It’s bitter cold here in Kansas. Last week we had a couple of days that were really pleasant, mid-50’s and above. I foolishly got my hopes up for Spring. Then the weather turned on me. It’s frigid outside. We’re lucky to have temperatures above two digits Fahrenheit!

This nasty cold snap has me digging through my recipes for things to make in the slow cooker. I want to prepare food that’s hot whenever we get around to eating it…and the house-filling aromas don’t hurt either. I’m not just talking about dinner entrees. I’ve found recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner including desserts. I’ve had multiple slow cookers going simultaneously, creating a warm blanket of aromatic food-anticipation throughout the day. The added benefit is that I’m able to prepare food on my schedule instead of being forced to meal-time prep. I’m still serving at the same times, but I’m doing the prep to fit our busier-than-normal schedule.

I started thinking about the most common questions I’ve gotten about slow cookers and decided I’d share some of my knowledge. Hopefully you’ll learn something knew…

❓Isn’t Every Slow Cooker A Crock-Pot^®❓

Nope! Is every box facial tissue you buy a Kleenex^®? No? While we tend to use both Kleenex and Crock-Pot as generic terms, they’re both trademarked brands. The Crock-Pot brand was the first popular slow cooker, so it makes sense that we use it to describe the entire genre. There’s a fascinating history over at CNet, but unless you’re a nerd like me…you don’t need to read it. The important thing to know is that every Crock-Pot is a slow cooker, but every slow cooker isn’t a Crock-Pot.

A trademark search also shows that the hyphen between the words is essential to the name. Interestingly, the folks at Sunbeam and their parent companies have been very aggressive in protecting the trademarked name (with the hyphen) as well as Crock Pot (without the hyphen). So don’t go out and try to skirt the branding by dropping the hyphen!

❓How Does Slow Cooking Work❓

One of the questions I get a lot regards how slow cooking actually works. One of the answers I found was patently not helpful to me…it works like an electric Dutch Oven. Honestly, I’m still pretty inexperienced with my Dutch Oven, although I’m getting there. But it’s not like I really have any idea how that guy works. So I had to dig deeper. Essentially, the bottom of the slow cooker is heated first…then the heat creeps up the sides. As it does, everything inside is cooked. The moisture is also mostly trapped inside spreading the heat throughout the food.

It’s important to remember this is moist cooking, so anything you cook in the slow cooker is going to be moist and juicy. Some recipes are great in a slow cooker, other recipes stink. If your casserole is supposed to have a crunchy top (like our Chicken Casserole and Potato Casserole), you can’t make it in the slow cooker. Or you can make the main part there but you’ll have to make the topping another way.

❓What’s This About Low- Versus High-Temperatures❓

I used to hear that the only difference between low and high temperature settings on our slow cookers was how fast things cook. That’s essentially true, things cook on high much faster. Sometimes in half the time or less. The magic is in how quickly the device heats up. The Low setting is a slower, gentler process. It heats up at a leisurely pace and then maintains that temperature throughout the cooking. On the other hand, the High setting heats the device quickly and keeps it there. Many recipes can be made using either temperature, with the only difference being the time involved. If a recipe calls for a temperature, that’s where I’d start. But unless the recipe is really specific (OMG, DO NOT USE HIGH), you’ll only find out that the other temperature doesn’t work well through trial and error. Or as we say at Hectic Manor, Trial and Complain To Dad.

There are recipes that use both temperature setting during the cooking cycle. This kind of screws up your ability to set it and forget it, but the recipes that have this requirement really turn out better when you follow the directions. If a recipe has the dual heat setting, somebody probably actually took the time to figure out what worked best. This is one of those times where I’m reminded always read the recipe all the way through before you start cooking. I usually remember this right after screwing something up, so learn from what I say, not what I do.

❓Can I Convert A Regular Recipe To The Slow Cooker❓

Yes. As I often say, “given enough time, interest, and money…anything is possible”. While that’s a snarky answer, it’s true you can convert any recipe to a slow-cooking variety. The more important question is whether you ought to convert the recipe. There are some things that just should not be made in a slow cooker. If you want that char-broiled look to your medium-rare ribeye…don’t try it in the slow cooker. 

Personally I’ve got loads of slow cooker recipes – no conversion required. I’ve even got cookbooks that are solely for the slow cooker. Search the internet (I’d say Google It, but I’m still not convinced that Google is a verb) adding “slow cooker” and you’ll find just about everything in the slow cooker format. Yet I still encounter recipes that have no slow cooker equivalent and I want to slow cook them. Then I’m reminded that I can do a conversion. But again, remember that whole Trial and Complain To Dad thing. You’ve got to be willing to fail.

Seriously, there really isn’t that much magic to convert a recipe to slow cooking. There’s a handy-dandy chart that has been reproduced in so many forms that I’m not sure who the originator was. Essentially, you look through your recipe and figure out how long it cooks. From what I’ve been able to gather, the actual temperature has no significance in this conversion. That kind of surprised me. I figured one hour at 325F would be dramatically different than one hour at 425F…but I couldn’t find any evidence of the temperature being included in the equation. So find out how long your recipe cooks, then use this chart to convert to the slow cooker time:

Oven/Stovetop to Slow Cooker Conversion

Oven or Stovetop	Low Setting	High Setting
15-30 minutes	4-6 hours	1-1/2 to 2-1/2 hours
35-45 minutes	6-8 hours	3-4 hours
50 minutes- 3 hours	8-10 hours	4-6 hours

Source: https://www.pillsbury.com/everyday-eats/slow cooker/cooking-conversions-for-slow cookers

Remember, these are rules of thumb. If a recipe takes 15 minutes in the oven, then it’s not going to take exactly 4 hours in the slow cooker. Honestly, if it’s going to take 15 minutes in the oven, what the dickens are you making? That’s an awfully fast cooking time. But you get the idea…use the starting timespan and then slow cook  between the shorted and longest times in the slow cooker range. Just to be safe, I would start with everything converted to the low setting. But your mileage may vary…or you might not have enough time. Give the high setting a shot if you want to. Just be aware that you may not like the results.

❓Are There Any Tips I Should Know❓

One of the benefits of a slow cooker is that it’s essentially single pot cooking. You don’t get a bunch of stuff messy during the preparation. If you need to mix ingredients, you can usually do that right in the cooker itself. Also, outside those recipes with the goofy temperature switcharoo, the general approach to slow cooking is set it and forget it. That’s kind of the beauty of the whole thing…mix things up in the morning and by dinner time you’ve got a meal.

But there are some things that do better if you’re willing to make a little mess. For instance, if you’re using meat in your recipe it sometimes help to brown it in a pan before putting it into the cooker. This will bring out more flavors and generally can take a so-so recipe to the status of super-fantabulous. Yeah, that’s a scientific cooking term, in case you didn’t know!

If you want to enhance flavors even more, sauté your onions or garlic with a little oil before adding to the slow cooker. The flavor boost is worth the time…not necessary…but a nice touch.

Some of the newer units are even multi-function, allowing you to sauté right in the cooker before adding everything else. You get the benefit of one-pot cooking and cleanup but you do two different steps in it. My current favorite slow cooker is a multi-function unit.

If your recipe calls for quick-cooking vegetables like corn, peans, spinach, or green beans you might be better off adding them near the end of the cooking time. I usually hold off with them until there are 30-60 minutes of cooking time left. It doesn’t seem to matter whether the temperature is set on high or low…that time window works great.

Shoot, I almost forgot…don’t open the lid unless the recipe tells you to (to stir, add something, or whatever). One of the Hectic Kids has to open everything she sees (the oven, the slow cooker, the microwave mid-cooking) – it drives me crazy. The whole point of the slow cooker is that it builds up heat and holds it in. Just a couple of minutes with the lid off can set a recipe back 30 minutes or more. You must avoid the temptation your electronic culinary assistant to do her job! Leave the lid on! (Clear enough? I sure hope so!).

❗Conclusion❗

There you have it, the five big questions about slow cookers that I hear all the time. Hopefully you learned something and maybe it’s something you can actually use. I’d love to hear about some of your favorite slow cooker recipes. Please share them in the comments.

As always…make it a great day in the kitchen!

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