Introduction to Slow Cookers
With your busy lifestyle, running around trying to catch up with your kids, or completing the latest project just before the deadline, who has the time to prepare homemade meals?
Enter the slow cooker.
It can help you make nutritious meals. After you get over the initial shock of how easy cooking with a crock pot is and stop blaming yourself for not doing this sooner, you can focus on making these meals delicious, too.
The best part? Do you mean besides having some nutrition that helps you with more energy, removes fog from the brain, and helps you finally lose some weight?
From time management point of view, the best part is that you don’t have to be there to cook. That’s the beauty of a slow cooker, especially with a timer. It cooks for you while you’re away and turns itself off when the food is ready.
“Crock pot” and slow cooker are mostly interchangeable, with the exception of the brand Crock-Pot, which makes top-notch slow cookers like the Cork-Pot Cook N Carry Digital Slow Cooker.
Most people who use crockpots mean slow cookers. They could be using any other brand.
To get into this world of slow cooking, you need if you signposts to help you out. When human creativity is involved, it’s better not to leave anything to chance. Parents could relate to this.
First is the size. For a family of four, a 3-quarts works fine. For larger families or if you entertain many, a 6-quart would be more appropriate. You see in the world of slow cookers just like anything else there is no such a thing as the best slow cooker. It is only what is an appropriate and effective for you.
Slow cookers have a removable inner pot that can be used for serving. Some brands have made this part from an aluminum cast, which allows you to sear meats on the stove or directly on the slow cooker itself.
I don’t like this feature. I’m not a fan of aluminum and its connection with many diseases doesn’t matter how it is coated. I also don’t like high heat that metal construction brings. Slow cooking is about low heat.
Slow cookers have different heat settings. Some only have to set things, others up to five. Some of them don’t function well in higher settings. Before you buy your slow cooker read the reviews and see how they function in various settings. One of these settings is a warm setting, which does exactly that. After your meal is prepared, it keeps you warm for you. Without this setting, the store cooker would turn off after it is done.
Time there is another feature of some slow cookers. Usually, cookers still work on their own for 6 to 8 hours. Some of them have fast settings that allow you to prepare some meals within a couple of hours. Again I’m not a fan of fast cooking the whole idea is to cook slowly so you can pretend in nutrition and food.
The regardless of how many settings your slow cooker has you need to test it as you learn.. The best time to test your slow cooker is over the weekend they can keep an eye on it as you learn.
