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Time-Saving and Healthy Crock Pot Cooking

By  Alica Crawford    
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Rated 16 Times.
Contributing writer Alica Crawford is an expert on issues related to Health. She is a RN in a Clinic, New York and active volunteer in local community.
Contribution from Alica Crawford

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.Crock Pot is a great time-saver

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

Crock pots have different settingsMost 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.
 
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Articles Comments
Comment #1 (Posted by Whimpy, , 9/3/2006)
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I saw a show where meat loaf was cooked in the slow cooker, but can't remember any details. I would like to try this, does anyone know of this and how to do it?
Comment #2 (Posted by , , 8/30/2006)
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Its because i have used a crock pot for over 30 years. Another comment: Its to bad the stores are selling crock pots with plastic lids now. I still have the original (Glass Top) Pauline White-Donnelly
Comment #3 (Posted by , , 7/1/2006)
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very interesting I didn't know that you couldn't have frozen food in the crock pot that it had to thawed out.
Comment #4 (Posted by , , 6/13/2006)
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Great words of wisdom. I live for my crock pot and can cook almost any meal and have it hot and ready for the end of the day. Spareribs, stews, curry, onion soup it all goes into the crock ... thanks I would like to have some recipe ideas to share
Comment #5 (Posted by , , 4/5/2006)
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great time saving
Comment #6 (Posted by , , 3/23/2006)
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could have had a recipe
Comment #7 (Posted by , , 2/23/2006)
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I would like to know more details about the vegetables (time of cooking,add water?)...if they loose vitamins with so much time heating them?? what about using oil or water?? does the cock-pot need to be oil in order not to over cook the meat if it goes first?...I am new with this does why I ask maybe basic things .
Comment #8 (Posted by , , 2/17/2006)
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It explains in detail why crook pots are so populaur in the kitchen especialy after a long day at work. you can fix something in the morning and when you get home supper is waiting for you
Comment #9 (Posted by Al Vaitkus, , 1/26/2006)
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Is there a preference in sequence of loading meat, vegetables, potatoes etc.into the cock pot. Is the meat placed on top of everything or is it better to have it on the bottom?
Comment #10 (Posted by , , 1/23/2006)
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good info on crock cooking
Comment #11 (Posted by , , 1/18/2006)
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The article would have been better if it included some recipes. I use a crockpot quite often, and have for years. It's great when your evenings are busy due to childrens extracirricular activies. I have used both frozen and thawed meats, and the crock pot works well both ways. Actually, by using frozen meats, there seems to be more broth with the finished product. I usually add about 1/2 inch or less of water with the meat as well.
Comment #12 (Posted by , , 11/11/2005)
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This finally answered the questions I had been going from site to site trying to find answers to. Thanks for the clarification. Now I can proceed and fix dinner.
Comment #13 (Posted by , , 11/10/2005)
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I wanted to know if I could put meat into my crockpot while still frozen. The official crockpot site said "yes" as long as 1 cup of warm liquid was added first, the unit is not pre-heated, and allow 2 additional hours on high, or 4-6 additional hours on low. This site says "no" - but doesn't say why: is there a food safety risk? I appreciate the information that is here, just need a little more.
Comment #14 (Posted by T. Chamberlain, , 11/5/2005)
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Hey!...I certainly appreciate your input/knowledge on crock pot cooking. However, while I have several of these specific cookbooks, I find myself searching the internet because none of them, nor any internet sites/authors specify what the temperature, or range of temperatures, a "low" setting or a "high" setting would be. This is an issue for many people, like myself, who have crock pots/deep fryer that have settings that are specific temperature, and most all crock pot recipes are merely high or low temperature settings....Help, what are those temperatures!??????
Comment #15 (Posted by , , 11/4/2005)
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