thumb|right|a newer slow cooker. this one has a removable ceramic 'crock' (upper left), glass lid (lower left), and heaterâhousing (right) with push button controls, instead of the original single knob. a slow cooker, also known as a crock-pot (a trademark that is sometimes used generically in the us, canada, australia and new zealand), is a countertop electrical cooking appliance that is used for simmering, which requires maintaining a relatively low temperature (compared to other cooking methods such as baking, boiling, and frying),gisslen, wayne (2011). professional cooking, 7th ed., john wiley & sons, inc. p. 71 allowing unattended cooking for many hours of pot roast, stews, soups, "boiled" dinners and other suitable dishes, including dips, desserts and beverages. ==history== the naxon utilities corporation of chicago, under the leadership of irving naxon, developed the naxon beanery all-purpose cooker. naxon was inspired by a story his jewish grandmother told about how back in her native lithuanian shtetl, her mother made a stew called cholent, which took several hours to cook in an oven.naxon, lenore. "my dad, the inventor of the crock pot." beyond bubbie. 8 april 2013. 2 may 2013. the rival company bought naxon in 1970 and reintroduced it under the crock-pot name in 1971. slow cookers achieved popularity in the us during the 1970s when many women began to work outside the home. they could start dinner cooking in the morning before going to work and finish preparing the meal in the evening when they came home. in 1974, rival introduced removable stoneware inserts making the appliance easier to clean. the brand now belongs to sunbeam products, a subsidiary of jarden corporation. other brands of this appliance include hamilton beach, west bend housewares, ge, magic chef, and former american electric corporation. ==design== thumb|right|an oval shaped slow cooker with button controls and a digital timer a basic slow cooker consists of a lidded round or oval cooking pot made of glazed ceramic or porcelain, surrounded by a housing, usually metal, containing an electric heating element. the lid is often of glass seated in a groove in the pot edge; condensed vapour collects in the groove and provides a low-pressure seal to the atmosphere. the contents of a crock pot are effectively at atmospheric pressure, despite the water vapor generated inside the pot. a crock pot is quite different from a pressure cooker and presents no danger of an abrupt pressure release. the ceramic pot, or 'crock', acts as both a c
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