Hitching her wagon to the nascent slow-cooking craze, Mable Hoffman created one of the fastest-selling cookbooks.

Ms. Hoffman, who died Feb. 9 at 88, was author of "Crockery Cookery," an early entry among books of recipes for an old technique transformed.

Crock-Pots debuted in 1971 and sold in the millions, spurred in part by the increase...