There is nothing better than coming back from a hard day's work and enjoying the meal you put together with the help of a slow cooker earlier that morning. A slow-cooked meal usually means well-tenderized meats and hearty, flavorful dishes.
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00:00Who needs the hassle of cooking by hand when you have a slow cooker?
00:04Throw everything in there in the morning, then forget about it until dinner time.
00:07There's nothing better, right?
00:09But as easy as slow cookers are, they do come with rules.
00:12Here are some of the mistakes everyone seems to make when they use slow cookers, so you
00:16can be sure not to make them yourself.
00:19Taking a peek
00:20We get it.
00:21Whatever's cooking in the slow cooker has your whole house smelling delicious.
00:25Gather up your willpower, though.
00:26You need to resist peeking inside.
00:29It took your slow cooker longer than you might think to work its way up to the target temperature,
00:33and lifting the lid for even a second lets out most of that hot air.
00:37Too much peeking means a reduced temp inside the slow cooker, and more time needed for
00:42your dish to finish cooking.
00:44In fact, each time you lift that lid, you add 30 minutes to the time you need to cook
00:48your food.
00:50Using expensive cuts
00:51Those fancy cuts of meat can certainly have their place at your dinner table, but there's
00:56no need to spring for the good stuff when you're shopping for a slow cooker meal.
01:00Since slow cookers cook low and slow, they make even the toughest meats tender and juicy.
01:05So grab a low-cost cut and let it cook all day.
01:07The resulting dish will be so fall-apart tender and full of flavor, no one will guess you
01:12bought the bargain beef.
01:14Not searing meat first
01:15Be honest.
01:17If a recipe says to sear your meat before you drop it in the slow cooker, do you do
01:21that?
01:22Or do you skip it?
01:23It seems reasonable to skip it.
01:25The meat is going to cook all the way through in the slow cooker, right?
01:27Well, skipping the searing step does change the flavor of your dish, and not necessarily
01:32for the better.
01:33According to The Cooking Site Kitchen, searing your meat before slow cooking it caramelizes
01:38the outside of each piece of meat, adding texture and an extra layer of flavor.
01:42If you've never seared your meat before slow cooking it, you really don't know what you're
01:46missing.
01:47But after you've tried it once, you'll never skip that step again.
01:51Cooking skin-on chicken
01:53Chicken cooked with the skin in an oven or pan usually ends up gorgeous and crispy.
01:58When you're cooking in a slow cooker, you're probably going to end up with a soft, rubbery
02:02outside that's anything but appetizing.
02:04If you want to be able to serve dinner straight from your slow cooker with no extra steps,
02:09use skinless chicken when you slow cook.
02:11Fortunately, there's a workaround.
02:13If you don't mind the extra step, transfer the cooked chicken from the slow cooker to
02:17a broiler pan and cook it under your oven's broiler for just a few minutes until the skin
02:22is deliciously golden brown and crispy.
02:25Yes!
02:26Yes!
02:27Fresh vs. dry herbs
02:30With all the props given to fresh herbs, it's kind of refreshing to know that dried herbs
02:34are actually the preferred go-to seasoning in slow cooker meals.
02:38Since they do their best when cooked over long periods of time, dried herbs are the
02:42easy winners when it comes to your favorite slow-cooked recipes.
02:46That's not to say you can't use fresh herbs in a slow cooker recipe, just don't add them
02:50at the beginning.
02:51There won't be anything left when it's time to serve.
02:54Instead, toss those in toward the end of the cooking time, so they're still fresh and full
02:58of flavor when you sit down to eat.
03:00Using the wrong size
03:02Slow cookers come in different sizes, and one slow cooker does not fit every slow cooker
03:07recipe.
03:08The cooking time on each recipe counts on the fact that you're using the same size slow
03:12cooker as the recipe directs, meaning it's filled to the appropriate level.
03:16Your slow cooker should be filled halfway to three-quarters of the way full.
03:20If it's not full enough, your food will end up overcooked.
03:23If it's too full, it may not cook completely, or you may end up with an overflow — and
03:28a big mess on your kitchen counter.
03:31Adding dairy too soon
03:32Dairy products don't do well warm, and the slow cooker is no exception.
03:37If you add ingredients like milk, cheese, cream, sour cream, or cream cheese too early
03:42in the cooking process, you'll have a curdled, disgusting mess at the end.
03:46To save your dish without sacrificing the creamy flavor you love, cook it without any
03:50dairy and then add those ingredients in during the last half hour, cooking them just long
03:55enough for them to melt and blend properly into the dish.
03:59Using too much alcohol
04:01It's usually okay to use a heavy hand when cooking with wine on the stovetop — as heavy
04:05a hand as you want, really.
04:07And then, for Aunt Sandy, a bottle of white wine.
04:14That's not the case with a slow cooker, though, because the lid stays on tight and nothing
04:18really evaporates.
04:19In fact, when you add wine to a slow cooker recipe, you'll taste more of the wine than
04:23you would in a stove-cooked dish.
04:25For that reason, it's best to skip the wine — or add it sparingly — unless you're
04:29really after that boozy tang.
04:32Cooking frozen food
04:34As fabulous as it sounds, it's not a good idea to put frozen food — especially meat
04:38— in your slow cooker.
04:40If your slow cooker is full of frozen food, it'll take way too long to reach a safe temperature
04:44for consumption, meaning your food will spend longer than it should at temps that are less
04:49than safe.
04:50Don't eat that.
04:52Not layering correctly
04:53Believe it or not, your slow cooker doesn't cook evenly all the way through.
04:57The foods at the bottom cook faster, so foods that need longer cooking times — like root
05:01vegetables — should go at the bottom of the slow cooker, followed by the meat, which
05:05cooks faster.
05:07Not greasing
05:08Slow cookers may make cooking a breeze, but they can also make cleanup a pain.
05:13They usually end up soaking in your sink just as long as they spent cooking on your counter.
05:17And even then, you still need an awful lot of elbow grease to get them clean.
05:22Save yourself some time and use a cooking spray or a slow cooker liner to make cleanup
05:26that much easier.