If you’ve just bought a slow cooker or Crock Pot, these tips will help you to get delicious results every time!
Slow cookers or crock pots are a fantastic addition to your frugal kitchen. They help save time and money, and make it ever so easy to get a delicious dinner on the table after a busy day.
Want to learn more? Click here to find out the many Benefits of a Slow Cooker.
I’ve recently been trying out some new recipes in this 5.7 litre slow cooker from Crock Pot. Crock Pot made the original electric slow cooker back in 1970 and have a range of slow cookers to suit every size of family. They all deliver great tasting food without needing you to spend hours in the kitchen.
This particular model is a generous 5.7 litre slow cooker which will easily feed six hungry people or give you some leftovers to stash in your freezer. There are three settings – low, high and a warm setting for keeping food warm when it’s finished cooking. And it has a hinged lid, which solves that annoying problem of where to put the lid down while you’re adding ingredients later on in the cooking process.
Both the lid and the stoneware are dishwasher safe and you can even use the stoneware pot in the oven as well. This Crock-Pot is a high quality piece of kitchen equipment from a company who know more about slow cooking than pretty much anyone!
But there’s definitely a right way and a wrong way to using a slow cooker. Sure, you can just chuck everything in and turn it on, but having a few little tricks up your sleeve will help you to get the most out of your slow cooker.
So here are more than 20 handy tricks, hints and tips to make slow cooking really simple:
Choosing a Slow Cooker
Make sure you get the right size of slow cooker to suit your needs.
Slow cookers come in a range of sizes so you need to be sure that you’re using the right one for the recipe you’re cooking and the number of people you want to feed. A 3.5 litre slow cooker will generally fit enough for 4-6 portions. A 5.7 litre slow cooker will feed at least six people, which is useful if you want to batch cook for the freezer or regularly feed a crowd.
Check out the features on the slow cooker you’re planning to buy
Different models have some handy features that might be useful. For example, the Crock-Pot above has a handy hinged lid, and others have digital timers or a switch that will switch to the warm setting at the end of the cooking time.
Take care of your slow cooker
Once you’ve chosen your slow cooker, it will last for years if you take good care of it. The ceramic or stoneware pot may crack if it’s exposed to sudden changes in temperature. So allow it come to room temperature before you turn it on, especially if it’s been in the fridge overnight. And never place a hot stoneware pot directly onto a cold kitchen top.
Choosing your Ingredients
Don’t use frozen food
It may be tempting to pre-freeze ingredients for slow cooker meals and just add them to the slow cooker straight from the freezer. But this is a definite no-no as it can lead to food poisoning. Making up pre-portioned slow cooker meals is a great time saving measure but make sure that your food is all fully thawed before you turn the slow cooker on.
Choose the right cuts of meat
There’s no point in cooking expensive lean cuts of meat in a slow cooker as they tend to dry out. Tougher joints like pork shoulder, lamb shanks and short ribs are ideal for the low slow heat of a Crock-Pot. Slow cooking is also great for briskets and lean cuts of venison because it really helps to tenderise them.
You can use less meat in a slow cooker
The slow cooking process helps to bring out the flavour of the meat, so you can get away with using less. Bulk up stews and pot roasts with vegetables instead for a money-saving meal.
Preparing the Ingredients
Trim away excess fat
You’ll need to remove any excess fat from meat to avoid ending up with a greasy, oily sauce. And if you are cooking chicken in the slow cooker, it’s a good idea to remove the skin as well.
Brown your meat to add flavour
If you’re short of time, then feel free to skip this step – you’ll still end up with a delicious meal. But if you take a few minutes to brown meat and quickly saute your vegetables before adding them to your slow cooker, you’ll definitely improve the flavour of the finished dish.
Don’t leave any flavour behind
All those caramelised bits on the bottom of the frying pan are packed with rich flavour. Deglaze your frying pan with a little wine, stock or even just water, and add them to your slow cooker for even more tastiness.
Watch how much wine you add into the slow cooker
The alcohol won’t evaporate away as it would when you’re cooking on the hob or in the oven. This means you can add less wine and still get the same boost in flavour.
Getting Organised
It’s great to get dinner cooking in the morning before you leave the house, but you’ll need to do a little planning first:
Get ready the evening before
Cut meat and vegetables into even sized pieces, and trim any excess fat from the meat. Measure out any other ingredients and liquids then store each component in separate containers in the fridge.
Finish it off in the morning
Add the ingredients to your slow cooker, browning them first if you want to (and if you have the time). If your slow cooker doesn’t have an automatic switch, make sure that you’ll be home fairly close to the end of the cooking time.
A tip for when you’re really short on time
Prepare all of the meat, veg and dry ingredients and add to the slow cooker stoneware pot. Cover and store in the fridge overnight, then you just need to add liquids in the morning.
IMPORTANT: Make sure that you will have time to bring the stoneware up to room temperature before switching the cooker on!
Adding Ingredients to the Slow Cooker
Add ingredients in the right order
Make sure you cut your ingredients into even-sized pieces so that they all cook at the same rate. Harder vegetables such as potatoes and carrots should go at the base of the stoneware, closer to the heat source. They will also need to be covered by liquid to make sure they cook properly.
Avoid overcrowding your slow cooker
Generally you want to avoid filling your slow cooker above two-thirds full, but check your manual for specific instructions. You also need to be sure that the lid fits snugly on top.
So if you know that you will want to cook big roasting joints, make sure you buy a large slow cooker.
Don’t add too much liquid
The liquid won’t evaporate like it does when you cook on the hob or in the oven. So make sure that you don’t add too much liquid – it should just cover the meat and vegetables. If you overfill it, the liquid will overflow out of the top and your food won’t cook well.
Tips for thickening your sauces
The liquid in a slow cooker doesn’t thicken, so you need to use a couple of tricks for a rich, thick sauce. You can toss your meat in a small amount of seasoned flour before adding it to the slow cooker. This works particularly well if you are browning your meat beforehand.
If you aren’t browning the meat, then you can add a couple of teaspoons of cornflour mixed with a little cold water to form a slurry. Stir this into the slow cooker about 30 minutes before the end of the cooking time and replace the lid.
Using the Right Settings
Choose the right heat level
Generally a recipe will take twice as long to cook on high as it will take to cook on low. So make sure you pick the right heat setting for your requirements.
Use Low heat if possible
Unless you need a recipe to be cooked in a shorter length of time, try to use the Low setting wherever possible. Most dishes will benefit from the slower, more gentle cooking and it also means that you can leave your dinner to cook all day, which can be really convenient.
Cooking Times
It’s possible to convert standard recipes for use in a slow cooker or Crock-Pot. You will need to reduce the amount of liquid and alter the cooking times, and there may be some trial and error needed.
Here’s how to work out your slow cooking time, according to the standard cooking time:
- 15-30 mins: Cook for 1-2 hours on High or 4-6 hours on Low
- 30-60 mins: Cook for 2-3 hours on High or 5-7 hours on Low
- 1-2 hours: Cook for 3-4 hours on High or 6-8 hours on Low
- 2-4 hours: Cook for 4-6 hours on High or 8-12 hours on Low
Don’t lift the lid!
Every time you open the lid of the slow cooker, you will add around 15-20 minutes to the cooking time. This is because it takes that long for the contents to go back up to the cooking temperatures.
And don’t stir it either!
This is not usually necessary and it just cools the food down even further. Only open the slow cooker around 30 minutes before the end of the cooking time, to check if it’s done.
Final Touches
Add dairy at the end
Dairy products like sour cream, milk and yogurt can tend to break down in the slow cooking process. So only add them in for the last 15 minutes of the cooking time.
Finish with a fresh touch
Add chopped herbs, a squeeze of lemon juice or a sprinkle of grated cheese to brighten the appearance and flavour of your dish. It will also help to cut through the richness of slow cooked sauces.
One final safety note
If you find that you’ve left your filled slow cooker unplugged for hours, or have accidentally selected ‘warm’ instead of one of the cooking temperatures, I’m afraid your food is unusable. To avoid the risk of food poisoning, throw it away and start again.