15 Quick and Easy Crock-Pot Recipes - Damn Delicious (2024)

FAQs

Can I just throw a bunch of ingredients in the Crock-Pot? ›

One of the main attractions for many people is the ease of a slow cooker, so when you're looking for recipes, avoid those that suggest a lot of pre-preparation. For many dishes, particularly soups and stews, you really can just throw all the ingredients in.

Fattier meats and dark meat chicken are better options, as leaner cuts may dry out during the cooking process. Fattier meats are good, but trim the fat away before placing in the Crockpot slow cooker.

If you want to crank up the speed your recipes cook, you can turn a regular slow cooker recipe into a pressure cooking recipe. For example, 4 hours on high in a slow cooker converts to 25 to 30 minutes in a pressure cooker.

Opt for a heavy, oven-safe pot with a tight-fitting lid, like a Staub or Le Creuset Dutch oven, to mimic the moisture retention of a slow cooker.

The difference between "High" and "Low" on slow cookers seems to differ with every brand and model. One thing that is consistent, though, is that food takes seven to eight hours to reach a simmer point (around 210°) on low; versus three to four hours on high.

A slow cooker and a Crockpot are the same thing, essentially. A slow cooker is an appliance of which there are lots of brands. Crockpot is one brand of slow cooker. Crockpot popularized slow cookers when they launched their version in the 1970s.

Best Overall: All-Clad Gourmet Slow Cooker with All-in-One Browning, 7-Quart. This is so much more than a slow cooker. The All-Clad Gourmet Slow Cooker can saute, brown meat, simmer stews and cook rice!

However, Crockpots generally have ceramic or porcelain pots, while most slow cookers have a metal pot. As with a lot of cooking appliances, the biggest difference comes from the distribution of heat.

It can help with cooking

This far side of your slow cooker apparently is prone to be hotter than the other side, and the foil helps keep the temperature even throughout. Wiggly Wisdom points out that the side benefit of using foil is the easy clean-up we all long for.

Why put foil under lid of slow cooker? ›

The heat bounces off from the lid and allows your food to cook faster. Also, you will not lose any of the steam that usually evaporates.

If possible, turn the cooker on the highest setting for the first hour of cooking time and then to low or the setting called for in your recipe. Foods take different times to cook depending upon the setting used. Certainly, foods will cook faster on high than on low.

Yes, you can slow roast pork in an air fryer. In fact, it's a great way to cook pork because it results in tender, juicy meat with crispy crackling.

"When a slow cooker is too full, it may not heat the food evenly," explains Leal. As a result, some parts of the dish may overcook, while others remain undercooked. "This can also increase the risk of foodborne illness, because the food might not reach a safe temperature throughout," she says.

You're not adding the right amount of ingredients. Slow cookers should be “at least halfway, but no more than two-thirds full,” write Vance and Lacalamita. Anything less may cause your food to overcook, and conversely, if it's too full, your food may not cook fully.