The slow cooker is one of the kitchen’s most underrated appliances. One of the things that make the cooler months bearable for me is the chance to get creative with slow cooked food. I am talking about stews, casseroles, and soups. Those dishes that simmer away for hours can be left on its own while you are busy with other matters.

As a fan of this single-use kitchen appliance, I became intrigued by Reynolds Kitchen awesome alternative to clean up after using slow cookers.

Karen Peterson demonstrates these liners while cooking mashed potatoes using different potatoes. She does an excellent job of explaining the different spuds and what dishes they work well with. For instance, russets potatoes are high in starch and low in moisture, which makes them great for loaded baked potatoes. Purple potatoes are a great additive to chowder and skin-on red potatoes for suitable for salads.

To think I always thought that you needed to boil potatoes before mashing them. Wrong! She puts the liner inside of the cooker, followed by potatoes, spices and water. The time will vary with amount and size of the potatoes. Karen suggests six to seven hours on low, or three to four hours on high. That is enough time to run several errands or even a shift at work.

The key is knowing which potato to choose, but most important, there is literally no clean up. Take out the bag and throw away.

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