I have touched adapters after being on for only a couple of hours and those puppies are hot! That’s all I need…the gift causing her apartment to burn down. I’ll keep looking for a European version.
Thanks for the tips so far…a Crock Pot seemed like such a simple, good idea at the beginning…
