inspiration365: Slow Cooker Meals

October 20, 20131 Comment

What’s the number one thing that would help all of us feed our families?…TIME!  Add hours to your day by using a slow cooker to make dinner while you get other things done.

Save Time and Money
Dust off your slow cooker and enjoy meals that can cook overnight or while you are out during the day. Many slow cooker favorites are perfect for the cooler weather.  A lot of classic slow cooker meals make use of cheaper cuts of meat that require a long cooking time to get tender.  They also usually make large batches, too; you will probably have leftovers that can be eaten later in the week, or frozen.  As anyone who has used a slow cooker before knows, it doesn’t always give you a free pass on ingredient preparation — you still have to chop the veggies and sometimes brown the meat — but there is great satisfaction to having a little planning payoff with an entirely cooked meal when you get home and have to feed your family.

Plugging In To Your Slow Cooker

• Slow Cooker Features.  Slow cookers have gotten more sophisticated since they were introduced in 1971, and there are definitely more varied recipes for how to get the most out of a slow cooker, but they essentially do the same thing now they were designed to do from the beginning.  They cook ingredients at a low temperature over a long period of time.  Features to look for: a three temperature setting (low, high, and warm) that you can set with an easy-to-use timer; a power light so you don’t have to guess if the unit is working; and a large enough capacity to cook meals that will give you the best value, a 6-quart unit or larger.  Each slow cooker model is different, so read the manual for information and tips unique to that cooker.
• Read through the recipe carefully.  This is something we always recommend, but since you want to be as efficient as you can, check the recipe for all the prep work you can do ahead of time, and make sure there aren’t any surprise steps you need to do at the end of the cooking time.
• Prep your ingredients ahead of time.  Having a meal waiting in your slow cooker at the end of the day means having to start the dish in the morning.  Since mornings can be pretty hectic, this isn’t always a practical thing to have to do.  Spend a little time the previous evening getting as much done as you can to reduce the prep time the next morning.
  • Chop everything ahead of time and keep it in the refrigerator.  If the recipe calls for sautéed ingredients, then sauté them the night before and store.
  • Measure out all the other ingredients as well so you can just toss them into the ceramic insert the next morning.
  • The only step you can’t really do the night before is browning any chicken or meats.  You will not get the same flavor or texture, but if this is the only step you have the next morning it won’t take much time.  If you don’t have time to brown the proteins, look specifically for recipes that offer ingredients that substitute for the depth of flavor you get from the browning process (some of these include adding tomato paste, tripling the aromatics in a recipe, or even using soy sauce).
• Think outside the stew.  Aside from the slow cooker classics of stews, soups, short ribs, and pulled pork, there are lots of other things you can prepare.  Use them for making chicken stock, oatmeal, fruit butters, desserts, and even baked potatoes.  If you don’t already have one, we highly recommend getting a cookbook specific to slow cookers to get great, new ideas, like the Slow Cooker Revolution: Volume 2  from the editors at America’s Test Kitchen.
• Other resources and ideas.  Online recipe ideas, from Martha Stewart and Mark Bittman.  
  

Happy multi-tasking!