# What causes "crock pot flavor"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 14, 2016, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-crock-pot-flavor/765938 "2016-09-14T16:18:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-crock-pot-flavor/765938/1 "2016-09-14T16:18:31Z")
Do you know what I mean? My wife makes a lot of soups & stuff in our crock pot since it’s so convenient to put the ingredients in, go to work and let it slowly cook all day. She made some crock pot soup for dinner last night and I just had some leftovers for lunch. But, although I like crock pot food well enough, I’ve noticed for a long time that there is a certain flavor imparted to just about anything that is cooked in a crock pot. I can’t think of anything to compare it to, so it’s hard to describe, but to me it’s distinctive enough that if you made two batches of soup from exactly the same ingredients, but made one batch in a crock pot and one slowly simmered on the stove, and blind taste-tested me, I think I’d easily know which was the crock pot batch. What causes that “crock pot flavor”, if anyone else knows what I mean? The “pot” part is ceramic and the top is glass, so I would think it’s entirely non-reactive. All I can think of is cooking at very low temperatures at long periods of time cause a certain chemical reaction that causes the certain flavor. Or am I crazy? This is so “MPSIMS”, I know, but since it involves food, I’m putting it here. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-crock-pot-flavor/765938/2 "2016-09-14T16:30:02Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Do you know what I mean? No, and I cook in my crock pot around once a week. Perhaps you simply have an old, rank crock pot? ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-crock-pot-flavor/765938/3 "2016-09-14T16:55:23Z")
Perhaps the difference you are noticing is not so much “crockpot flavor” but “stovetop pot flavor”? I assume you’re using some sort of metal pot in the simmered soup. As for fast vs. slow, some things do taste different when cooked “low and slow.” Have you tried cooking something in a crockpot, but set it to high and cook it for fewer hours, then tasting it? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-crock-pot-flavor/765938/4 "2016-09-14T16:57:07Z")
I don’t believe this is true, in other words, it’s a crock. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-crock-pot-flavor/765938/5 "2016-09-14T17:01:12Z")
The only thing I can think of is that crock pots don’t get high enough to brown things. Even when people are cooking food slowly in an oven or on the stove, they’re still using a high-enough temperature to get some browning most of the time. The chemical reactions that result from that do affect flavor. My solution with most of my crock pot cooking is to sear meats in a pan before I put it in the crock pot. If don’t know if that (lack of) flavor is what you’re describing. If you mean something else, then it’s not something I’ve observed in any of the crock pots I’ve owned. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-crock-pot-flavor/765938/6 "2016-09-14T17:15:26Z")
**Telemark** , no, newish crock pot, clean, in great shape. For some reason it didn’t occur to me to try googling “crock pot flavor” until after I posted, and it looks like I’m not alone in noticing this, although it’s often described as a metallic taste, and I don’t know if I’d describe it that way. Someone mentioned in the reddit post that it could be from adding onions raw, not browning or at least sweating them first. I think they may be on to something there. My wife does add raw onions typically, and I think the low temp doesn’t do enough to mellow out their harsh raw flavor: [https://m.reddit.com/r/slowcooking/comments/2wb8ky/issue\_with\_crockpot\_food\_having\_a\_metallicweird/](https://m.reddit.com/r/slowcooking/comments/2wb8ky/issue_with_crockpot_food_having_a_metallicweird/) > **[Chowhound](https://www.chowhound.com/post/slow-cooker-recipes-taste-bad-739663)** > > Chowhound > **[This just may be in my head, but does anybody else notice the funny taste in...](https://food52.com/hotline/2209-this-just-may-be-in-my-head-but-does-anybody-else-notice-the-funny-taste-in-crockpot-cooking-it-is)** > > This just may be in my head, but does anybody else notice the funny taste in crockpot cooking? It is always there for me...kind of a mild... Edit: so pretty much what draconian said, but with the onions, not the meat. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-crock-pot-flavor/765938/7 "2016-09-14T17:16:20Z")
When I think of that distinctive “crock pot flavor”, it’s Cream of XXX soup… ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-crock-pot-flavor/765938/8 "2016-09-14T17:24:53Z")
> [@solost](#): > > **Telemark** , no, newish crock pot, clean, in great shape. > > For some reason it didn’t occur to me to try googling “crock pot flavor” until after I posted, and it looks like I’m not alone in noticing this, although it’s often described as a metallic taste, and I don’t know if I’d describe it that way. Someone mentioned in the reddit post that it could be from adding onions raw, not browning or at least sweating them first. I think they may be on to something there. My wife does add raw onions typically, and I think the low temp doesn’t do enough to mellow out their harsh raw flavor: > > [Reddit - Dive into anything](https://m.reddit.com/r/slowcooking/comments/2wb8ky/issue_with_crockpot_food_having_a_metallicweird/) > [http://www.chowhound.com/post/slow-cooker-recipes-taste-bad-739663](http://www.chowhound.com/post/slow-cooker-recipes-taste-bad-739663) > [This just may be in my head, but does anybody else notice the funny taste in crockpot cooking? It is always there... - Food52](https://food52.com/hotline/2209-this-just-may-be-in-my-head-but-does-anybody-else-notice-the-funny-taste-in-crockpot-cooking-it-is) > > Edit: so pretty much what draconian said, but with the onions, not the meat. Yeah, it’s not just meat where the temperature of your cooking can make a difference. I generally give vegetables a quick sear in a pan too. In fact, thinking about onions specifically… I once did french onion soup entirely in a crock pot starting from raw onions. It was good enough, but not quite the same as my usual technique (in cast iron on a stove top at the lowest burner setting). I assumed I just hadn’t cooked the onions long enough, but it might be that I didn’t cook them hot enough. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-crock-pot-flavor/765938/9 "2016-09-14T17:29:25Z")
Interesting. I seem to remember noticing an odd flavour to any of the stews my mother used to cook in her old pressure cooker (I’m talking a 1930s model used until well into the 1960s). I think it might have been the same sort of phenomenon. It didn’t happen when she used it to stew down fruit - but then fruit doesn’t need searing. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-crock-pot-flavor/765938/10 "2016-09-14T17:33:35Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Do you know what I mean? My wife makes a lot of soups & stuff in our crock pot since it’s so convenient to put the ingredients in, go to work and let it slowly cook all day. She made some crock pot soup for dinner last night and I just had some leftovers for lunch. > > But, although I like crock pot food well enough, I’ve noticed for a long time that there is a certain flavor imparted to just about anything that is cooked in a crock pot. I can’t think of anything to compare it to, so it’s hard to describe, but to me it’s distinctive enough that if you made two batches of soup from exactly the same ingredients, but made one batch in a crock pot and one slowly simmered on the stove, and blind taste-tested me, I think I’d easily know which was the crock pot batch. What causes that “crock pot flavor”, if anyone else knows what I mean? The “pot” part is ceramic and the top is glass, so I would think it’s entirely non-reactive. All I can think of is cooking at very low temperatures at long periods of time cause a certain chemical reaction that causes the certain flavor. Or am I crazy? > > This is so “MPSIMS”, I know, but since it involves food, I’m putting it here. Yes. I know of what you speak. It’s not a horrible taste, but just off. I’ve googled it before and found I’m not alone. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-crock-pot-flavor/765938/11 "2016-09-14T17:46:00Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > When I think of that distinctive “crock pot flavor”, it’s Cream of XXX soup… Ew. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-crock-pot-flavor/765938/12 "2016-09-14T17:52:13Z")
I can’t say I’ve ever noticed anything specific to crock-pots, but long, slow cooking tends to cook out a lot of the more volatile aromatic compounds out of the foods and seasoning ingredients. So something with basil, for example, will lose a lot of that flavor as it literally goes into the air. Same thing with acidic ingredients. So you can often perk up crock-pot dishes with a shot of herbs/spices at the end of cooking along with something acidic like lemon juice, vinegar, etc… for a little more brightness. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-crock-pot-flavor/765938/13 "2016-09-14T17:58:03Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > The only thing I can think of is that crock pots don’t get high enough to brown things. Even when people are cooking food slowly in an oven or on the stove, they’re still using a high-enough temperature to get some browning most of the time. The chemical reactions that result from that do affect flavor. My solution with most of my crock pot cooking is to sear meats in a pan before I put it in the crock pot. > > If don’t know if that (lack of) flavor is what you’re describing. If you mean something else, then it’s not something I’ve observed in any of the crock pots I’ve owned. I don’t know about crock pot flavor but as a cheat you can add some soy sauce to the dish to mimic some of the flavor from not browning the meat. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-crock-pot-flavor/765938/14 "2016-09-14T18:13:03Z")
Isn’t “Crock Pot Flavor” a Ted Nugent song? ---
**Author:** ![NeonMadman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58f4c7/32.png) [@NeonMadman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NeonMadman)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-crock-pot-flavor/765938/15 "2016-09-14T18:32:53Z")
Have you tried washing the pot between uses? ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-crock-pot-flavor/765938/16 "2016-09-14T18:37:04Z")
Add me to those who don’t know what you mean by “crock pot flavor”. I have never used Cream of (anything) soup in any dish I’ve prepared, so possible that’s it. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-crock-pot-flavor/765938/17 "2016-09-14T18:42:33Z")
> [@solost](#): > > …so pretty much what draconian said… Urgh, sorry **DRACOI** , I did try to spell your username properly-- stupid #%&$ spellcheck :smack: ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-crock-pot-flavor/765938/18 "2016-09-14T18:46:52Z")
> [@NeonMadman](#): > > Have you tried washing the pot between uses? Oh Yeahhh, we forget to wash the pot in between uses, THAT’S It! Seems so obvious now! Thanks! 😛 No. newish, sparkling clean pot, no cracks in porcelain. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-crock-pot-flavor/765938/19 "2016-09-14T18:48:19Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > Isn’t “Crock Pot Flavor” a Ted Nugent song? Wow. That’s exactly what I thought of too! Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-crock-pot-flavor/765938/20 "2016-09-14T18:48:35Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > I don’t know about crock pot flavor but as a cheat you can add some soy sauce to the dish to mimic some of the flavor from not browning the meat. Nice tip, thanks-- always like a reason to add soy sauce to stuff! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-crock-pot-flavor/765938.md?page=2)