I've finally caught on to the concept of the Crock-Pot. What took me so long? Supposedly something like 80% of American households have a slow cooker, but my mom never used one. Maybe it was because my dad has an absolute phobia about wasting electricity; the very notion of an appliance you have to leave on all day would drive him nuts.

But my friends kept raving about their Crock-Pots. I caved in to peer pressure and put “slow cooker” on my Christmas wish list. And so my two brothers-in-law got me a gleaming, stainless steel state-of-the-art All-Clad slow cooker complete with digital display (ah, the perks of marrying into a family whose motto is “buy only the best”).

Matt made a virtual beeline to Amazon and ordered three cookbooks for slow cookers: Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker by Robin Robertson, Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook by Beth Hensberger and Julie Kaufman, and The Gourmet Slow Cooker by Lynn Alley.

I couldn't wait for the books to arrive, though, so I found a recipe on Prevention's website for cranberry-apricot pork roast and gave it a try. The recipe was so easy to make, and came out so well, that I understood immediately why people who own a Crock-Pot are so crazy about them. It took me less than ten minutes to toss all the ingredients in the slow cooker and set the dial. Seven hours later, it was done. And delicious. What could be simpler?

Rival first introduced its trademarked “Crock-Pot” in 1971, and still dominates the slow cooker market to this day. But more upscale slow cookers by Cuisinart and All-Clad are proof that Crock-Pot cuisine has a newfound appeal among self-proclaimed food snobs, such as cookbook author and New York Times columnist Mark Bittman, who documented his own Crock-Pot conversion several years ago.

Though the slow cooker is a relatively recent invention, it truly excels at a very old-fashioned cooking technique: braising. A Crock-Pot's slow, even heat is perfect for tenderizing less expensive cuts of meat and sealing in flavors. That's one explanation for the Crock-Pot's longstanding popularity in humble households; you can buy a bunch of chicken thighs or short ribs and render them so tender in a slow cooker that the meat simply melts off the bone.

The slow cooker is ideal for poultry, or pork, but it’s also great for vegetables, grains and beans. Soups and stews become infused with flavor, and you can even make side dishes and desserts in it, such as puddings.

All three of the cookbooks we ordered are full of appealing recipes, and we've already started to work our way through them, although Crock-Pot cooking is so simple that “work” is hardly the operative term. If you had to limit yourself to a single slow cooker book, The Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook would be the one to get; it's got 350 recipes and there's not a single one that doesn't sound good to me.

As for buying a slow cooker itself, you can get a perfectly good one for under $50, or you can spend twice that for all the bells and whistles; I love the digital display on my All-Clad because it lets me know exactly how much time remains till my chicken curry or cassoulet is done.

The Crock-Pot’s real appeal is for those who have to get dressed and leave the house in the morning, and want to come home to find a marvelous meal ready and waiting. There's no need for me to pad out to the kitchen in my sweatpants at 3 PM to check on the progress of Matt's short ribs with Chinese flavors, but I just can't help admiring my shiny new slow cooker. A watched pot may never boil, but my All-Clad continues to cook away even if I'm gazing at it adoringly.