9. If there is a loss of power while slow cooking, the food being cooked may be
unsafe to eat. If you are unable to determine how long the power was out, we
suggest that the food in the slow cooker be discarded.
10. Use fresh or dried herbs instead of ground; they keep more of their flavour
during long cooking times.
11. Cover all food with a liquid, sauce or gravy. Prepare it in a separate pan, then
add it to the slow cooker, completely covering the food in the cooking pot.
12. Prepare everything you need for your slow-cooked meal the night before if
you will not have time in the morning.
13. Your ingredients should ideally be added to the slow cooker at room
temperature, so take everything out of the fridge 20 minutes before you will
be putting it in the slow cooker.
14. Dairy products such as milk and cheese should be added last, unless your
recipe states otherwise. They break down in the slow cooker, so make sure
you stir them in during the last 15 minutes of cooking.
15. To thicken the tasty juices produced during slow cooking, remove 1 cup (250
ml) of the juices from the Slow Cooker. Place the juices in a small saucepan.
Combine 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of water and 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of corn-
starch. Stir the mixture into the saucepan of juices. Cook and stir the juices
over a medium heat until they boil. Boil and stir them for 1 - 2 minutes or until
slightly thickened.
16. When cooking soups or stews, leave a 2-inch (5 cm) space between the top
of the removable cooking pot and the food so that the dish can come to a
simmer. If cooking a soup or stew on HIGH, check its progress regularly as
some soups will reach a boil on HIGH.
17. Pasta and seafood should be added towards the end of the cooking time.
18. Don’t lift the lid of the slow cooker until you need to. Removing the lid affects
the end result and will actually increase the required cooking time. Only
remove it when you need to add an ingredient.
19. If you are adapting a recipe for your slow cooker, decrease the amount of
liquid you would normally use in the dish by as much as half.
20. All food should be cooked with the glass lid in place. Each time the lid is lifted,
both the heat and the moisture are diminished. Cooking times should be
adjusted to allow for this factor.
21. Slow-cooker recipes:
22. You can also adjust slow-cooker recipes depending on the amount of time
you have. If you wish to decrease the cooking time, cook on HIGH; if you
wish to extend the cooking time, cook on LOW. E.g. if the recipe says to cook
on LOW for 6 – 8 hours and you want a shorter cooking time, set your slow
cooker to HIGH and cook for 3 – 4 hours.
