I think it’s simply because it’s cooked too long and has a ‘stewed’ taste. Like canned chicken and other meat, (even, god forbid, one of those whole bone-in canned chickens packed in gelatin) - cooked at high temps in the can, they are overcooked and have a certain flavor. I’ve noticed this in bbq ribs for sale in the deli case at a nearby grocery store, an employee told me they are pressure cooked before being painted with sauce. It’s that pressure cooking unto death that also gives them a crockpot taste.
I’m amazed that so many others say they don’t detect a “crock pot flavor.” As soon as I glanced at the thread title I knew exactly what the OP meant. I’ve also always wondered what causes it. I wouldn’t describe it as bitter… maybe more like gamey?
I know the crock pot flavor, too. It is chemical and weird, because my crockpot does not have the smell when nothing is in it. Yet there is a chemical hint to everything that comes out of it apart from my Asian short ribs. Maybe the immense amount of fat in the short ribs overpowers the chemical flavor somehow.
What I’d like to know is if long braised dishes like say… pot roast have this flavor too.
I mean, there’s nothing special about a crock-pot that would impart any specific flavor to dishes that some sort of equally long and low braising wouldn’t also impart.
My guess is that most people reporting that flavor haven’t really had much long-braised foods from other heat sources; they taste just the same as crock-pot food.
I don’t have a crock pot, so I don’t know what “crock pot flavor” is, but I do know that long-braised dishes do not all have the same flavor. Braised chicken thighs with leeks and carrots taste different than braise lamb shanks with raisins and turnips and that tastes different than beef chuck steak braised with red wine, mushrooms, and pearl onions. No common flavors there unless you go out of your way to make them taste the same.
Also, I pretty much never see braised dishes that call for adding everything to the pot at the same time and walking away. There’s no reason you couldn’t do a crock-pot recipe in a heavy dutch oven on low heat in the oven, but you never see that. What you see is you brown the meat first, maybe add some spices. Then you saute the onions and garlic, throw it in the pan with the meat, cover and braise for a while. An hour later you add the heartier veggies (carrots, potatoes, whatever) and check the seasoning. Add in the softer veggies at the very end (peas, green beans, etc). That way, you don’t end up with a homogenized mush.
If I had to guess I’d say most crock pot recipes suffer from the idea that it’s gonna be just as good to throw everything in at once as it would if you properly braised the dish. Also, I see crock pot recipes for meat that has no business being slow-cooked: chicken breasts, pork loin, etc.
I’m sure it makes decent food, way healthier than fast food and pretty easy for folks too busy or not into cooking. But I’m also not at all surprised that there is a common flavor to crock pot dishes, or that they’re a tough sell for some families.
^ Exactly.
As far as Arcite’s “gamey” comment goes, I have a guess. The meat you use for slow-cooked dishes comes from more flavorful and more exercised parts of the animal. So we’re looking at cuts like beef chuck or pork shoulder or chicken thigh. Those also have stronger “meat” flavors than, say, beef filet, pork loin, and chicken breast. Chuck is very beefy; shoulder (pork butt) is very porky; and chicken thighs are very chickeny compared to their leaner, quick cooking counterparts. Also, the slow-cooking cuts are fattier, so you have more of that “fat” flavor in the food, which I can see construing as being somewhat gamey.
We have one, and I think you’re right. Of all the things we’ve cooked in it, only a small handful of the good recipes are the kind where you add everything at once. Typically, our recipes are more along the line of “use the crock-pot to do a slow braise of the chuck roast for 4 hours, then add these particular vegetables at these specified times” kind of stew/soup recipes, and you don’t get that “unified” stewed flavor where the meat and the vegetables all seem to have the same texture and flavor.
I’ve made soup stock plenty of times by throwing all the raw ingredients in a pot at once (except for the bones and meat scraps that are already cooked), and simmering on the stovetop for hours. It doesn’t end up tasting like it would if I made stock the exact same way in a crockpot. I think the difference is, even though I’m simmering on the stove on very low heat, it’s still hotter than in a crock pot. My theory is that, though the crock pot softens up the veggies and stuff, it’s not hot enough to cause certain chemical reactions that happen to the food in simmered stock. The crock pot flavor profile stays in this middle twilight zone between raw-tasting and cooked-tasting.
Yeah, you get the same sort of thing with a pressure cooker, so when I use it now, I typically will use it to cook meat and perhaps onions in a little bit of liquid for 15-20 minutes under pressure to get the meat tender, and then finish on the stovetop with the vegetables. It sounds like a bunch of extra work, but it still saves me about an hour to an hour and a half over slow cooking it on the stove or in the oven. Everything cooked together just turns to mush.
It really shouldn’t be. When I simmer stock, I aim for a bubble coming up every so often. That indicates a temp of about 195-200F. The low setting on a crockpot is usually also around 200F. In either case, you’re aiming for just below the boiling point. And if you set the crockpot on high, you’ll be boiling.
All I know is, if I took the same soup stock ingredients and made one batch of stock on the stove and one in a crock pot, they would taste different. I was theorizing it was due to slightly lower cooking temperatures in the crock pot, but maybe not. I think I do simmer stock at a slightly higher temperature than you describe, but probably not too much. Maybe the origin of “crock pot flavor” will just remain a mystery 
That is EXACTLY how it went in my head when I read the thread title. Now I have an earworm of “Cat Scratch Fever” running.
I agree with this - I think it’s primarily a “cooked to death” flavor.
I believe modern crock pots were redesigned to cook at a higher temperature to avoid the shadow of a possibility of anyone incubating a vat of e. coli or salmonella for dinner. Unfortunately my experience indicates this results in a medium-fast BOIL, not a slow braise.
In response, I got myself a Wonderbag. It works great, but really can only handle things that finish in 4-6 hours. So no popping stuff into a vessel and coming home from work 9 hours later to finished dinner. Still, it makes weekend cooking less demanding, and helps avoid adding heat to the house on summer days.
I ran across this article today, which might shed some light on the differences between traditional cooking and cooking in a slow cooker. Thought some folks might be interested.
I got distracted and was not able to fully post what I wanted earlier. From the article I posted (here), a few things stand out as relevant to this thread:
So things don’t cook quite as much as they would in a traditional cooker.
I’m wondering if the “boiled allium” smell is the real reason behind “crock-pot flavor.” As we all know, smell plays heavily into the sensation of taste, and if the crock pot tends to emphasis certain smells, then I’m guessing it also produces a similar taste.
Science!
Interesting article, and in spite of the author trying to convince me to abandon my slow cookers, I am more sure than ever that they meet my personal needs.
The author shows a soup made in a pressure cooker, and crows about how all veggies were reduced to a creamy sauce. That’s exactly what I try to avoid. I put anything that would soften that much into my soup last, and try to keep veggies crisp and be able to taste them separately, not mashed together, becoming unrecognizable.
Some people give thick soups high marks. That’s fine for them, but one of my favorites is a Jewish chicken soup, basically a thin broth. Jewish chicken soup cooks don’t look at soups quite the same way, it seems.
And one of the perks to slow cookers is when I plan to be home for a long time. I like sampling the progress periodically. Many foods are good long before they are truly done, and it doesn’t matter if it takes 1 hour or 10; it’s done when I say it is. That’s a lot harder to do with a pressure cooker, and less convenient with a dutch oven.
“Everyone to his own taste,” said the old woman as she kissed the cow.
Interesting reading indeed, especially about the chicken broth/stock stuff, confirming solost’s observations (and showing me wrong.) And also further convinces me why I don’t need a slow cooker in my house. 
Pressure cooker FTW.
I know exactly what “crock pot flavor” is and it comes from my wife not browning the meat ahead of time. (I don’t blame her – she cooks in a hurry, as a chore, often, and I cook when I have free time, for fun, occasionally – it’s a big privilege she’s given me that I only need to cook when I want to.)
But my guess is that other people have a different “crock pot flavor” in mind.
I know what you mean, I can tell when food is crocked. I used mine a lot when a student. I almost certainly over cooked anything I made, but it makes tough meat tender. Some of it may have been from using some canned vegetables.
I see my thread here is still simmering away (sorry…).
Yes, Athena’s “boiled allium” theory backs up what I suggested earlier. Thanks, Athena! I do think that the culprit is onions and garlic not brought to sufficient temperature to completely convert their raw chemical essence, at least for what I think of as CPF.