Helpful Hints

•Adapting Recipes to Slow Cooking: Many of your favorite oven and range top recipes can be adapted to slow cooking with a few minor changes. Here are some important points to remember:

Amount of Liquid: Because little moisture evaporates during slow cooking, reduce amount of liquid in your recipe by one-half (1 cup of liquid is enough for most recipes). For soup recipes, add all ingredients except water or broth to vessel; add only enough liquid to cover ingredients.

Amount of Seasoning: Reduce amount of seasoning in proportion to reduced amount of liquid. Use whole or leaf herbs and spices rather than crushed or ground forms.

Slow Cooking Meat: Less tender, less expensive cuts of meat are better suited to slow cooking than expensive cuts of meat. Remove excess fat before slow cooking if desired. Meat can be browned in the cooking pot on top of the range before slow cooking.

Slow Cooking Vegetables: Add partially frozen vegetables, Chinese vegetables and fresh mushrooms during the last hour of cooking. Strong- flavored vegetables such as spinach, eggplant, okra and collard greens should be precooked before adding to cooker. The amount of onion normally used in your recipe should be reduced because its flavor gets stronger during cooking. In most cases, fresh vegetables take longer to cook than meats because liquid simmers rather than boils.

Slow Cooking Raw Meats and Vegetables: Most raw meat and vegetable combinations need at least 4 to 6 hours of cooking at “HI” or 7 to 10 hours at “LO.”

Slow Cooking Fish and Seafood: Fresh or thawed seafood and fish fall apart during long hours of cooking. Add these ingredients an hour before serving and cook at “HI.”

Slow Cooking Milk, Sweet or Sour Cream and Cheese: Because milk, sour or sweet cream and cheese break down during long hours of cooking, add these ingredients just before serving or substitute undiluted condensed canned soups or evaporated milk. Processed cheese tends to give better results than aged cheese.

Rice and Pasta: Rice and pasta may either be cooked separately, or added uncooked during last hour of cooking time. If added uncooked, make sure there is at least 1 to 1½ cups of liquid in vessel and heat is set at “LO” or higher.

Dumplings: Dumplings may be cooked in broth or gravy at “HI.” Drop by spoonfuls on simmering broth or gravy. Cook covered for 30 minutes.

Thickening Juices for Gravies and Sauces: To thicken juices for gravies and sauces, add 2 to 3 tablespoons of quick cooking tapioca at start, or thicken after cooking by adding a smooth paste made of 2 to 4 tablespoons cornstarch or flour and ¼ cup cold water. Bring to a boil at “HI.” Solid foods may be removed first.

•Don’t Remove Cover During Cooking: To retain heat, moisture and food flavor, don’t remove cover during cooking unless necessary for adding additional ingredients.