Pinterest is crawling with slow cooker recipes—and for good reason. If you know how to use it correctly, your slow cooker can make cooking a breeze. Simply throw ingredients in the cooker, go about your day, come home later and voila! A hot meal is ready and waiting.
That being said, there are some basic rules to follow when using slow cookers, and not sticking to these can end up spoiling your food. Don’t be afraid, though! Just avoid these simple mistakes and give that tasty-looking recipe a go.
Sneaking A Peek
It’s kind of cruel, really. The aroma of the food in your slow cooker teases you, making your mouth water from the yummy smells. It’s completely understandable that you would want to sneak just a quick peek, just a little look, to make sure all is well—but you’ve got to resist. Even just the quickest, slightest lift of the lid lets out a great deal of the hot air your slow cooker took so long warming up. That seemingly harmless peek can lead to a reduced temperature inside your slow cooker, meaning it will require extra time—as much as 30 minutes for each lift of the lid—to finish cooking your dish. More importantly, it will mean waiting even longer to get to finally taste the deliciousness that so tempted you in the first place!
Choosing The Wrong Size Slow Cooker
Slow cookers are not one-size-fits-all. Typically, the recipe will list a cooking time that is geared for a specific size of slow cooker, meaning the cooker is neither too full nor not full enough. Think Goldilocks, here—you want it to be just right. If it’s not full enough, the food is going to overcook. If the cooker has too much food in it, either the dish won’t fully cook, or the cooker could overflow. A good rule of thumb to end up with delicious food and a mess-free (or at least slightly less messy!) kitchen is to make sure the slow cooker is half to three-quarters of the way full.
Not Thawing Food First
Even though freezer-to-slow cooker meals are the ultimate dream, putting frozen food—especially meat—in your slow cooker isn’t a great idea. The frozen food will take much longer to hit a safe temperature (140 degrees Fahrenheit), which means the food will be at temperatures that aren’t all that safe for too long. To avoid any chance of a lovely visit from your old friend Mr. Food Poisoning, make sure to completely thaw your food beforehand.
Follow these tidbits of advice (and the recipe!), and you’ll see why slow cookers are worthy of all the hubbub. Happy cooking!
