Great Time Savers
Crock-Pot, are great time savers for anyone who enjoys a hot meal at the end of a busy day. Simply assemble your meal in the morning, or the night before, and forget about it until dinner time.
Great For Everybody
Crock pot cookers are wonderful for potlucks, church or social gatherings, parties, and travel. After cooking all day, it's easy to unplug your slow cooker and transport the entire meal to another location to be plugged back in. This is ideal for holidays at a relative's house where you have agreed to bring a portion of the meal.
Doesn't Heat Up The Kitchen
Another benefit of the crock-pot is that it doesn't heat up the kitchen. This can be valuable in the summer but don't limit it to summertime cooking. It's an any-seasonappliance. You'll be pleased smelling the delicious aroma of your food cooking all day long in the fall, winter and spring. You can even cook desserts inthem such as apple dumplings.
Turned On Low All Day
For those of you that work away from home, the crock-pot is safe enough to leave turned on low all day. When you get home, most of your dinner is cooked and ready to eat! Here are some tips you can follow to best use your crock pot.
Tips
-- Always begin with fresh or thawed meats, do not use meat that is still frozen.
-- Rather than large cuts or roasts, cut meat into chunks. For poultry, do not use a whole chicken, but rather pieces (legs, thighs, breasts, etc).
-- Cook meat on high for the first hour, turn slow cooker down to low for the remaining time. This allows the cooker to heat up quickly and "heat down" gradually.
Settings
Most crock pots have two or more settings. Foods take different times to cook depending upon the setting used. Certainly, foods will cook faster on high than on low. However, for all-day cooking or for less-tender cuts, you may want to use the low setting.
Preparation Time Is Limited
If possible, turn the crock pot on the highest setting for the first hour of cooking time and then to low or the setting called for in your recipe. However, it's safe to cook foods on low the entire time - if you're leaving for work, for example, and preparation time is limited.