rice cooker spaghetti sauce

Hey!  This is "ramblings on cast iron", not "ramblings on rice cookers!"

Well, yes, but, it's my blog, and I really like rice cookers.  So I am experimenting with things to cook in them.

Today I cooked spaghetti sauce in a 16 cup* basic rice cooker.  As in, just one switch for "cook" and "warm".  Not a bunch of fancy settings.

*If you have a 14 cup rice cooker, that will also work.  The pots are actually the same size.  Most companies call theirs a "14 cup", but Black & Decker calls theirs a "16 cup".

It's pretty much the same as if you would cook it in a pot on the stove.

Brown 1 pound of ground chuck, a chopped onion, and 1 spoonful of minced garlic on the "cook" setting.  This is not a "set it and forget it" task; You have to stir the mixture around to make sure it cooks evenly.

If you want to also add raw sliced mushrooms, or raw sliced zucchini, then add that too.

Of course, since you are stirring, you won't be using the lid.

When the meat is browned and the onions are soft, drain, and put back in the pot.  You will have to reset the "cook" setting.

Add a can of diced tomatoes, and the tomato sauce of your choice.  I also added a can of mushrooms, because I didn't have any raw.

Stir the sauce on the "cook" setting for a few minutes.

Then switch to "warm" setting, put the lid on, and keep warm until ready to serve.

You can boil pasta in a rice cooker, too.  The same way as you boil pasta on the stove.