Growing up when my mom wanted to make dulce de leche she would put a can of sweetened condensed milk in the pressure cooker. I wanted to make some, but I don't have a pressure cooker. So I decided to try a crock pot recipe. I know some people try this for caramel. If your not picky then your fine, but keep in mind this is not caramel, it's dulce de leche.
What's the difference you ask? Dulce de leche is milk based, it literally translates to sweet milk. Caramel is sugar based. It's cooked sugar and water to a certain precise point. The word caramel is of French origin meaning "burnt sugar."
All I did was put 2 cans of sweetened condensed milk in my crock pot on low for 8 hours. Take of the paper around the cans and make sure the cans are submerged and stay submerged through the process. They usually turn the last hour or so. I left one can in approximately 30 minutes longer than the other and it was a little thicker. The cans will look a little rusty too, no worries they will come out fine. It did leave a slight ring in the bottom of my crock pot. I read on someone else's blog that they put a towel under the cans to prevent the rust transfer to the crock pot.
Here are some pictures.



I used it to dip apples. It wasn't as firm as caramel, but it was quicker and still very yummy!