**The posts I write might contain affiliate links or be written in collaboration with businesses or brands. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.**
Have you asked yourself this before? Many of us with slow cookers have eyeballed recipes and wondered if we could cook them in our crockpot. Often, you can.
Slow cookers, or “crockpots,” are a wonderful way to have food “cook itself.” If you’re not used to using one, knowing some tips and tricks ahead of time can help reduce the learning curve. Even if you do use your slow cooker frequently, it’s nice to expand your recipe repertoire and learn something new about this standby of busy kitchens.
People may think I am nuts because I “sit all day,” but once the end of my workday is done (around 3:30) my grey matter is DONE. Like, stick-a-fork-in-it DONE. And when I tried to muster up a few more brain cells to come up with an idea for supper, that’s the night we eat not-so-heathy things that come out of a box or involve a microwave. #EpicMomFail.
That is yet another reason my crockpot is my BFF. Around noon when I am still somewhat functioning at a normal level, I can quickly pull together a recipe I scoped out the night before, throw it in the slow cooker, set, and forget. #EpicMomWin. Time to start your own Crockpot Revisited Project.
But before you just throw everything into the slow cooker and hope for the best, there are some general principles you should consider as you adapt your favorite recipes for the slow cooker.
1. Temperature
In most slow cookers, “Low” is around 200 degrees F, and “High” is about 300. Cooking takes about twice as long on Low as it does on High.
If the recipe you want to convert calls for a quick baking time, then you can probably get away with a few hours on Low or one to two hours on High. If your recipe calls for long oven baking or stovetop simmering, then you can probably get away with 8-10 hours on Low (a standard cook temperature and time for roasts and red meats).
2. Liquid
Slow cookers produce very moist heat. This means your recipe will retain more moisture than it would if it were baked in the oven. So a good rule of thumb is to reduce the amount of liquid in your recipe by about half. However, if you’re cooking rice or some other grain, then you should use an amount of liquid that is just shy of the standard amount.
3. Oven versus Slow Cooker
Here is a handy guide for oven times converted to slow cooker times:
Oven: 20-30 minutes
Slow cooker: 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours on High; 4 to 6 hours on Low
Oven: 35-45 minutes
Slow cooker: 2 to 3 hours on High; 6 to 8 hours on Low
Oven: 50 minutes to 3 hours
Slow cooker: 4 to 5 hours on High; 8 to 18 hours on Low
4. Know What Holds Up
Roasts, brisket, and flat steak stand up well to long cooking, usually requiring 10 to 12 hours on Low or 6 to 8 on High. But vegetables don’t usually hold up so well, especially ones like snow peas and broccoli.
If you want to adapt a meat recipe that has vegetables in it, you can add them toward the end of cooking time. However, if you combine meat and chopped vegetables that are more dense, like chunked carrots and potatoes, then you can usually cook the whole dish for 8 to 10 hours on Low.
Poultry cooks more quickly than red meat, and fish cooks faster than both.
I also found this awesome batch of 20 Crock Pot Soup Ideas over at I Should Be Mopping The Floor. Check it out HERE.
Be sure and check out the other posts in this series!
Crockpot Revisited-Choosing Recipes for Your Slow Cooker
CrockPot Cooking: Cooking Times for Your Slow Cooker
Crockpot Revisited: Tips and Tricks for Successful Slow Cookery
Crockpot Revisited: Adapting Your Favorite Recipes for the Slow Cooker
