Save your money. I have two electric slow cookers but the setup I use most is my homemade one that was inspired by the latest high-dollar slow cookers. I use a round cast iron casserole (with lid) on top of an electric skillet. I brown the meat in the casserole on top of the stove first then just move the casserole to the electric skillet for long, slow cooking at a bare simmer. I'm using a Zojirushi electric skillet because I had it but any inexpensive skillet or grill that your casserole fits into/onto should work fine. I wondered if there would be any difference because there is no side heat but if that affects anything I can't detect it. Also, the casserole doesn't cover the whole skillet surface so I'm sure some heat is lost but again, that doesn't seem to affect anything and may even make it easier to get the heat down to a bare simmer. You do have to fiddle a little to determine the skillet setting that produces a suitable simmer but that's easy and a one-time thing - just mark the spot. BTW, if your electric skillet has sides and you can turn the heat down low enough, it's a great place to poach fish. If not, try it in an oval iron casserole on an electric skillet or grill. Once you've poached wild-caught salmon you won't want to fry/bake/broil it again, especially since it's nearly impossible to overcook and dry out the fish. If you like to experiment, try variations on the standard court-bullion as your poaching liquid.

rorymory- Choose a recipe that includes a pre-ferment (aka sponge, soak), and be sure to add an acidic ingredient - I use ascorbic acid, but Fruit Fresh will also work since it is a mixture of ascorbic acid and citric acid. You may find some recipes that have lemon juice or vinegar as the acid ingredient. Use the bread machine for mixing/kneading ONLY. Remove dough from the machine as soon as it has completed the kneading cycle. You won't use the timed rise cycle at all. Place the dough in a dough-rising bucket (I use a 2-quart plastic food storage container with a tight-fitting lid I purchased from a restaurant supply store, it has graduated measurements on the side). Pat the dough into the container and fasten on the lid. Note where the dough amount is. Double that amount and that is how high you allow the dough to rise. If it is at the 1-quart line, it will have "doubled" when it reaches the 2-quart line. It's actually best to only allow it to rise to just UNDER "double". Whole wheat flour doesn't have the extensibility that white flour does. MILDRED BREAD (adapted from a recipe from Pleasant Hill Grain by my friend, Mildred) (makes over 2-pounds of dough) This recipe is for 100% whole wheat bread, and is an enriched dough baked in a loaf pan in the oven, NOT the bread machine. When done correctly, using quality wheat for the flour milled into a very fine flour using an impact mill (Wonder Mill or Nutri-Mill), the loaves are as high-rising and light as most white bread recipes. If you use Hard Spring White Wheat, the color is very light and the flavor is very mild, as well. Sponge: In the pan add these ingredients - 3/4 c. warmed buttermilk 3/4 c. barely warm water 2-1/2 c. freshly milled hard whole wheat flour 1/4 t. ascorbic acid (you can use Fruit Fresh if you don't have ascorbic acid) 2 t. instant yeast (such as SAF Instant) Set the Zo on the shortest dough setting and only mix/knead these ingredients until they are well incorporated. Using the buttons on the top of the machine, stop the machine, and then unplug it. [You can also do this in a mixing bowl with a wooden spoon or Danish dough whisk and add it to the Zo pan.] Allow the mixture in the bread pan to sit in the bread machine with the lid shut for no less than 2-1/2 hours, or overnight (up to 12-hours). The next morning (or after 2-1/2 hours) add to the top of the sponge and stir in lightly with a rubber/silicon spatula by hand: 2 T. coconut oil (or oil of choice, but coconut oil will keep the bread fresher longer) 2 T. honey (or agave nectar, which also aids in keeping fresher longer) 1 egg (room temperature - warm in a bowl of warm water, if necessary) Add to the top of this mixture: 2-1/2 c. freshly-milled whole wheat flour 2 t. salt Set machine to the shortest dough cycle. When it has finished kneading, stop the machine and remove the dough from the pan and place it in a dough rising bucket and finish the dough, as usual, without the bread machine. There is enough dough for more than one loaf and if I only make one loaf, I use the remainder of the dough to make something else like 6 jumbo sticky pecan cinnamon rolls, an 8" pan of dinner rolls, 6 hamburger buns or 6 hot dog buns. * 1-pound of dough will make a medium loaf of bread in a 7-1/2x3-1/2" pan * 1-1/2-pounds of dough will make a regular loaf in an 8-1/2x4-1/2" pan * 2-pounds of dough for a 9x5" quick bread loaf pan Bake the bread in a 350° preheated oven until it reaches an internal temperature of 195°-210°F when tested with an Instant Read Thermometer. Yeast rolls - 190°F-195°F. -Grainlady

I found these specifications in my owner's manual for a Model: BBCC-X20 Power consumption: Heater-600W Motor-100W You would need to attach a Kill-A-Watt meter on your bread machine, set at the cost of electricity from your energy source, to find out exactly how much electricity it uses for a particular setting. You can get Kill-A-Watt meters any number of places, including Amazon.com. We purchased one about a year ago to track the cost of many of our electric appliances. I never bake in my Zojirushi, but bake in my Sharp Convection/Microwave oven, which requires NO pre-heating and I can bake one loaf in 20-minutes and two loaves in 25-minutes. Out of curiosity, I'll make a loaf of Onion Dill Bread in the Zo and attach the Kill-A-Watt Meter to track the amount of electricity used, and the cost. I'll post the findings later today. -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: Amazon.com - Kill-A-Watt Meter

jkayd_il5- I use the racks, especially for breads and baked goods. Air circulates around your food when it's on a rack to help it bake more evenly and quicker. You may be able to order them from Sharp. If not, you could use a wire cooling rack to raise the item at least a little. I roast meats in an oven bag in order to keep them moist and save on clean-up. Just follow instructions for using them (make sure you cut the vent holes in them). Place it in an oven-safe dish/pan that will fit on the turntable. If you are going to roast meat, place a glass pie dish on the turntable and place a wire cooling rack over it. The pie dish will catch the drippings. Here are some recipes from the Sharp Cookbook that may help you get an idea of what it will do. POT ROAST WITH VEGETABLES 4-5 pound round or chuck pot roast 1/2 t. salt 1/2 t. garlic powder 1/2 t. dried thyme leaves 1/8 t. pepper 4 potatoes, peeled and quartered 3 onions, quartered 2 carrots, sliced 3/4 c. water 2 T. brown bouquet sauce Place meat in 4-quart casserole. Pat seasonings into meat. Add vegetables. Combine water and browning sauce; pour into casserole dish. Cover. Roast 22 to 24 minutes per pound on HIGH MIX or until meat is fork-tender. Allow to stand 5 minutes. -------------------------------------------------------- I always bake my pizzas in the Sharp. Preheat oven to 400°F. I bake it on LOW MIX BAKE. You can bake cookies in a pizza pan on the turntable. If you have a rack you can bake 2 levels at once. PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES 1/2 c. peanut butter 1/2 c. granulated sugar 1/2 c. packed brown sugar 1/4 c. margarine or butter 1/4 c. vegetable shortening 1 egg 1-1/4 c. all-purpose flour 3/4 t. baking soda 1/2 t. baking powder Combine peanut butter, sugars, margarine, shortening and egg; beat until smooth. Blend in flour, baking soda and baking powder. Preheat oven to 350°F. Shape dough into 3/4-inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on lightly greased round baking pans (12-inch pizza pans work for me - you can also line the pans with parchment paper, if you'd like). With fork, flatten in crisscross pattern. Bake 12 minutes at 350°F or until set but not hard. Cool on wire racks. ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` CHOCOLATE CHIP BARS 2-1/4 c. all-purpose flour 1 t. baking soda 1/2 t. salt 3/4 c. granulated sugar 3/4 c. packed brown sugar 1/2 c. margarine or butter 1/2 c. vegetable oil 1 t. vanilla 2 eggs 1 package (12-oz.) chocolate chips 1 c. chopped nuts Combine flour, soda and salt; set aside. Cream together sugars, margarine, oil and vanilla. Beat until creamy. Beat in eggs. Gradually add flour mixture; mix well. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Spread mixture into 13x9x2-inch ungreased pan. Set oven for turntable-OFF. Bake 18-22 minutes on LOW MIX or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pans. Cut into 32 squares. Free\-form yeast breads \- Remove turntable from the oven. Shape bread; place directly on turntable. No preheating is needed. Bake for three\-fourths of the time in your conventional recipe on LOW MIX. I take the temperature of breads to check for doneness. Breads are done when the temperature is 195\-210°F. when checked with an instant read thermometer. I bake a panned loaf of yeast bread at 325°F on LOW MIX BAKE \- 20\-30\-minutes, depending on the size of the loaf (on the low rack). Once again, I bake it to the internal temperature between 195\-210°F. If you can get a copy of the cookbook, there is great user\-friendly recipes and information that will help you out. My earlier post also has good information to know. Good luck! \-Grainlady