Breville BSC300W manual Beginner’s Guide to Slow Cooking, Preparing meat and poultry

A Beginner’s Guide to Slow Cooking

In years gone by, food cooked in large pots and allowed to simmer for hours, was full of flavour, moist and tender. The Breville Avance Slow Cooker is designed to produce these same results, whilst leaving you time to do other things, making it perfect for today’s busy lifestyles.

Following is a guide to help simplify the process of slow cooking, allowing you to obtain maximum satisfaction from your Avance Slow Cooker.

We have also included helpful hints and recipes for successful slow cooking.

Preparing meat and poultry

Select the leanest cuts when purchasing meat. Trim the meat or poultry of any visible fat. If possible, purchase chicken portions without the skin. Otherwise, the slow cooking process will result in extra liquid being formed from the fat as it melts.

For casserole type recipes, cut the meat into cubes, approximately 2.5cm to 3cm. Slow cooking allows less tender cuts of meat to be used. The bones can be left on meat or poultry if liked and will help to keep meat tender during cooking.

Preparing vegetables

Vegetables should be cut into small even-sized pieces to ensure more even cooking. Frozen vegetables must be thawed before adding to other foods cooking in the Avance Slow Cooker.

When cooking vegetables and meat together in the Avance Slow Cooker , the vegetables can cook at a slower rate than the meat. To gain the best results, position the vegetables on the base and sides of the Avance Slow Cooker and place the meat on top.

Preparing dried beans and pulses

If time permits, overnight soaking of dried beans and pulses is preferable. After soaking, drain and place in the removable crockery bowl of the Avance Slow Cooker and cover with sufficient water to reach double their volume. Cook beans on the High setting for 2-4 hours or until tender. Pre-soaked beans and pulses will cook a little faster.

USING THE TEMPERATURE CONTROL SETTINGS

This Slow Cooker has three settings: Low, High and Auto. Use the recommended guidelines offered in the recipe to determine cooking time and heat setting. Dishes can be prepared well in advance of mealtime and cooking time regulated so that food is ready to serve at a convenient time.

It is almost impossible to overcook in the Avance Slow Cooker particularly when using the Low setting. A general rule of thumb for most slow cooked meat and vegetable recipes is:

LOW	6 to 10 hours
HIGH	3 to 4 hours
AUTO	4 to 6 hours

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