Are You A Slow Cooker?

Ahhhh yes, the slow cooker…cooking food for couch potatoes for years now.  We know that cooking is easy with the slow cooker, but is it that easy?  Often times we perceive slow cooker meals as a “set it and forget it” type of scenario.  Definitely not the case.  If you thought you could drop a pot roast in the cooker and then go play a round of golf, think again.  Take a look at some common mistakes when it comes to the slow cooker.

1.     You have to brown your meats.  This will certainly give your stew a heartier flavor.

2.    Don’t open the lid while the food is cooking – We all want to do this, maybe just to get a taste, right?

Well don’t do this.  So much heat is lost when you open the lid and it takes quite awhile for it to heat back up again once the lid is replaced.

3.    You can’t always use the same temp and time settings – You may have to experiment a bit to get just the right time and temp for different foods.

4.    Not submerging meat – Remember that meats that are submerged in liquid take less time to cook that others.  Make you sink the meat so you get even cooking.

5.    Using the wrong setting - If your meat is consistently overcooked, chances are that your slow cooker is operating at a high temperature while on the warm setting. To remedy the problem, reduce the time your recipe cooks before going into keep warm mode.