All families have their favorite recipes, but everyone is usually too busy to cook them. A way to get around that problem is to use a slow cooker. By using one, you can start cooking the meal as you head out the door in the morning. Culinary guru Margie Potts has the DIY Basics to adapt your favorite recipes so they can be made in a slow cooker.
Slow Cooker Tips- In a slow cooker, the heat comes from coils around the sides of the pot. Stir in ingredients for soups, chilis and stews all at one time. If cooking meat and vegetables together, put the meat on top of the veggies to keep them moist. The slow cooker needs to be at least half full to cook efficiently. Put the lid on and leave it there. Taking off the lid releases heat and will add at least 15 minutes to your cooking time.
- A slow cooker brings out the full flavor of vegetables. They’ll cook slower than meat, so make sure to cut or slice the vegetables into even sized pieces.
- Inexpensive, tough cuts of meat get very tender in a slow cooker. Trim the excess fat. You won’t need to brown most meats. The only exception is any ground meats (beef, sausage and poultry). Brown these and drain before putting them in the slow cooker to keep the dish from getting greasy.
- Use about half the recommended amount of liquid in the original recipe. Liquids don’t boil away in a slow cooker like they do in conventional cooking. One cup of liquid is usually enough for any recipe. You also don’t want to add any milk products: milk, cream, natural cheeses...until the end of the cooking process. They can separate if cooked too long.
- If a recipe calls for rice, use long-grain converted white rice and stir in raw rice when first mixing all ingredients. You’ll need to add one fourth cup of liquid for each one fourth cup of raw rice you add.
- Slow cooking increases the flavor of fresh herbs and spices. Crush them before putting them into the pot. If using ground spices and herbs add them during the final hour, as they tend to loose some flavor if cooked all day.
- Most meat and vegetable combinations need to cook 8-12 hours on low.
Adapting recipes: Low on a slow cooker is about 200 degrees and high is about 300 degrees. If you’re adapting a recipe for the first time and will be gone all day, cook on low.
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