Cooking your meals at lower temperatures can be a wonderful way to bring out the most savory flavors in foods of all types. When using a crockpot you can use the oven for cooking other foods, or leave it turned off to keep the kitchen cool. Crockpots are also ideal for keeping foods warm even if they were prepared in the oven or on the stovetop.
Choosing a Slow Cooker
Buying a new crockpot is a rather simple process but it does help to know a few facts about slow cookers so you can choose the one that will best fit your cooking needs.
You will find that many crockpots are oval or round in shape, but there are also rectangular shaped slow cookers as well. The shape and size you choose should be based on how you plan on using your crockpot.
Will you be cooking for many people at a time? Do you plan on cooking large cuts of meat in the crockpot? If so, you might want to choose an oval or rectangular crockpot. A round crockpot is better suited for casseroles, side dishes, soups, stews, or recipes with fewer ingredients.
Crockpots also come in a variety of sizes measured by quarts. You will find miniature crockpots as small as a half a quart, which are intended for making dips, sauces, and spreads. The two quart size is ideal for the single person while the three to four quart size is best for cooking for three to four people at a time.
When feeding more than four, five to six quart crockpots are great and they can also handle cooking complete meals at a time with several ingredients. The seven to eight quart sized crockpots are perfect for when you need to make bigger meals with the most ingredients or the largest cuts of meat.
When trying to decide on the best size crockpot, keep in mind that slow cookers are at their most efficient and produce the most accurate cook times when they are half to three-quarters of the way full. While you definitely will not want a crockpot that is too small to make all of your favorite dishes, you also do not want one that is too big either.
Crockpot Cooking Times
Slow cookers or crockpots cook foods at low temperatures of anywhere from 200 to 300 degrees Fahrenheit and cook times average from four to 12 hours. The majority of meats, including poultry, and vegetables will require at least eight hours of cook time in a crockpot on the low setting.
Perhaps one of the best things about the crockpot is that you can cook your meals without worrying about food getting burned or overdone. With most recipes, slow cookers can be left unattended except for stirring once or twice for some foods.
When it comes to the preparing delicious meals in the crockpot, if you are ever in doubt about cooking times, turn your slow cooker to the lowest setting and leave it on overnight or all day and then check for doneness.