If you’ve ever come home to the mouthwatering smell of slow-cooked stew bubbling away in your Crock-Pot, you owe a thank you to ancient Jewish ingenuity and one clever 20th-century inventor.
It all started nearly 2,000 years ago in Judea, where Jewish communities needed a way to enjoy a hot meal on the Sabbath, a day when cooking was off-limits. The solution? A hearty stew prepped on Friday before sundown and left to simmer slowly until Saturday afternoon. This tradition gave us dishes like cholent — rich, comforting stew made with whatever was on hand. Communities from Morocco to Lithuania would prep their stews and bring them to the local baker, whose oven — still warm from the day’s bread — doubled as a communal slow cooker. By Saturday, the stews were piping hot and ready to be devoured.
Fast forward to 1902: Irving Nachumsohn is born in New Jersey to a Jewish family that had roots in this very tradition. A curious, self-taught inventor (he studied electrical engineering through a correspondence course), Irving eventually started Naxon Utilities Corp. and got to work building helpful kitchen gadgets — including an electric frying pan and something called the telesign, which paved the way for electronic news tickers like the one in Times Square.
But his most famous creation was a device inspired by his family’s Sabbath stews. In 1940, Nachumsohn patented the “Naxon Beanery” — a compact, electric cooker that mimicked the low-and-slow method used in bakery ovens centuries earlier. It didn’t take off right away, but it planted the seed for a kitchen revolution.
In 1970, Nachumsohn sold his company to Rival Manufacturing. The Beanery caught the eye of Rival’s home economists, who saw its potential. They gave it a new name, new look and launched it as the Crock-Pot at the 1971 National Housewares Show in Chicago. With bold 1970s colors like Harvest Gold and Avocado, the Crock-Pot became an instant classic. Sales exploded from $2 million in its first year to a whopping $93 million by 1975.
Beyond its rich history, the Crock-Pot earned its place in modern kitchens for one simple reason: convenience. In a world where time is always in short supply, a slow cooker lets you prep a meal, walk away and return hours later to a dish that’s flavorful and perfectly cooked. Just set it and forget it!
Whether you’re feeding a family, hosting a potluck or just trying to make weeknights a little easier, a slow cooker turns busy days into delicious evenings. It’s more than a kitchen appliance — it’s a reminder that good food doesn’t require hours in the kitchen. So next time you set your Crock-Pot to “low” and head out the door, know you’re tapping into an ancient tradition and one brilliant idea that simmered its way into culinary history.
Here’s to keeping it “low and slow” — from my kitchen to yours!
Please send feedback or suggestions to recipes@americanisraelite.com.
Slow Cooker Mongolian Beef
Serves 4
This melt-in-your-mouth dish is perfect for busy weeknights since it only takes a few minutes to throw together.
Ingredients
2 pounds chuck roast or stew meat
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
3/4 cup soy sauce
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup grated or julienne carrots
Sliced green onion for garnish
Cooked rice for serving
Oil the inside of a 4-quart or larger slow cooker (or use a liner.)
If using a roast, cut into thin strips or small cubes. In a plastic bag, combine the beef, and cornstarch. Shake to coat thoroughly.
Add olive oil, minced garlic, soy sauce, water, brown sugar and carrots to the slow cooker and stir to combine.
Add coated beef and stir again until it’s coated in the sauce.
Cook on high 3-4 hours or low 6-7 hours until tender.
Serve over rice and garnish with green onion.
Slow Cooker Corned Beef & Cabbage
Serves 8
Easy and delicious! No need to stand over the stove for hours while the brisket boils.
Ingredients
10 baby red potatoes, quartered
4 large carrots, peeled and cut into matchstick pieces
1 onion, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
4 cups water
1 (4 pound) corned beef brisket with spice packet
6 ounces beer (optional but recommended)
1/2 head cabbage, coarsely chopped
Place potatoes, carrots and onion into the bottom of a slow cooker; add water and place brisket on top of vegetables.
Pour beer over brisket; sprinkle over spices from the packet and cover.
Cook on high for 5 hours; stir in cabbage and cook for 1 more hour.
Slow Cooker Vegetarian Lasagna
Serves 8
Chop your veggies then layer the ingredients in the cooker.
Ingredients
1 large egg
16 ounces part-skim ricotta
5 ounces baby spinach, coarsely chopped
3 large or 4 small mushroom caps, gills removed, chopped
1 small zucchini, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes or spaghetti sauce
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
3 cloves garlic, minced
Pinch of crushed red pepper (optional)
15 whole-wheat lasagna noodles (about 12 ounces), uncooked
3 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella, divided
In a large bowl, combine egg, ricotta, spinach, mushrooms and zucchini.
In a medium bowl, combine crushed tomatoes (or spaghetti sauce), diced tomatoes and their juice, garlic and crushed red pepper.
Generously coat a 6-quart or larger slow cooker with cooking spray (or use a liner.) Spread 1 1/2 cups of the tomato mixture in the slow cooker. Arrange 5 noodles over the sauce, overlapping them slightly and breaking into pieces to cover as much of the sauce as possible. Spread half of the ricotta mixture over the noodles and pat down, then spoon 1 1/2 cups sauce over the ricotta mixture and sprinkle with 1 cop mozzarella. Repeat the layering one more time, starting with the noodles. Top with a third layer of noodles. Evenly spread the remaining tomato sauce over the noodles. Set aside the remaining 1 cup mozzarella in the refrigerator.
Cover the slow cooker and cook on high 2 hours or on low 4 hours. Turn off the cooker, sprinkle lasagna with the reserved mozzarella, cover and let stand 10 minutes to melt the cheese.
T’bit
Serves 4 to 6
A traditional Iraqi-Jewish Shabbat dish consisting of a whole chicken stuffed with rice, then slowly cooked overnight.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large onions, chopped
8-10 bone-in, skin-on chicken drumsticks and thighs (or one whole 4-lb chicken, cut into pieces)
4 medium tomatoes, diced
3 cups brown rice, rinsed
3 tablespoons tomato paste
4-5 cups boiling water
1 tablespoon Baharat spice mix (see below)
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
4 whole garlic cloves, peeled
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
6-8 eggs in their shells (optional, for traditional Shabbat cooking)
For the Baharat spice mix (makes extra)
3 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
In a large skillet or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onions and cook until soft and translucent, about 5-7 minutes.
Add the diced tomatoes to the skillet with the onions and continue cooking for 4 minutes, until the tomatoes begin to break down and release their juices. Stir in the tomato paste, Baharat, turmeric, salt and black pepper, cooking for another minute until fragrant.
Generously grease the inside of a large slow cooker, then transfer the onion-tomato mixture to the bottom.
In the same skillet, increase the heat to high. Sear the chicken pieces on all sides until golden brown. This step is crucial for developing flavor. Place the seared chicken on top of the onion mixture in the slow cooker.
Rinse the brown rice thoroughly and spread it around the chicken in the slow cooker. Add the whole garlic cloves. Pour the boiling water over everything, ensuring the rice is covered.
For a traditional T’bit, nestle several raw, uncracked eggs in their shells among the chicken and rice. They will slowly cook and turn a deep brown color.
Cover and cook on the low setting for 8 or more hours. Do not stir while cooking, which allows the rice to cook perfectly and the bottom to crisp slightly.
When ready to serve, carefully transfer the chicken pieces to a platter. Fluff the rice with a fork and serve it alongside the chicken and rich, dark-colored eggs.
