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Crock Pot Cooking

Using a crock pot or a slow cooker can save time in the kitchen. The crock pot is like a small oven that you set on your kitchen counter. You can prepare your ingredients and fill the crock pot before you leave for work in the morning and then come home to a fully-cooked, ready-to-eat meal. Crock pots can be used to cook your main entrée; prepare soups, stews, and chili; make side dishes, desserts and breads; and even concoct drinks.

Main Entrees

Combining ground beef, Monterey Jack cheese, and a variety of spices in a crock pot and letting it cook for several hours creates this delicious and filling Crock Pot Mexican Meatloaf, ready to serve to your hungry family at the end of the day. The ingredients for Spicy Wine Pot Roast - steak, onion, brown gravy mix, water, tomato sauce, red wine, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, mixed herbs, salt and pepper – can all be ready for the crock pot in 15 minutes and left to cook on its own. Follow this easy-to-prepare recipe for a delicious meal of Roast Pork and Potatoes. You can enjoy a delicious pot full of BBQ Ribs, without all the fuss, when you cook them in your crock pot.

Soups, Stews and Chili

Soups, stews and chili are simple to prepare with a crock pot: Prepare the ingredients, put them in the crock pot, and let them sit and cook while you go about your day. It will take a bit of time to prepare the ingredients for these soups, stew, and chili, but after they are cooked and ready to serve, you will find the effort has been worth it: Mexican Chicken Soup; Mushroom and Goat Cheese Soup; Crock Pot Wine-Braised Veal Stew; and Chicken and White Bean Chili.

Side Dishes, Breads and Desserts

Not only can you prepare full meals and filling entrees in your crock pot, you can make side dishes, bread and dessert to go with them. This Green Rice - made with rice, cheddar cheese, spinach, carrots and milk – is a perfect side dish for a pot roast or chicken dinner. While the turkey is baking in the oven, you can go ahead and make the dressing well ahead of time by following this Crock Pot Dressing recipe. Prepare this Whole Wheat Bread to go along with your meal and serve Baked Apples for dessert.

Drinks

You might not have thought about using your crock pot for preparing drinks, but nothing could be easier than fixing these delicious beverages: Crock Pot Mulled Cider; Crock Pot Wassail; and Crock Pot Mulled Wine.

Crock Pot

Crock pots are often called the busy cook’s best friend. Early in the day, toss some ingredients in and by the end of the day, you have a perfectly cooked meal. Any type of meal can be prepared in a crock pot - breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, snack, or side dish - making the crock pot one of the most versatile tools in the kitchen.

How Does a Crock Pot Work?

Crock pots cook food at a low temperature, using heat along the sides of the pot, as well as the bottom. As the food cooks, steam develops and is retained in the pot. This steam not only helps heat the food, but it keeps the food moist – which is why lifting the lid of a crock pot in use is a bad idea.

Crock Pot Recipes

The Internet is full of recipes designed just for crock pots, but there’s no reason cooks should limit themselves to these. Many traditional stew, soup, casserole, meat, and poultry dishes lend themselves well to crock pot cooking. The trick is to know how to modify these recipes. For example, usually the amount of liquid needs reducing, since it won’t evaporate as it would in other types of cooking. An exception is if you’re cooking pasta, rice, or beans.

It’s also important to know that raw vegetables and meats need to cook for at least 8 hours on the low setting of a crock pot. Cut that time down and the food won’t be cooked thoroughly.

Generally speaking, the low setting on a crock pot is about 200 degrees F. High is usually about 300 degrees F. When considering how long to cook traditional recipes in a crock pot, follow these basic guidelines:

15 to 30 minutes in the oven = 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours in a crock pot turned to high, or 4 to 6 hours on low

35 to 40 minutes in the oven = 2 to 3 hours in a crock pot turned to high, or 6 to 8 hours on low

1 to 2 hours in the oven = 4 to 5 hours in a crock pot on high, or 8 to 18 hours on low

Preparing the Food

Because time saving is a major benefit of crock pot cooking, there is little in the way of prep required. You may pre-brown meat in a skillet, if you like, but it’s not essential. Ground meat should be precooked, however, to help reduce the amount of fat in the recipe, and any fatty sections of meat should be removed before cooking.

It’s not necessary to saut? vegetables before adding them to the crock pot. However, you’ll want to chop vegetables, meats, or poultry into pieces that are approximately the same size. In addition, vegetables should go on the bottom of the crock pot, while meat should go on top. This ensures the most even cooking.

Selected Crock Pot Recipe Links

Additional Crock Pot Recipes

Want to see a different cooking technique, or recipes for a specific diet choice? See all the gourmet recipes and recipe videos at GourmetRecipe.com.

Overview of our healthy easy crock pot recipes

Beef Bourguignon

Chicken Vegetable Soup

Corn Sweet Potatoes and Paprika Recipe

Corn with Butter and Cheese Recipe

Creamy Crock Pot Chicken and Noodles

Crock Pot Acorn Squash

Crock Pot Baked Apples

Crock Pot Barbecue Ribs

Crock Pot Beef Roast

Crock Pot Beef Stew

Crock Pot California Chicken

Crock Pot Chicken

Crock Pot Chicken and White Bean Chili

Crock Pot Chili

Crock Pot Coq au Vin