Who needs the hassle of cooking by hand when
you have a slow cooker? Throw everything in there in the morning,
then forget it about it until dinnertime — there's nothing better, right? But as easy as slow cookers are, they do come
with rules. Here are some of the mistakes everyone seems
to make when they use slow cookers, so you can be sure not to make them yourself. Taking a peek We get it. Whatever's cooking in the slow cooker has
your whole house smelling delicious. Gather up your willpower, though — you need
to resist peeking inside. It took your slow cooker longer than you might
think to work its way up to the target temperature, and lifting the lid for even a second lets
out most of that hot air. Too much peeking means a reduced temp inside
the slow cooker, and more time needed for your dish to finish cooking. In fact, each time you lift that lid, you
add 30 minutes to the time you need to cook your food. Using expensive cuts Those fancy cuts of meat can certainly have
their place at your dinner table, but there's no need to spring for the good stuff when
you're shopping for a slow cooker meal. Since slow cookers cook low and slow, they
make even the toughest meats tender and juicy. So grab a low-cost cut and let it cook all
day. The resulting dish will be so fall-apart tender
and full of flavor, no one will guess you bought the bargain beef. Not searing meat first Be honest: if a recipe says to sear your meat
before you drop it in the slow cooker, do you do that … or do you skip it? It seems reasonable to skip it — it's going
to cook all the way through in the slow cooker, right? Well, skipping the searing step does change
the flavor of your dish, and not necessarily for the better. According to the cooking site Kitchn, searing
your meat before slow cooking it caramelizes the outside of each piece of meat, adding
texture and an extra layer of flavor. If you've never seared your meat before slow
cooking it, you really don't know what you're missing. But after you've tried it once, you'll never
skip that step again. Cooking skin-on chicken Chicken cooked with the skin in an oven or
pan usually ends up gorgeous and crispy. When you're cooking in a slow cooker, you're
probably going to end up with a soft, rubbery outside that's anything but appetizing. If you want to be able to serve dinner straight
from your slow cooker with no extra steps, use skinless chicken when you slow cook. Fortunately, there's a work-around. If you don't mind an extra step, transfer
the cooked chicken from the slow cooker to a broiler pan and cook it under your oven's
broiler for just a few minutes, until the skin is deliciously golden-brown and crispy. "Yes! Yes!" Fresh vs. dry herbs With all the props given to fresh herbs, it's
kind of refreshing to know that dried herbs are actually the preferred go-to seasoning
in slow cooker meals. Since they do their best when cooked over
long periods of time, dried herbs are the easy winners when it comes to your favorite
slow-cooked recipes. That's not to say you can't use fresh herbs
in a slow cooker recipe — just don't add them at the beginning. There won't be anything left when it's time
to serve. Instead, toss those in toward the end of the
cooking time, so they're still fresh and full of flavor when you sit down to eat. Using the wrong size Slow cookers come in different sizes, and
one slow cooker does not fit every slow cooker recipe. The cooking time on each recipe counts on
the fact that you're using the same size slow cooker as the recipe directs — meaning it's
filled to the appropriate level. Your slow cooker should be filled halfway
to three-quarters of the way full. If it's not full enough, your food will end
up overcooked. If it's too full, it may not cook completely,
or you may end up with an overflow — and a big mess on your kitchen counter. Adding dairy too soon Dairy products don't do well warm, and the
slow cooker is no exception. If you add ingredients like milk, cheese,
cream, sour cream, or cream cheese too early in the cooking process, you'll have a curdled,
disgusting mess at the end. To save your dish without sacrificing the
creamy flavor you love, cook it without any dairy and then add those ingredients in during
the last half hour — cooking them just long enough for them to melt and blend properly
into the dish. Using too much alcohol It's usually okay to use a heavy hand when
cooking with wine on the stovetop. As heavy a hand as you want, really. "And then for Aunt Sandy, a bottle of white
wine." That's not the case with a slow cooker, though,
because the lid stays on tight and nothing really evaporates. In fact, when you add wine to a slow cooker
recipe, you'll taste more of the wine than you would in a stove-cooked dish. For that reason, it's best to skip the wine
— or add it sparingly — unless you're really after that boozy tang. Cooking frozen food As fabulous as it sounds, it's not a good
idea to put frozen food — especially meat — in your slow cooker. If your slow cooker is full of frozen food,
it'll take way too long to reach a safe temperature for consumption, meaning your food will spend
longer than it should at temps that are less than safe. Don't eat that. Not layering correctly Believe it or not, your slow cooker doesn't
cook evenly all the way through. The foods at the bottom cook faster, so foods
that need longer cooking times, like root vegetables, should go at the bottom of the
slow cooker, followed by the meat, which cooks faster. Not greasing Slow cookers may make cooking a breeze, but
they can also make cleanup a pain. They usually end up soaking in your sink just
as long as they spent cooking on your counter — and even then you still need an awful
lot of elbow grease to get them clean. Save yourself some time and use a cooking
spray or a slow cooker liner to make cleanup that much easier. Thanks for watching! Click the Mashed icon to subscribe to our
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Most of these are items people in this sub already know. I'm not sure why it has to be in video format and thankfully, the video description (if you click see more) not only has a list, but timestamps for each item so you can see the why behind them
Below are my opinions of what the video said:
I almost turned it off at taking a peek, because as much as that's repeated (and in the video they say it adds 30 mins to cooking time every time you do it) I've seen that refuted a million times and I certainly haven't found that to be the case.
Depending on where you are, some of the best cuts for braising can be fairly pricey, but yeah, for the most part this is on point. I still sort of facepalm at that post I saw of someone doing a ribeye roast in the slowcooker. No offense if you're reading this, bro, but... damn..
Some herbs will absolutely still have a benefit using them fresh in a slowcooker- then again some will be too strong (lookin' at you, rosemary)
Never had an issue with something tasting too boozy and there's a few dishes I'm not shy about hitting with the bottle. I'm guessing the small amount of steam that's allowed to escape will also allow whatever evaporated alcohol through just fine. It's not secret knowledge that alcohol doesn't evaporate to the point many people are led to believe it does in the first place. It has more to do with time and 6-8 hours in a pot is.. well... it's a lot of time. Yes even covered- which many braising (with booze) dishes call for anyway. I know my dutch oven lets out less steam and I cook for less time.
certain frozen food is fine going into a slow cooke especially if you add it to already heated liquid. There's entire meals that revolve around this. Most of you know that.
I've literally never had a problem cleaning my crockpot. I think I'm in the minority though because one of my friends swears by the liners.
Is that bit about lifting the lid true? Wouldn't the food (and the interior of the cooker) have a much higher thermal density than the air? And a lot more mass. I'm really skeptical that it takes 30 minutes to get back up to temp.
"Don't open your slow cooker!"
"Add fresh herbs later in the process."
Instructions unclear, slow cooker stuck in ceiling fan...
Which would be a whole lot easier if the vast majority of recipes didn't forget to mention the size needed.
Unexpected M. Bison
That was a very long video for not really much information.
sorry. gotta peak and smell.
TLDR anyone?
Good tips. Worth looking into.
For me the biggest surprise was probably the fact that cheap meats is way better than the lean cuts. I dont use expensive meats at all anymore for slow cooker.