Converting Recipes for a Slow Cooker
Crock-Pot Requires Different Methods than Stove-top and Oven Cooking
Sep 10, 2009
Slow cookers (also commonly known by the brand name Crock-Pot) can be a convenient way to cook complete meals with little effort. However, while cooking in a slow cooker has many advantages, cooks should note some of the major factors requiring adjustment when they convert conventional stove-top recipes for the slow cooker.
Time and Temperature in Slow Cooker Recipes
Since food takes much longer to cook in a slow cooker, the first thing to do when converting a recipe is to calculate the proper cooking time and setting. As a general rule, if a recipe calls for a cooking time of 15–30 minutes, it should be in a slow cooker for about four to six hours on the low setting, or one-and-a-half to two hours on high.
Similarly, 45 minutes of conventional cooking time translates to six to ten hours on low, three to four on high. Over 45 minutes becomes eight to eighteen or four to six hours, respectively. Dishes can be done on either a high or low setting, though some foods, like tough cuts of meat, become more tender over longer cooking periods.
Liquid in the Slow Cooker
Slow cookers cook with ambient heat and steam more than direct heat, which is why the lid should not be removed during cooking. But that means that evaporating water doesn't escape, a fact which needs to factored in when trying a conventional recipe in a slow cooker.
When making dishes with liquid in the slow cooker, it's best to use about half the amount one would use when making the same dish in a pot on a stove. At the same time, though, there should be enough liquid in the cooker to cover the other ingredients.
It's also very important to trim fat off meats before putting them in the slow cooker, since the fat doesn't drain. But less water or liquid ingredients are required for cooking if there is fat in the cooker. If fatty meats (such as bacon) are used as ingredients in slow cooker recipes, they may need to be browned before going in the pot.
The Order of Adding Ingredients in a Slow Cooker
There are two slow cooker options when making a soup or stew which calls for adding rice or pasta. The first is to cook these ingredients in advance, then simply add them when the rest of the soup is done. This option is good if the slow cooker is being left on during the day, and a family wants to eat right after coming home.
For those with more time, there is a second option. Uncooked pasta or rice can be added to the slow cooker, and then, with the temperature on the high setting, allowed to cook similarly to a conventional stove-top recipe but allowing a little more time.
Dairy products (cheese, cream, etc.) should also be added later, during the last fifteen minutes of cooking, while seafood can be added up to an hour before. Dried herbs should also go in later, as their flavors dissipate, although fresh herbs hold up over extended cooking times.
Trying out Slow Cooker Recipes
Slow cookers are ideal for beginning home cooks, but they do require a bit of practice. But if users take into account the time differences, compensate for liquid levels, and mind their ingredients, they should be able to prepare many of the same dishes in a slow cooker which they once did on a stove-top.
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