In the olden days, people used to have cook their stews on the stove or in the oven. It was a dark and terrible time. There was panic in the streets.

OK, it wasn't that bad. But the invention of the slow cooker certainly made things easier for people to cook stews. Toss your ingredients in the morning, return in the evening to a gently simmering meal. Just remember to plug it in.

We searched high and low (ahem) to bring you some awesome slow cooker recipes.

But before you log in to get the scrumptious recipes, here are some slow cooker rules. 

Slow cooker rules

  1. No matter how badly you want to take a whiff, don’t. Taking the lid off to stir food or have a smell extends the cooking time by 20 minutes.
  2. It’s safe to leave the slow cooker on while you aren’t at home.
  3. One slow cooker probably isn’t enough. Different sizes are great for entertaining with different courses. A 2 quart, a 5 quart and a 7 quart are a good variety to have.
  4. A slow cooker works best when it is two-thirds full.
  5. If your recipe gets too soupy, take three toothpicks and prop the lid so it’s open just a bit to help the liquid slowly evaporate.
  6. Some ingredients are better added near the end of cooking. Put uncooked pasta in 45 minutes before the end of the cooking time, 20 minutes for cooked pasta. Add fresh or dried herbs in the last 30 minutes to keep the zip.
  7. If the recipe is cooking for two to three hours, use cooked meat. If it’s cooking longer, small chunks of raw meat are fine.
  8. Vegetables take longer to cook than cubed meat. Cut pieces equally to ensure even cooking.
  9. You can make just about anything in a slow cooker, but really watery vegetables,
  10. such as broccoli or cauliflower, don’t turn out as well.

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