My Favourite Slow Cooker Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is best to cook in a slow cooker? ›

Choose the right cut: Chuck roasts, short ribs, pork shoulders and lamb shanks (think fatty and tougher meats) become meltingly tender with the moist, low heat of a slow cooker. Leaner cuts like pork tenderloin tend to dry out. Likewise, dark meat chicken — thighs, drumsticks, etc.

✔️ Instant Pots are multi-functional.

Many people think that Instant Pots are just electric pressure cookers, but they're actually multi-cookers that cover a wide variety of functions: They slow cook, steam, warm, saute and work as a rice cooker in addition to pressure cooking.

The direct heat from the pot, lengthy cooking and steam created within the tightly-covered container combine to destroy bacteria and make the slow cooker a safe process for cooking foods.

However, Crockpots generally have ceramic or porcelain pots, while most slow cookers have a metal pot. As with a lot of cooking appliances, the biggest difference comes from the distribution of heat.

A slow cooker and a Crockpot are the same thing, essentially. A slow cooker is an appliance of which there are lots of brands. Crockpot is one brand of slow cooker. Crockpot popularized slow cookers when they launched their version in the 1970s.

Chuck roast is one of the more popular slow-cooker options because of how tender and flavorful it becomes after several hours of cooking on low.

Can you put meat straight into a slow cooker? Meat can be added directly unseared and not browned.

If You're Cooking for One or Two People: Buy a 3-Quart Slow Cooker. If you're cooking for one to two people and you're not a fan of leftovers, or simply don't have the space to stash them in the fridge or freezer, a 3-quart (or 3 1/2-quart, as they're sold by some brands) slow cooker is just right for you.

What's the point of a slow cooker? ›

Delivers maximum flavour through the long and slow cooking process. Tenderises meat and other ingredients and keeps the dish deliciously succulent. Easy to use, add your ingredients, set the required temperature and time, and that's it!

Touted as the do-it-all appliance for good reason, an Instant Pot is a multi-function pressure cooker that easily doubles as a slow cooker. The difference between pressure cooking and slow cooking is substantial, so we love that one appliance can do both, along with a slew of other cooking methods.

Yes, you most certainly can cook raw meat in the slow cooker! You put it in “cold”, with whatever liquid your recipe calls for, turn it on either “low” or “high” depending on your recipe (I usually start it on “high” for a couple hours, then turn it to “low”), and in 6–7–8 hours, it's now COOKED meat!

Are slow cookers safe to leave on? Yes, it's safe to leave a slow cooker on when you leave the house. The purpose of a slow cooker is to allow you to cook while you aren't home. Slow cookers simmer food slowly, killing bacteria and raising meat to the perfect internal temperature.

The short answer: Yes. slow cookers are made to cook food for extensive periods of time (some can be left up to 24 hours). But, of course, follow safe practices outlined in your instruction manual, and keep the appliance on low or warm, as opposed to high, overnight.

The difference between "High" and "Low" on slow cookers seems to differ with every brand and model. One thing that is consistent, though, is that food takes seven to eight hours to reach a simmer point (around 210°) on low; versus three to four hours on high.

Yes, you can add raw steak to a slow cooker to cook it to your desired doneness level.

Foods take different times to cook depending upon the setting used. Certainly, foods will cook faster on high than on low. However, for all-day cooking or for less-tender cuts, you may want to use the low setting.