Never Place These Ingredients In A Slow Cooker Or A Crock-Pot, Here’s What Happens
A slow cooker is a convenient and versatile kitchen tool found in many households. With its "set it and forget it" approach, it effortlessly prepares delicious homemade meals requiring minimal effort.
Although it seems like a handy kitchen appliance, there are ingredients that are better left out of the slow cooker. Read on through this list in order to learn what to leave out.
Fresh Herbs
Professional chefs and home cooks know Herbs play a crucial role in enhancing flavors in culinary creations. However, when it comes to slow cookers, not all herbs have the same impact.
Woody herbs like rosemary are well-suited for slow cooking, as they can withstand extended cooking times. On the other hand, delicate herbs like basil, or dill will lose their fragrance and flavor if cooked for too long. Add soft herbs towards the end of the cooking process to preserve their aromatic qualities is recommended.
Raw Bacon
Slow cookers excel at retaining moisture and cooking food slowly, so if you're looking for some crispy bacon, a slow cookers are not the best appliance.
Instead, opt for cooking bacon in a pan or oven to achieve the desired crispiness. Once cooked to perfection, you can incorporate the crispy bacon into your dish just before serving, ensuring it retains its desired texture.
Dried Beans
Dried beans contain a toxin called phytohaemagglutinin, which can cause gastrointestinal issues. To safely remove this toxin, it is crucial to boil the beans in water for at least 10 minutes before consuming them.
A slow cooker typically doesn't reach the necessary boiling point, so it's important to pre-boil the beans before adding them to the slow cooker. This step ensures the toxin is deactivated, allowing for safe consumption of the beans in a slow cooker recipe. Canned beans are perfectly safe to use.
Bottles Of Alcohol
Any chef or home cook knows that a splash of alcohol can amplify a dish, but unless you want to be known as a boozy aunt, it's best to keep copious amounts of alcohol out of your slow cooker.
High temperatures are needed to burn any alcohol off, but because a slow cooker relies on lower temperatures, it won't be hot enough to cook off the alcohol nor can it evaporate. Burn off the alcohol in a separate saucepan first, and then add it to the slow cooker.
Frozen Proteins
Popping meat into the freezer is a great way to stretch your dollar and have meal ideas for weeks to come, but frozen meat and your slow cooker are not a match made in heaven.
Because slow cookers operate over a long period of time at a low temperature (between 170 and 280 degrees Fahrenheit), the heat won't be sufficient enough to kill all bacteria, such as E. coli or salmonella. Some slow cookers can handle frozen meat but check your manual to be sure.
Raw Meat
Just as you shouldn't add frozen meat to your slow cooker, the same can be said for uncooked meat too.
The browning of meat is what fosters its rich and delicious flavors, and putting raw meat straight into a slow cooker can skip that important process. For best flavor, sear your cut of meat first and then add it to the slow cooker to continue cooking.
Adding Too Much Liquid
Slow cookers are incredibly talented at retaining moisture. With that said, however, because moisture can't boil off during the cooking process, adding too much liquid to start means that your delicious dish might end up turning into an unintentional soup.
Play it safe and instead start off with less liquid, and add more during the cooking process if your food looks dry.
Bring On The Heat
Who doesn't love a bit of spice in their dish? If you're in love with your spice rack, make sure to exercise a bit of caution when getting heavy-handed with the spicy ingredients in your slow cooker dish.
The longer you cook spicy ingredients, the hotter they become. So, to prevent the faces of your dinner guests from melting off, add in the heat toward the end.
Fresh From The Sea
From scallops to fish and lobster, the sea is a bounty full of delicious foods. But unlike certain proteins such as chicken or beef, seafood cooks fast. Because slow cookers rely on the low and slow method, any seafood that gets tossed into a slow cooker will become overcooked and rubbery. Delicious.
For best results, cook seafood by baking it in the oven or panfrying it.
Lean Cuts Of Meat
Tougher cuts of meat (like shoulders and shanks) and slow cookers go hand in hand because the low and slow process turns a tough cut into a tender and fall-off-the-bone one.
But, lean cuts of meat such as chicken breast or pork tenderloin can quickly dry out and become tough, so save leaner cuts for the grill or panfrying.
Perfect Pasta
Who can resist a delicious bowl of warm pasta? Pasta is one of those foods that doesn't take very long to cook in boiling water, and even less time if it's fresh. But pasta is definitely one of those ingredients that belong in a pot of water and not your slow cooker.
Preparing it in a slow cooker will cause the pasta to overcook, and those neat shapes we love will become a mushy pile of starchy sadness.
Varieties Of Rice
Much like pasta, rice is also at risk of improper cooking in a slow cooker. White rice can easily overcook and turn into mush, while long-grain rice can become dry on the outer layers but remain undercooked in the center. Mushy or crunchy rice definitely shouldn't be on the menu.
Whether in a regular pot or an actual rice cooker, prepare rice separately and then add it to your dish at the end.
Leave The Skin Off
The skin of a protein, such as chicken, is delicious when properly cooked and crisped up. That said, you probably want to remove the skin of any of your proteins before tossing them into the slow cooker.
Cooking it in the moisture-laden environment of a slower cooker will guarantee that your skin-on protein is rubbery and unappetizing.
Dairy Products
Who doesn't love dairy, right? From cheese to milk, ice cream, and yogurt, a lot of your favorite foods probably have dairy in them.
But when it comes to your slow cooker, keep any dairy products far, far, away from it. The prolonger exposure to the heat created by the slow cooker will cause the dairy to curdle. Like many of the ingredients on this list, add dairy at the end of the cooking process.
Not An Eggs-cellent Idea
Eggs are an eggs-cellent source of protein and they're low in fat too. They're one of the most versatile ingredients out there, but when it comes to adding them to your slow cooker, it's a plan that's sure to run afoul.
Eggs don't take very long to boil, so tossing them in a slow cooker will lead to an overcooked and discolored hard-boiled egg.
Delicate Vegetables
Slow cookers are great for cooking hearty vegetables like potatoes, cauliflower, and carrots, but for more delicate veggies like zucchini, broccoli florets, and asparagus, it's best to keep them out of your favorite kitchen companion, or you risk overcooking them and turning them into a mushy mess.
If you want to incorporate these softer vegetables into your dish, add them toward the end of the cooking process.
A Final Piece Of Advice
The point of a slow cooker is to add a bunch of ingredients into the pot and let it simmer and stew together for several hours.
With this in mind, food items that require a hard sear in order to lock in all the juices (like a fancy cut of steak) aren't suited for a slow cooker due to it not reaching high enough temperatures. There are some foods that are just better suited for a pan, grill, or oven.
What Can You Add To A Slow Cooker?
Don't be too scared by this long list because there are plenty of items you can safely add to a slow cooker, such as tougher cuts of meat, cooked beans, hearty vegetables, browned beef, fully cooked poultry and seafood, and dried spices.
Happy slow cooking!
