Converting Recipes: Converting your favorite recipes to the
crockpot or slow cooker is pretty easy. Here is a pageline for
cooking times. If you are cooking on the low setting, make sure that any uncooked meat cooks for at least 8 hours.
| Stovetop Cooking Time | Crockpot Cooking Time | |
| High Temp | Low Temp | |
| 15-30 minutes | 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 hrs | 4 - 8 hours |
| 35-45 minutes | 3 - 4 hours | 6 - 10 hours |
| 50 minutes - 3 hours | 4 - 6 hours | 8 - 16 hour |
Seasoning: Spices will be diluted overtime as they cook in a crockpot. So add spices in the last hour of cooking.
Ground Beef: Brown ground beef before adding to the crockpot. It will taste better and have better texture this way.
Raw Vegetables: Uncooked vegetables like carrots, potatoes and onions should be place at the bottom of the crockpot for faster cooking.
Dairy: Add sour cream, heavy cream and other dairy ingredients during the last hour of cooking.
Cleaning: Do not add cold water to a hot crockpot to clean it. Either let it cool down or add warm soapy water.
Garnish: Many vegetables will lose their color in a slow cooker. Add a colorful garnish like fresh parsley, chives, tomatoes, red peppers or cheese for color.
Cooking Tip: Keep your crockpot at least half full to avoid overheating and overcooking food.
Thickening: Add a cornstarch in the final hour of cooking to thicken juices.
Use your crockpot outside in the summer to help keep your house cool.
What are your favorite crockpot tips?
This page contains the following solutions.
Using your good old reliable crock pot can save you plenty of time and cash, but if your model is aging, give it a test. Bacteria can grow when food is kept under 140 degrees F for four hours or more.
Recently, I put up a crockpot full of chicken and marinade. Leaving it overnight, it was perfect the next morning. By noon, however, it was a bit dry. That is when I realized what I had done.
It is 96 degrees and humid today, so I took out my trusty slow cooker this morning. Cooking in the slow cooker keeps my kitchen cooler, plus the whole meal can be cooked in one container.
I cook my meat in my crockpot for a few hours while I'm gone. Then I pop it in the oven for 20 or 30 minutes to brown and crisp up before serving.( while I fix the rest of dinner) My husband does not like meat from the crockpot. He never guesses. By charleeta
When I went back to college and my kids were in school, I figured out a way to do things to where we still had a good meal. I used a lot of things and bagged them in freezer bags.
Before you contemplate buying a crockpot, check out the smallest ring on your electric cooker. I found out that my past two cookers were usable this way by reading the information that came with the contraption. I didn't trust it to start with so I stayed in all day just to make sure.
This is a page about converting recipes for a slow cooker. Traditional recipes can be easily converted to preparation in your slow cooker.
Your crockpot is the prefect appliance for cooking tender tasty meat of all types. While some meats are browned first, meat doesn't not need to be cooked before putting it in a crockpot.
Can I use "oven cooking bags" in my crockpot?
