4
If You’ve Used a Slow Cooker Before
This slow cooker is designed to bring
ingredients up to cooking temperature
quickly. It may reach a full boil and cook
faster than other slow cookers you have
used. Because the slow cooker reaches
its cooking temperature rapidly, older
recipes may need to be adjusted. Some
recipes may now take less cooking time.
You are probably ready to develop new
recipes for use in your slow cooker. If
the recipe was originally cooked in a
saucepan on the stovetop, or slow
roasted in the oven, adapting the recipe
should be easy.
Our slow cooker heats from the sides.
The Base slowly raises the temperature
of the Crock. Whether cooked on Low
or High, the final temperature of the
food is the same, about 200°F. The only
difference is the amount of time the
cooking process takes. Read the sec-
tion on “Adapting Recipes” for
more information.
Tips for Slow Cooking
• The Cover of the slow cooker does
not form a tight fit on the Crock but
should be centered on the Crock for
best results.
Do not remove the
Cover unnecessarily—
this results in
major heat loss. Do not cook without
Cover in place.
• Stirring is not necessary when slow
cooking. However,
if cooking on
High,
you may want to stir occasion-
ally.
• Slow cooking retains most of the mois-
ture in foods. If a recipe results in
too
much liquid
at the end of the cooking
time, remove the Cover, turn the
Control Knob to High, and reduce the
liquid by simmering. This will take 30 to
45 minutes.
• The slow cooker should be
at least
half-filled
for best results.
If less
than half-filled, reduce cooking
time.
• If cooking
soups or stews, leave a
2-inch space
between the top of the
Crock and the food so that the recipe
can come to a simmer.
• Many recipes call for cooking all day.
If your morning schedule doesn’t
allow time to prepare a recipe, do it
the night before. Place all ingredients
in the Crock, cover and refrigerate
overnight. In the morning, simply
place Crock in the slow cooker and
select the temperature setting.
• Meat and poultry require at least 7 to
8 hours on Low. Do not use frozen
uncooked meat in the slow cooker.
Thaw any meat or poultry before slow
cooking.
• When removing the
Cover, tilt so
that the opening faces away from
you
to avoid being burned by steam.
• The sides of
the
Base of
the slow
cooker get
very warm
because the
heating ele-
ments are
located here.
Use the han-
dles on the Base if necessary. Use
hot mitts to remove the Crock.
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