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Suitable foods:
Vegetables:
• Cut all root vegetables into small, evenly
sized pieces to ensure even cooking. Root
vegetables take longer to cook than meat.
• Gently sauté root vegetables for 2 - 3
minutes before slow cooking. Place them
at the bottom of the pot and make sure
all ingredients are fully immersed in the
cooking liquid.
• Boil and soak uncooked red beans for at
least 10 minutes before adding them to
your slow cooker. This helps to remove any
toxins.
• Pumpkins and other squash vegetables do
not need to be cooked in as much liquid as
other slow cooked vegetables.
• Cut green peppers into small pieces and
add near the end of the cooking time to
avoid them becoming bitter after being
cooked for a long period of time.
• Frozen vegetables should always be slightly
defrosted before being added to your slow
cooker. They will not take as long to cook
as fresh vegetables as they are generally
pre-cooked to an extent.
• This is the same for canned vegetables.
When using canned vegetables be sure
to wash them before adding them to your
slow cooker, to remove any excess salt
and preservatives. Always ensure you drain
canned vegetables before use, so you do
not add extra liquid to your dish.
• Onions are a very popular ingredient in
slow cooker recipes. Slow cooking does
decrease the flavour of onions though,
so make sure you add a little extra than
you usually would, to retain that flavour –
especially if you are cooking for more than
four hours.
Meat:
• Trim all excess fat and sinew from meat
before slow cooking, as the slow cooking
method does not allow fat to evaporate.
• Always insert a meat thermometer into
joints of roasts or hams to ensure they are
cooked to the desired temperature.
• Browning your meat before adding it to
your slow cooker helps add real flavour to
the finished dish.
• If you want a thicker sauce for your end
result, try dredging the meat in flour before
browning.
• You can use whatever meat you choose
in your slow cooker, but slow cooking is a
perfect way to use those cheaper cuts of
meat.
• Don’t use frozen meat unless it has been
thoroughly thawed out beforehand.
General slow cooking tips:
• Do not pre-heat the slow cooker before
adding ingredients.
• For best results, the slow cooker must be
at least half full.
• Don’t overfill the slow cooker or it will not
cook as well as it should.
• Cover all food with a liquid, sauce or gravy.
Prepare in a separate pan and then add to
the slow cooker, completely covering the
food in the crock pot.
• Prepare everything you need for your slow
cooked meal the night before if you will not
have time in the morning.
• Your ingredients should ideally be added to
the slow cooker at room temperature, so
take everything out of the fridge 20 minutes
before adding to the cooker.
