I think his point is that "drying them out in a pan" before using them is a lot faster than caramelising them from scratch. It's true--it takes maybe 2 minutes

I think his point is that "drying them out in a pan" before using them is a lot faster than caramelising them from scratch. It's true--it takes maybe 2 minutes to get the crockpot-onions to the same consistency as regular caramelised ones. Also, while the prep is the same, crockpot onions require literally no work during the cooking. On the stovetop, you do have to watch and stir them, which requires a little bit of attention. Since the crockpot version takes so long, the prep is also pretty far away from the rest of the cooking, which makes it "faster" if you have other stuff to do an hour before dinner. Edit: If you haven't tried this, give it a go--it works well and you can put them on everything for a few days! Yum