5
A Beginner’s Guide to Slow
Cooking
In years gone by, food was cooked in large
pots and allowed to simmer for hours,
providing meals that were full of flavour,
moist and tender.The slow cooker is
designed to produce these same results,
whilst leaving you the time to do other
things, making it perfect for today’s busy
lifestyles.
As most food is cooked over a period of
6-10 hours, it can be prepared in advance
the evening before, refrigerated in the
removable crockery pot, returned to the
slow cooker and turned on in the
morning and left to cook all day.When
you arrive home a delicious, hot meal will
await you.
The guide below will help simplify the
process of slow cooking, allowing you to
obtain ultimate satisfaction from your
slow cooker.
Timing
Always allow sufficient time for the food
to cook. It is almost impossible to
overcook in the slow cooker, particularly
when using the Auto setting. Each recipe
contained in this book will give specific
instructions, indicating the appropriate
temperature setting accompanied by the
suggested cooking times to use.
Adapting cooking times
Your favourite traditional recipes can be
adapted easily, by halving the amount of
liquid and increasing the cooking time
considerably. See the guide that follows
for suggested cooking times and settings
when adjusting your favourite recipes.
Traditional Slow
Cooker
Recipe Time
Time
15-30 minutes
3-4 hours on Auto setting
60 minutes
6-7 hours on Auto setting
1-3 hours
8-10 hours on Auto setting
NOTE:These times are approximate.Times can
vary depending on ingredients and quantities in
recipes.
All food should be cooked with the glass
lid in place. Each time the lid is lifted, both
heat and moisture in the food are lost.
Cooking times should thus be extended,
by approximately 30 minutes.
Liquid amounts
When food is cooking in your slow
cooker, very little moisture boils away.To
compensate this, it is advisable to halve
the liquid content of traditional recipes.
However, if after cooking the liquid
content is excessive remove the lid and
operate the slow cooker on the High
setting for 30-45 minutes or until the
liquid reduces to the desirable amount.
Preparing meat and poultry
When selecting meat, look for the leanest
cuts.Trim the meat or poultry of any
visible fat, as the slow cooking process will
result in too much liquid from excess fat.
If possible, purchase chicken portions
without skin.This reduces the amount of
fat released into the cooking liquid. For
casseroles style recipes, cut the meat into
cubes, approximately 2.5cm to 3cm. Slow
cooking allows for the use of less tender
cuts of meats. See the table below for
suitable cuts of meat.
