5
Equivalent cook times for low and high settings
A
Tips for slow
cooking
•
The slow cooker must be at
least half full for best results.
•
Slow cooking retains moisture.
If you wish to reduce this,
remove the lid after cooking and
turn the control to high (if set to
low or medium) and reduce the
moisture by simmering for 30 to
45 minutes.
•
Removing the lid will allow
valuable heat to escape,
reducing the efficiency of your
slow cooker and increasing the
cooking time. If you remove the
lid more than a couple of times
to stir or add ingredients, then
you will need to allow 10-15
minutes extra cooking time
each time you remove the lid.
•
If cooking soups, leave 5 cm
space between the top of the
cook pot and the food surface
to allow for simmering.
•
Many recipes will take several
hours to cook. If you don’t have
time to prepare food in the
morning, prepare it the night
before, storing the food in a
covered container in the fridge.
Transfer the food to the crock
pot and add boiling liquid/stock.
In most of the recipes in this
book, the meat ingredients are
browned first to improve their
appearance and flavour.
•
If you are short on preparation
time and would prefer to skip
the browning stage, simply add
your meat and other ingredients
into the slow cooker and cover
with boiling liquid/stock. You will
need to increase the recipe
cooking time as follows: High
s1 hour, Medium setting
+1-2 hours, Low S2-3
hours.
•
Most meat and vegetable
recipes require 7
1
/
2
-9
1
/
2
hours
on low, 4
1
/
2
-6
1
/
2
hours on
medium, and 3
1
/
2
-5
1
/
2
hours on
high.
•
Do not use frozen meat or
poultry unless it is thoroughly
thawed out first.
•
Some ingredients are not
suitable for slow cooking.
Pasta, seafood, milk, and
cream should be added
towards the end of the cooking
time. Many things can affect
how quickly a recipe will cook,
water and fat content, initial
temperature of the food and
the size of the food.
•
Pieces of food cut into small
pieces will cook quicker.
A degree of ‘trial and error’ will
be required to fully optimise
the potential of your slow
cooker.
•
Vegetables usually take longer
to cook than meat, so try and
arrange vegetables in the
lower half of the pot.
•
After food is cooked, switch
off and leave covered with the
lid. There will be enough heat
in the crock pot to keep warm
for 30 minutes. If you require
longer to keep warm, switch to
the low setting.
•
All food should be covered
with a liquid, gravy or sauce. In
a separate pan or jug, prepare
your liquid, gravy or sauce and
completely cover the food in
the crock pot.
•
Pre-brown meat and onions in
a pan to seal in the juices, this
also reduces the fat content if
separated before adding to the
crock pot. This is not
necessary if the time is limited,
but improves the flavour.
•
When cooking joints of meat,
ham, poultry etc, the size and
shape of the joint is important.
Try to keep the joint in the
lower 2/3 of the pot and fully
cover with water. If necessary,
cut into two pieces. Joint
weight should be kept within
the maximum limit of 1kg for
this slow cooker.
COOKING GUIDE
The cooking times given in the
following recipes are for the
‘MEDIUM’ setting. Should you
want to increase or reduce the
time, please refer to the
cooking guide in the table
below
A
. Please note that
these cooking times are for
guidance only and may vary
depending on food type and
personal tastes. For your
convenience, a conversion
table for weight and volume
has been included on page 19.
Eg. If the recipe says cook for
3
1
/
2
-5
1
/
2
hours (MED) and you
require this to be a shorter
time, cook on HIGH, which will
reduce the cooking time to 3-4
hours. Increasing the time,
choose LOW which will give 6-
8 hours.
The recipes are based on
MAXIMUM WORKING
VOLUMES.
3.5 litres:
This slow cooker has a
working capacity of 2
1
/
2
litres /
4
1
/
2
pts. This allows a 2cm
space between the top of the
crock pot and the food.
Cook on
MEDIUM
3
1
/
2
- 5
1
/
2
hours
5
1
/
2
- 7
1
/
2
hours
7
1
/
2
- 9
1
/
2
hours
Cook on
LOW
5
1
/
2
- 7
1
/
2
hours
7
1
/
2
- 9
1
/
2
hours
9
1
/
2
- 11
1
/
2
hours
Cook on
HIGH
2
1
/
2
- 3
1
/
2
hours
4
1
/
2
- 5
1
/
2
hours
6
1
/
2
- 7
1
/
2
hours
48790 MUK Rev1 1/5/08 15:55 Page 5
