7 Tips For Using Your Slow Cooker


Wouldn't it be great to come home from a hectic day and find a warm dinner waiting for you? No, you don't need a personal chef for this to happen—just a slow cooker.

Here are our top seven tips to slow cooking:

  1. The warm setting on a slow cooker should not be used for cooking. Use it when you wish to maintain a cooked food’s temperature until it’s ready to be served.
  2. The LOW setting is for a long, all-day cooking time. If you wish to speed things up, use the HIGH setting; it should take about half the time.
  3. Never put the slow cooker hot insert under cold water. It can cause it to break. Never use abrasives or chemicals to clean a slow cooker. These can damage surfaces. 
  4. Inexpensive and tough cuts of meat become tender when cooked in a slow cooker. 
  5. The best dishes for a slow cooker are chilis, stews, punches, soups, sauces, and beans. 
  6. Some dishes can handle extra cook time in the slow cooker, but others can’t. So try to be home when a slow cooker dish is nearing its final cook time. 
  7. Electric slow cookers range from cute, homey models to sleek, stainless varieties in 1- to 8-quart capacities. Many find the 4-quart pots to be the most useful. 

Slow & Easy: Fast-Fix Recipes for Your Electric Slow Cooker, Natalie Haughton ($22/95, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008)
Family Slow Cooker Cookbook ($14.95, Hearst, 2012)