How to Use a Slow Cooker

How to Use a Slow Cooker:

1. 1

   Prepare your ingredients the night before. This is a perfect way to save time. Simply chop up all your needed ingredients, throw them into a storage bag or sealable container, and pop them into the fridge. Then, chuck everything into the crock pot the following day, fill it with the required amount of liquid, and you’re good to go.

   • To save even more time, toss any needed seasonings into your bag or container as well.
   • If you don’t want to toss all of your ingredients into a bag or container, line them up in your fridge or on the counter so that you won’t forget anything in the morning.

2. 2

   Start with fresh or thawed meat. The USDA warns that you should never place frozen meat in a slow cooker. Raw frozen meats take longer to thaw and cook, and placing them in the pot before they’re thawed increases the amount of harmful bacteria (like salmonella). So, always thaw frozen meat before placing it in the crock pot or stick with fresh cuts.^[1]

   • Thick and tougher cuts of meat, like chuck roasts, short ribs, and pork shoulders, are great for slow cookers because they turn tender and soft.^[2]

    

3. 3

   Brown your meat before putting it in the slow cooker. Crock pots are a great way to put together a meal without the fuss; however, they can leave meat tasting bland. Searing and sautéing meat (and even vegetables) until the outside is nice and toasty is a great way to add flavor.^[3]

   • The meat doesn’t have to cook all the way through on the stovetop. It’ll finish cooking in the slow cooker.

4. 4

   Trim fat from meats. The fattier your cut of meat, the more oily your dish will be. Removing the fat from your cuts of meat may take some extra time, but your sauce and gravies will be silkier because of it.^[4]

5. 5

   Put all of your ingredients (except dairy) in at the same time. Unless otherwise specified in a slow cooker recipe, toss every ingredient into the crock pot at once. This is what makes it a dump-and-go meal, after all! Leave all the dairy products until you're ready to serve, as cheeses and milks could curdle if left in the slow cooker for too long.

6. 6

   Layer your ingredients. If you're making a crock pot roast, it’s important to place the slowest cooking ingredients at the bottom and the meat on the top. This ensures that everything will cook evenly. So, line the bottom of the pot with root vegetables, like carrots and potatoes, and place the meat on top.^[5]

7. 7

   Avoid overfilling or underfilling a slow cooker. As a general rule, make sure your crock pot is ¾ of the way full at all times. Underfilling a crock pot could cause your food to overcook, and overfilling could make it overflow.^[6]

8. 8

   Choose the right heat setting. Most slow cookers have at least 3 heat settings: warm, low, and hot. Generally, the low heat setting is used the most often for toss-and-go meals. Although it takes twice as long to cook dishes on low rather than high, it leaves food (meat especially) tender and more flavorful.^[7]

   • The warm setting of a slow cooker is reserved for keeping the food warm after its cooked.
   • The low setting is usually around 190 °F (88 °C), while the high setting is around 300 °F (149 °C).
   • Stick to the cooking time and temperature listed in a recipe, as this will give you the best tasting meal (even if it takes a bit longer).

9. 9

   Resist the urge to lift the lid. We know it’s tempting to see what’s happening inside the pot, but avoid taking off the crock pot’s lid. Opening it before it’s done releases the heat and could increase the cooking time.^[8]

   • Bacteria could also escape from cooking meat and leak into your kitchen.^[9]

10. 10

    Thicken sauces with flour. Because the liquid in a slow cooker doesn’t reduce as it would on the stove, crock pot sauces and gravies can be soupy. You can fix this by removing the larger ingredients (meats, vegetables, etc.), adding 2 tablespoons (0.12  c) of flour to 2 cups (470 mL) of cooking liquid, and then whisking the slurry back into the pot.^[10]

    • For a gluten-free alternative, make a slurry with cornstarch instead of flour.