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• Do not put the crock pot or glass lid
in an oven, freezer, microwave or on
a gas/electrical hob.
• Do not pre-heat before adding
ingredients.
• Do not subject the crock pot to
sudden changes in temperature.
Adding cold water to a very hot pot
could cause it to crack.
• Do not allow the pot to stand in
water for a long time (you can leave
water in the pot to soak). There is
an area on the base of the crock pot
that has to remain unglazed for
manufacturing purposes. This
unglazed area is porous, therefore
will soak up water, this should be
avoided.
• Do not switch the cooker on when
the crock pot is empty or out of the
base.
Tips for slow cooking
• The slow cooker must be at least half
full for best results.
• Slow cooking retains moisture. If you
wish to reduce this, remove the lid
after cooking and turn the control to
high (if set to low or medium) and
reduce the moisture by simmering for
30 to 45 minutes.
• Removing the lid will allow valuable
heat to escape, reducing the
efficiency of your slow cooker and
increasing the cooking time. If you
remove the lid more than a couple of
times to stir or add ingredients then
you will need to allow 10-15 minutes
extra cooking time each time you
remove the lid.
• If cooking soups, leave 5 cm space
between the top of the cook pot and
the food surface to allow for
simmering.
• Many recipes will take several hours
to cook. If you don’t have time to
prepare food in the morning, prepare
it the night before, storing the food in
a covered container in the fridge.
Transfer the food to the crock pot
and add boiling liquid/stock. In most
of the recipes in this book the meat
ingredients are browned first to
improve their appearance and flavour.
• If you are short on preparation time
and would prefer to skip the
browning stage, simply add your
meat and other ingredients into the
slow cooker and cover with boiling
liquid/stock. You will need to increase
the recipe cooking time as follows:
High setting +1hr, Medium setting
+1-2hrs, Low Setting +2-3hrs.
• Most meat and vegetable recipes
require 8-10 hours on low, 5-7 hours
on medium and 4-6 hours on high.
• Do not use frozen meat or poultry
unless it is thoroughly thawed out
first.
• Some ingredients are not suitable
for slow cooking. Pasta, seafood,
milk, and cream should be added
towards the end of the cooking
time. Many things can affect how
quickly a recipe will cook, water and
fat content, initial temperature of the
food and the size of the food.
• Pieces of food cut into small pieces
will cook quicker.
A degree of ‘trial and error’ will be
required to fully optimise the
potential of your slow cooker.
• Vegetables usually take longer to
cook than meat, so try and arrange
vegetables in the lower half of the
pot.
• After food is cooked switch off and
leave covered with the lid. There will
be enough heat in the crock pot to
keep warm for 30 minutes. If you
require longer to keep warm switch
to the low setting.
• All food should be covered with a
liquid, gravy or sauce. In a separate
pan or jug prepare your liquid, gravy
or sauce and completely cover the
food in the crock pot.
• Pre-brown meat and onions in a
pan to seal in the juices this also
reduces the fat content if separated
before adding to the crock pot. This
is not necessary if the time is
limited, but improves the flavour.
• When cooking joints of meat, ham,
poultry etc the size and shape of
the joint is important. Try to keep
the joint in the lower 2/3 of the pot
and fully cover with water. If
necessary, cut into two pieces. Joint
weight should be kept within the
maximum limit.
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48720MAUS:9225 47507 MEE pump - Jon 7/1/08 12:35 Page 5
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