The faster the pace of life gets, the more you can appreciate a slow cooker.

	Pam Panchak, Post-Gazette photos Barbecue Braised Brisket with Butter Beans Click photo for larger image. Related article Slow cooker recipes feed two nicely

The annual International Home & Housewares Show in Chicago last month offered a brand-new alternative to owning multiple slow cookers.

Hamilton Beach showed off its "3-in-1 Slow Cooker," a cooker with one electric heat source but three different stoneware pots -- 2-quart, 4-quart and 6-quart. They all stack inside the cooker, with one glass lid, to save storage space. Three versions of the appliance start rolling out in June and cost $59.99 to $69.99.

Hamilton Beach also has a newer "Set 'n Forget(R) Slow Cooker" that can be set to cook on manual, programmable and probe settings; the probe you stick into a cut of meat, and the cooker knows to drop the temperature once the desired internal temperature is reached; it's $49.99 (see www.hamiltonbeach.com or call 1-800-851-8900).

West Bend showed its 6-quart Versatility Slow Cooker, with a non-stick oval cooking pot and a base that doubles as a non-stick griddle for grilled sandwiches and such. It's also to be widely available in June at $69.99 (www.westbend.com).

In February, the Good Housekeeping Research Institute rated 16 slow cookers; you can find the results -- as well as seven tested recipes -- by searching "slow cookers" at www.goodhousekeeping.com.

-- Bob Batz Jr. This inexpensive appliance can make everything from soup to dessert -- and make life easier by freeing you up to do other things while it does the cooking.

That's why slow cookers are once again getting hot. The Food Network predicted the retro device will be No. 1 among its five top trends of 2007.

Every home cook should have one slow cooker.

I have four and, believe me, they come in handy during the holidays or when having friends over for a casual dinner. I have used my slow cookers for every occasion and every season, though I have yet to venture into making desserts.

Most slow cooker recipes are for larger families, not empty nesters, so I rarely used a slow cooker during the week until I found the new cookbook, "Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker: Recipes for Two" by Beth Hensperger (Harvard Common Press, $12.95). Her recipes are adapted for 1¹/₂- to 3-quart models, which are perfect for one or two people.

As Ms. Hensperger writes in the introduction, one-third of American families consist of just two people. "After the publication of 'Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook,' in 2005 I was deluged with requests for a collection of scaled-down slow cooker recipes designed for one or two people."

The cookbook is filled with 125 creative recipes with fresh, easy-to-find ingredients -- just what I wanted. I tried four of the dishes and a fifth from another new cookbook.

It's easy to find new recipes, as there's been a boom in slow cooker cookbooks. Both Williams-Sonoma and Cooking Light published books this past fall. Also just published this year is "Fix-It and Forget It: 5-Ingredient Favorites: Comforting Slow-Cooker Recipes" by Phyllis Pellman Good (Good Books, $15.95). Since launching the series in 2000, she's sold more than 7 million books.

As for my bounty of slow cookers, I don't know what I would do without them during the holidays. They make cooking a feast for 20 people -- having everything done at the same time and keeping it hot -- a breeze. My slow cookers will help me make Sunday's Easter dinner. While the turkey is roasting in the kitchen oven and the ham in the downstairs oven, the mashed potatoes will go into a slow cooker. Another potato dish will go into another slow cooker. The broccoli dish will go into, you guessed it, a slow cooker. I'll even use my 1¹/₂-quart cooker for the turkey gravy.

My slow cookers are antiques compared to the new programmable, stainless-steel types on the market today. One of these days I may upgrade and then try slow-cooking desserts.