There are three basic ways to cook food. They are microwaving, dry heat and moist heat. Each method is more/less suited to different types of food. Microwaving is probably the least used for actually "cooking food", but rather is used most often to simply re-heat beverages or foods that have already been cooked. Foods cook in a microwave by absorbing radio waves that are passed thru them. Dry heat cooking does the job by surrounding the food with dry, hot air. This can be done by roasting or broiling in the oven or grilling,etc.. This type of cooking is most suitable to tender cuts of meat like steaks and chops, as well as seafood and poultry. The third method is moist heat cooking. This method is best for less tender cuts of meat. The meat is cooked at a lower temperature for a longer amount of time, and the combination of the longer cook times and the liquid (or steam) surrounding the meat help tenderize it. Crock Pot/slow cookers use moist heat. Because the pot is kept closed and there is water/liquid in the pot, physics won't allow the temperature inside the pot to rise above the boiling point of the liquid, so you can put everything your recipe calls for into the cooker, turn the thing on, and forget about it all day. The long cooking times also mean that you dont have to worry about taking it out at a specific time (a little extra time won't make much of a difference). Of course, you could do the same thing in your oven by putting meat in a cooker, covering it, setting the temperature low and leaving it in all day, but a crock pot is much more effecient/easier. As far as what foods are best for slow cooker preparation? Well, you can cook just about anything in a crock pot, but I really only use mine for cooking roasts, but there are plenty of other things you can make in there. Here's a link with all kinds of recipes for crock-pot cooking- http://crockpot.allrecipes.com/. Bon Apeteit'

A crock pot is a great way to be able to come home to a cooked meat after working or being away from the home all day. It is a slow cooker, best designed to work with a little water in the pot. It cooks tough cuts of meat beautifully, as well as corn beef, whole chickens, chicken drumsticks( with an added gravy type sauce for adding flavour)You can thicken the sauce towards the end of the cooking, to provide a gravy of any flavour. can do potatoes, kumaras, pumpkin etc. It cooks very slowly, over a long period of time, with water in the pot to keep it moist!

it cooks using slow, wet heat. It is best for cooking tough cuts of meat or rather thats the most efficient way to use it. Like the other person stated I do the corned beef, whole chickens (although they come out ugly they sure do taste good) and just about everything for that matter!