Pork and sauce in Slow Cooker

The price of electricity is all the time an issue in our house.

As our main heating is electric,

specially during the winter our electric bills are enormous,

no matter what we do or how much we use wood and fireplace.

No matter that we cut our consumption,

price keeps going up.

So we are looking for even slightest way to save electric.

I have been dreaming about slow cooker for awhile.

But they have been so expensive,

that I should cook for ever to get any saving.

On Tuesday I saw an ad in local newspaper on my lunch hour:

home appliance store had a sale.

I called Hubby and when I got back home, there it was, waiting:

And as I finally could spend now few days of my winter holiday,

I made our first slow cooker dinner today.

Pork and sauce, which we call Vatkuli.

It is easy dish, but needs at least 2,5 hours in oven.

And when I say easy, I really mean easy.

First: cut pork meat in pieces.

Then sautee it on frying pan:

I use a little oil - and it uses to splatter all over. Butter might be better.

After sautee, make sauce:

A little oil (or butter) on the pan, then flour and sautee them,

and mix water until there is thick stock.

Mine is always light colored, because I am afraid of burning,

but my family has already used to it.

Pork and sauce into spades with allspice (about 10), salt and bay leaf or two.

Bay leaf is the one, that makes it Vatkuli.

As this was the first time, when I used slow cooker,

I just followed manual with time and heat.

I was just a little suspicious, if it works so I was happy to see the time was running...

   and there was boiling in 

After 6 hours I took one piece of meat from the middle

- just to make sure it was well done.

 and it was! 

I shouldn't be so thrilled as I was:

that is the idea of slow cooker:

cook with low heat and long time.

If I count it right,

it took 1,365 kWh less electric than oven.