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Slow Cooker Cooking Tips

** Slow Cooker ** Cooking Tips

Slow Cooker General Cooking Tips

Only fill the slow cooker one half to two thirds full. The foods will not cook properly if the appliance is filled to the brim. If the food and liquid level is lower, the foods will cook too quickly.   Foods cooked on the bottom of the slow cooker cook faster and will be moister because they are immersed in the simmering liquid.   You can thicken the juices and concentrate flavors by removing the lid and cooking on HIGH for the last half hour of cooking time.   Most meats require 8 hours of cooking on LOW. Use less expensive cuts of meat - not only do you save money, but these meats work better in the slow cooker. Cheaper cuts of meat have less fat, which makes them more suited to slow cooker cooking. Moist, long cooking times result in very tender meats.   Follow the layering instructions carefully. Vegetables do not cook as quickly as meat, so they should be placed in the bottom of the appliance.   Don't lift the lid to stir, especially if you are cooking on the low setting. Each time you lift the lid, enough heat will escape that the cooking time should be extended by 20 minutes to half an hour. To check progress without lifting the lid, spin the cover until the condensation falls off. Then it's easy to see inside.

Specific Cooking Tips

For best results, ground meats must be cooked in a skillet before cooking in the slow cooker.   Seafood should be added during the last hour of cooking time, or it will overcook and have a rubbery texture.   Large pieces of meat can be browned before cooking in the slow cooker, but this step isn't necessary. Browning adds color and helps in flavor development.   Cayenne pepper and tabasco sauce tend to become bitter if cooked for long periods of time. Use small amounts and add toward the end of the cooking time.   Add tender vegetables like tomatoes, mushrooms and zucchini during the last 45 minutes of cooking time so they don't overcook.   Dairy products should be added during the last 30 minutes of cooking time, unless the recipes states otherwise.   Liquids do not boil away in the slow cooker, so if you are making a recipe that wasn't specifically developed for the slow cooker, reduce the liquid by 1/3 to 1/2 unless you are cooking rice or making soup.   Stir in spices for the last hour of cooking. They will lose flavor if cooked with the rest of the ingredients for the long cooking period.

Using a slow cooker is very easy; just add the food, cover, turn on low heat and cook all day. But there are always more things to learn. The newest slow cookers on the market come with divided liners, timers to adjust the cooking start time. The newer appliances seem to be hotter than models only a few years old, so it's best to learn how your particular slow cooker cooks.

How To Convert Recipes

Many recipes can be converted to cooking in the slow cooker. Soups and stews, of course, are natural slowcooker favorites. Casseroles and most meats benefit from the low temperatures and even cooking heat. Reduce the amount of liquid a recipe calls for, since liquids do not evaporate during slow cooker cooking. However, if you are cooking rice, beans, or pasta, don't reduce the liquid called for. You generally need twice as much liquid as product to cook these ingredients. Here are basic conversion times:

If conventional time is: 15 to 30 minutes, then cooking time on low should be 4 to 6 hours.   If conventional time is 35 to 45 minutes, cooking time on low should be 6 to 8 hours.   If conventional time is 50 minutes to 3 hours, cooking time on low should be 8 to 16 hours.

I generally prefer cooking most raw meat and vegetable combinations at least 8 hours on LOW. This gives the vegetables time to soften, the meat time to tenderize and all the flavors to blend.

Preparing Ingredients

Surprisingly, vegetables cook more slowly than meats in the moist heat of the slow cooker. So vegetables should be cut or chopped roughly the same size and placed in the bottom of the slow cooker.   Browning meats helps reduce the fat content in large cuts of meat like roasts. It also caramelizes the sugars in the meat, adding to appearance and flavor.   Trim off any visible fat from cuts of meat. Fat will make the dishes cook faster.

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