Slow cookers usually have a glass lid so that you can check progress without lifting it.
Slow cooking is a method that became popular during the 1970s. It uses an electric appliance to cook meals at moderate temperatures over a long period. This means that you can prepare a meal in the morning and allow it to cook all day so that it is ready to be eaten in the evening.
How It Works
Slow cookers are designed to cook foods slowly, at temperatures between 77C/170F and 138C/280F. Depending on the recipe the food can cook for four to 12 hours. Slow cookers usually consist of a ceramic or porcelain bowl inside a metal housing containing the heating element, with a glass lid. In general, slow cooking requires food to cook in some form of liquid, such as stock or juice, although some foods that give off a lot of liquid themselves may not need more. More advanced models have a timer feature and several heat settings. However, you can good results with a basic model as the premise is so basic.
What to Cook
Slow cooking is ideal for meat, especially cheaper cuts of red meats such as beef or lamb, which can be rather tough when cooked by other methods. Poultry of any kind, but especially cuts on the bone, also work well.
You can also cook most other foods in a slow cooker. Some vegetables, such as root vegetables, are particularly suitable as they are very hard and can be slow-cooked without turning to mush. Some types of vegetables that are quicker-cooking or leafy ones--spinach and cabbage, for example--can be added later in the heating process to retain their flavour. Vegetable soups are ideal for slow-cooking, especially when you are planning to liquidise the soup and it doesn’t matter if the vegetables fall apart.
Pulses can be cooked well in a slow cooker, but the dried varieties must be soaked and softened first.
Most people tend to stick to savoury foods for slow cooking, but you will also find delicious fruit recipes, too. Poached and stewed fruit such as pears, apples and rhubarb are ideal, and you can also make fruit compotes, crumbles and cobblers in a slow cooker.
Most slow cooker recipes are types of stew or casserole, but you can also pot-roast joints of meat, and create well known recipes such as chilli con carne, curries and lasagne in a slow cooker.
Most slow cookers come with a small recipe book, but you will also find many excellent slow cooker recipes online.
What to Avoid
Pasta and rice do not generally work well in a slow cooker, as pasta may become soft and soggy, and rice does not absorb the fluid or cook properly. However, risotto can work well, and precooked sheets of lasagne. Generally it’s better to cook rice or pasta separately and add it at the end of the cooking or serve with your slow-cooked meal.
Seafood should usually be added near the end of cooking time as it can become rubbery with long cooking. Fish will generally disintegrate in a slow cooker, so avoid unless you are making a soup.
Do not use frozen meat or seafood in your slow cooker as it will take too long to come to cooking temperature and will also stop the other ingredients cooking properly. Defrost meat before slow cooking it. You can, however, add quick-cooking frozen vegetables such as peas and sweetcorn towards the end of the cooking process.
Tips
In most cases its best to brown meat before putting in it the slow cooker; this improves the flavour and keeps pieces of meat together. Rolling meat in seasoned flour before browning it will improve the flavour further and also help to thicken your sauce.
Although you generally need some liquid, you may need less than you think, because there is no evaporation. The steam and juices stay in the pot. The liquid need not cover the solids. If you fill your slow cooker up with stock you will end up with a lot of very watery sauce for your stew. Adding a thickening ingredient such as potato, tomato puree or chopped tinned tomatoes will help.
Slower-cooking ingredients such as root vegetables should be placed at the bottom of the pot, with quicker cooking ones on top.
Generally, liquids and many other ingredients, such as tinned tomatoes, should be heated before being placed in the slow cooker, otherwise they will take too long to reach cooking temperatures.
Avoid lifting the lid to check on the progress of the meal, as this lets heat and steam escape and it may take a long time for the slow cooker to get back to the right heat again. Lift the lid briefly when adding extra ingredients.
If you want to adapt a recipe for a slow cooker, you may need to make some changes, primarily reducing the amount of liquid by about half and possibly increasing the amounts of herbs and spices or adding them late in the cooking process so they don’t lose their flavour.
Benefits
Slow cooking has many benefits. It can be convenient for someone who is at work all day. You can leave your dinner cooking while you are out. Slow-cooked food also allows you to be flexible about when you eat. Because the food will not overcook easily, you can serve it whenever you like.
Slow cooking produces delicious tender meat, and it is economical as it means you can buy cheaper cuts of meat. It is also quite a healthy way to cook (depending on the ingredients) since little or no oil is used and there are usually lots of vegetables in the recipes.
Because most slow cooker recipes are one-pot meals, this leaves you with less cleaning up to do. Slow cookers also don’t make your kitchen hot and sweaty, although they will fill your house with delicious cooking smells.
Hazards
The lower temperatures of a slow cooker will still kill food poisoning bacteria. But the slow cooker may take some time to get to this temperature, so be careful to keep meat and other perishables in the fridge until the last minute to avoid bacteria multiplying while the cooker is heating up. If possible, set your cooker to its high temperature first and then reduce it. If your cooker has an auto setting it will do this for you.
Do not preheat your slow cooker empty as this can damage it and will also cause your food to stick and burn when you add it.
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