Morphy Richards 48720 manual Tips for slow cooking, Cooking Guide

48720 Rev2 15/8/08 10:31 Page 5

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 ceramic

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

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 ceramic 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 ceramic 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 ceramic 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: 1 kg for a medium sized slow cooker, and 1.5 kg for a large sized slow cooker.

COOKING GUIDE

The cooking times given in the following recipes are for the ‘MEDIUM’ setting. Should you want to increase or reduce the time, please refer to the cooking guide A. Please note that these cooking times are for guidance only and may vary depending on food type and personal tastes. For your convenience, a conversion table for weight and volume has been included on page 19.

Eg. If the recipe says cook for 4-6 hours (MED) and you require this to be a shorter time, cook on HIGH, which will reduce the cooking time to 3-4 hours. Increasing the time, choose LOW which will give 6-8 hours.

The recipes are based on

MAXIMUM WORKING VOLUMES which are:

6.5litres: Working capacity of

4.5litres / 8 pts. This allows a 3cm space between the top of the ceramic pot and the food.

3.5litres: Working capacity of

2.5litres / 41/2 pts. This allows a 2cm space between the top of the ceramic pot and the food.

NOTE: THE CAPACITY CAN BE FOUND ON THE RATING PLATE UNDERNEATH THE PRODUCT.

hours on medium and 4-6 hours

on high.

A Equivalent cook times for (LOW) and (HIGH) settings

• 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

Cook on (MEDIUM)

4 - 6 hours

6 - 8 hours

8 - 10 hours

Cook on (LOW)

6 - 8 hours

8 - 10 hours

10 - 12 hours

Cook on (HIGH)

3 - 4 hours

5 - 6 hours

7 - 8 hours

For details of other Morphy Richards products, please see our website: 5