Slow Cooker 101: Easy Tips and Meals
With the following slow cooker tips and recipes, you'll learn what to slow-cook and how to do it properly to create convenient meals that taste great.
With the following slow cooker tips and recipes, you'll learn what to slow-cook and how to do it properly to create convenient meals that taste great.For more information, watch our how-to video on making easy slow-cooker meals or find more helpful slow-cooker tips. Interested in learning more cooking-technique basics? Check out our Cooking 101 headquarters.
What to Slow Cook
Ideal Slow Cooker Ingredients: Slow cookers are top-notch at tenderizing tough cuts of meat like brisket and shoulder cuts, but they also do an admirable job at melding the flavors of your ingredients — soups, chili, stews, and sauces taste great as a result.
Recipe: Pulled Pork and Biscuits
Safety First
Why Slow Cookers are Safe: These countertop devices are designed to be left unattended for the prescribed cooking time. Plus, bacterial contamination is unlikely due to lengthy cooking times and due to the steam created within the tightly-covered container.
Recipe: Pot Roast
Temperature Tip
Thaw Throughly: Frozen ingredients should be thawed completely before beginning the cooking process. This ensures that your meal will cook in the allotted time. Plus, it prevents an overly slow warm-up period, during which harmful bacteria could grow.
Recipe: Tangy BBQ Chicken
Prepare Ahead
Time-Saving Strategies: Chopping vegetables and other ingredients the night before means all you have to do is combine and flip the switch come morning. We recommend refrigerating the prepped ingredients in tupperware or a plastic wrap–covered bowl. Even though removable slow-cooker bowl inserts can be used for storage, it's not advisable. The time it takes for a refrigerator-cooled bowl insert to heat up can considerably affect the total cooking time.
Recipe: Eight-Hour Coq au Vin
Amount Matters
Avoid Overfilling: Most slow-cooker manufacturers recommend filling the cooking vessel only half to two-thirds full for best results. Without enough space between the ingredients and the lid, a proper steam vacuum will not form, which can lengthen the cooking time.
Recipe: Marvelous Meatless Chili
Leave the Lid On
Let It Simmer: Unless a recipe specifically advises you to stir the contents, most slow cooker meals should be left undisturbed throughout the cooking process. Removing the lid to stir (or to get a closer look) allows heat to escape and will lengthen the cooking time.
Even Steven
Layering Ingredients for Even Cooking: Because fat retains heat more efficiently than water does, meat tends to cook faster than vegetables do in a slow cooker. To even out the cooking time, make sure to trim meat before adding to the slow cooker and layer vegetables on the bottom of the cooking vessel (where the heat will transfer directly), and place the meat on top. Another method is to brown the meat first, which also adds depth of flavor.
Recipe: Beef Stew
Typical Timing
| Meat Cut | Low Cook Time | High Cook Time |
| Pork Roast (6 to 7 lbs) | 9 1/2 hrs | 7 1/2 hrs |
| Beef Roast (3 to 4 lbs) | 8 hrs | 5 3/4 hrs |
| Poultry (6 lbs) | 7 1/2 hrs | 6 1/4 hrs |
| Stew Meat (3 lbs) | 6 hrs | 4 3/4 hrs |
| Fish (2 lbs) | 3 1/2 hrs | 1 1/2 hrs |
Courtesy of crock-pot.com
Recipe: Turkey Stew with Lima Beans
High-to-Low Setting Conversions
| High | Low |
| 3 hrs | 7 hrs |
| 4 hrs | 8 hrs |
| 5 hrs | 9 hrs |
| 6 hrs | 10 hrs |
| 7 hrs | 11 hrs |
| 8 hrs | 12 hrs |
Courtesy of crock-pot.com
Recipe: Chicken Soup
