quantity is less in slow cooking, about half the recommended amount for conventional cooking methods. Use this “rule of half” as a starting point, although the conversion will vary depending on the water content of your ingredients.
OIL : Many conventional recipes start with a sauté of the onion and garlic (or other aromatics) in oil. Personally, I haven’t found this necessary for most of my slow cookerrecipes, as I find the longer time in the slow cooker draws out the flavors in these quite nicely.
HERBS AND SPICES : Ground herbs and spices need to be increased to at least 1½ times the amount called for in conventional recipes when converted to slow cooking. You should taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary, just prior to serving. Remember, it’s much easier to add spices and herbs than to take them out.
BEANS : Use precooked beans (canned, or soaked and boiled at home) when converting a slow cooker recipe to the stovetop.
COOKING TIMES : A very rough rule of thumb is to multiply your conventional recipe time by 8 and start with that as the slow cooker time on LOW heat (or by 4 if you want to cook on HIGH heat), checking doneness and adding more time as required.
Equipment
Let’s look in more detail at the slow cooker itself and the other equipment you’ll need to make the recipes.
SLOW COOKER
Whether it be old-fashioned or up to date with more features than you know how to use, your slow cooker will be perfect for the recipes in this book. Because of their construction, slow cookers, even the really old ones, are generally safe to use while you are away from home or sleeping. They use many small electrical coils, each emitting very little heat, and use very little energy to do so, making them a very low fire risk. Most models cook at a temperature of 200°F on the LOW setting and 300°F on the HIGH setting. They provide a long, slow, moist cooking environment that essentially braises the ingredients, infusing them with flavor. Slow cookers’ snug-fitting lids and the thick walls of their ceramic inserts maintain moisture by locking in steam, so they need less liquid to cook the food.
All the recipes in this book were developed and tested with medium-sized (roughly four- to six-quart) slow cookers. Because all brands, makes, and models are of slightly different dimensions and even shapes, you may need to make slight tweaks and adjustments to the recipes to suit your specific slow cooker. I also found that all slow cookers (even ones of similar ages) cook at slightly different rates, so please bear in mind that the recipes were created using a modern, relatively rapid-cooking model, which the times noted will reflect. You may need to make minor timing adjustments to suit your model.
If your slow cooker is new to you, please carefully read its instruction booklet to familiarize yourself with specifics on operation, safety, timing, and special features.
TIMER
If you plan to use your slow cooker while you are away from home or asleep (and who doesn’t?), I really recommend you purchase a timer switch for the outlet you’ll use in your kitchen. Timers are small devices that plug into the wall outlet into which you plug your slow cooker. They all work in a similar way: Set the current time and the time to start (and in some cases stop) the power flow. Turn the slow cooker to the setting specified in the recipe; when the timer reaches the start time you have set, the power will flow and the slow cooker will start the cooking process. I bought mine from the electrical items aisle (with the surge protectors) at a department store, but they are also available from hardware stores and are inexpensive.
A few things to remember when using these switches:
Make sure you turn on your slow cooker to the desired heat setting prior to plugging into the timer switch. If you haven’t turned on the slow cooker, the power will come through the switch but the slow cooker will not cook. (Yes, I’m speaking from
Ann Voss Peterson, J.A. Konrath