National Slow Cooker Month is observed during January—a perfect time of the year for making some fancy slow cooker dishes. According to the most recent statistics, just about every American household has at least one slow cooker. Of course, that doesn’t mean that everyone who has one uses it.

We don’t have the statistics for how many Americans use their slow cooker on a regular basis, but we’re sure that it’s lower than the number of people who own them. This month attempts to change that fact by encouraging people to whip up a pot of chili, a pot roast, or some other dish in their slow cooker.

The History of Slow Cookers

The history of the slow cooker can be traced back to the mid-1930s. This is when Irving Naxon applied for a patent in 1936 for his food heating device. This device was a case that held a heating element that facilitated even heating of the food inside the insert. He called it the Naxon Beanery.

Four years later, Naxon received a patent for his device. He would eventually sell the design of the Naxon Beanery to Rival Manufacturing, and they would change its name to the Crock-Pot. Rival marketed the product towards working mothers who needed to be able to start dinner before they left for work and then come home to a cooked meal.

All throughout the 1970s, millions of Crock-Pots were sold. It did suffer a small dip in sales during the 1980s, but by the end of the 1990s, its sales began to surge again. Now it’s as popular as it’s ever been. While we’re talking about slow cookers, it should be mentioned that Crock-Pots and slow cookers are not the same.

While Crock-Pots are slow cookers, the reverse isn’t true. Not all slow cookers are Crock-Pots. Just something for people to keep in mind while they’re observing National Slow Cooker Month.

Observing National Slow Cooker Month

We urge everyone to take their slow cooker down from the pantry shelf where they’re storing it and get to cooking with it. There are only about 1,001 dishes that a person can make with a slow cooker. This includes Mediterranean chicken, baby back ribs, scalloped potatoes, and many, many more.

You can even make slow-cooker steel-cut oats and berry compotes in them. No matter what a person makes in their slow cooker, however, they should take the time to let everyone know about it using the hashtag #SlowCookerMonth on social media.