Help with Family Night Fondue

[ADisneyFamilyof5]

So every year my son competes in a beach soccer tournament. We turn it into a whole family vacation and we do a cook out and bonfire at the beach with his teammates and their families. We really look forward to this weekend every year. However, due to the current siutation, it has been cancelled. I want to do something special (and inexpensive) for our family that weekend so I was thinking a Disney board games & Fondue night. We love cheese and chocolate fondue, but have never made them at home. I just have a few questions.

1. Can I use a small crockpot instead of buying a fondue pot? I have 2 that hook together and thought it would be great to use instead of purchasing a fondue pot?
2. Does anybody have any recipes they would like to share for cheese fondue?

I appreciate any tips!

 

[mommajo143]

We had fondue in May for my sons bday. I had one fondue pot (cheese), one crock pot (Chocolate) & I opened our George foreman up flat so we could tabletop cook shishkebobs (meat). If you are using precooked food or food that can be eaten raw the crockpot will be fine. Otherwise you’ll need an actual fondue pot to get fondue hot enough to actually cook veggies / meat. I will say we spent close to $70 in ingredients using the recipes from the fondue pot recipe book. I’m happy to share those recipes, but we didn’t love them. I think a simple beer cheese and basic Melted chocolate Would’ve been more to our kids liking.

 

[TwoMisfits]

I used to make killer cheese and chocolate fondues...but now I have a dairy allergy...but that hasn't stopped fondues, it's just changed to dairy-free ones.

I use this for my dairy-free chocolate fondue, but with coconut or oat milk https://www.onelovelylife.com/dairy-free-chocolate-fondue/ - I've added maraschino cherry syrup, peanut butter, amaretto, and other mix-ins, but my kids also just like the straight vanilla add in best (which I tend to triple). The simpler and cheaper for the base fondue, the better. And really, it works for dairy - find a bag of chocolate chips and some half and half or whole milk and do the same thing - my best advice is to start from a nice chocolate you love. Don't use a chocolate you hate, b/c you'll hate it more in large quantities...and have a 2nd bag of chips in case your fondue is too thin and some extra milk if it's too thick...

Where I splurge is on the dippers. Have LOTS of awesome dippers. When I do chocolate, I have an assortment of fresh strawberries, fresh pineapple, fresh bananas, fresh clementines, fresh apples, pretzel rods, marshmallows, potato chips, oreos (all of these I can eat), and donut holes (kids love these, so they have them without me). I always have 4 fruits and 3 junks...

We tend to have a very tiny dinner (like a salad with chicken strips) before getting this out and splurging...it works great that way (before, we would do just the 2 fondues as dinner/dessert)...

 

[easyas123]

IF you buy a fondue pot, I recommend the Cusinart like Mommajo has in her photos. We have three of them and they work really well -
In the spirit of honesty, I buy my fondue cheese already made at our local grocery! Not the cheapest, but the easiest! For chocolate we usually use a simple recipe that uses heavy cream.
Good luck, looks like fun! I might have to get my fondue pots out and dust them off....

 

[tiggerluver12]

when I was young my mom did a fondue with oil for frying. She had scrambled raw egg ad the binder in a bowl and breadcrumbs in another. We would dip cubed cheese or meat in the egg then roll in the breadcrumbs and then place in the oil. Cooked to our liking.

 

[okeydokey]

https://www.wellplated.com/cheese-fondue-recipe/
https://www.bloglovin.com/blogs/mrs-lilien-7033593/mrs-fondue-2065816609

 

[unrequited23]

If you live near a Trader Joe's they have a pretty good cheese fondue blend.

 

[ADisneyFamilyof5]

We had fondue in May for my sons bday. I had one fondue pot (cheese), one crock pot (Chocolate) & I opened our George foreman up flat so we could tabletop cook shishkebobs (meat). If you are using precooked food or food that can be eaten raw the crockpot will be fine. Otherwise you’ll need an actual fondue pot to get fondue hot enough to actually cook veggies / meat. I will say we spent close to $70 in ingredients using the recipes from the fondue pot recipe book. I’m happy to share those recipes, but we didn’t love them. I think a simple beer cheese and basic Melted chocolate Would’ve been more to our kids liking.View attachment 497487View attachment 497488View attachment 497489View attachment 497490View attachment 497491

I love your pictures! Looks like a wonderful birthday party. I wasn't planning on having anything that needed to be cooked, so I think I will use my crockpots. The George Foreman idea is genius. Thank you so much for your help!

Where I splurge is on the dippers. Have LOTS of awesome dippers. When I do chocolate, I have an assortment of fresh strawberries, fresh pineapple, fresh bananas, fresh clementines, fresh apples, pretzel rods, marshmallows, potato chips, oreos (all of these I can eat), and donut holes (kids love these, so they have them without me). I always have 4 fruits and 3 junks...

I never thought of donut holes. My kids would love that!