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Time is precious.  No one loves to stand for hours in the kitchen after a long day to prepare meals. Slow cookers are a great time-saving appliance that helps you have a warm delicious meal on the table without having to spend hours in the kitchen.

When I think slow cooker I think soups, stews, and chili, or all in one dishes like casseroles. During the holiday season, slow cookers are great for preparing side dishes which frees up space in your oven.  I also love to use my slow cooker to prepare dips for parties. Slow cookers aren’t just for main courses and sides, you can use them for breakfast too!

What is a Slow Cooker?

Not only are they time savers, but for individuals who aren’t able to stand to cook for long periods of time, they make it easy to create healthy home-cooked meals. There is a ceramic, or porcelain vessel that sits inside or on top of a heating element. The lid fits on top of the vessel and keeps moisture inside.

The intent of a slow cooker is to slowly cook your food while you’re away. Meal prep is simple because everything goes into one pot.  You turn it on and come back hours later to a delicious home-cooked meal.

Slow Cooker vs Crock-Pot

Simply put, Crock-Pot is a brand. They sell slow cookers, pressure cookers, and other kitchen appliances. The Pampered Chef Rockcrok Slow Cooker gets great reviews. If you already own the Pampered Chef Rockcrok Everyday Pan or Dutch Oven you only need to buy the Slow Cooker Stand, otherwise you can purchase the Rockcrok 4-QT Slow Cooker Set.

Other popular slow cookers include Cuisinart 3-in-1 Cook Central Multicooker, All-Clad 6.5-Quart Slow Cooker, and Hamilton Beach Portable 6-Quart Set & Forget Digital Programmable Slow Cooker

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Benefits of Using a Slow Cooker

Whether you are home doing chores, away at work, or sleeping, a slow cooker will save you time. All of the ingredients cook together in one pot so clean-up is quick and easy. Reynolds Slow Cooker Liners make clean-up even easier.

Slow cookers put out less heat than ovens so having a home-cooked meal won’t put extra heat into your house on a warm summer day. They also use less electricity than an oven so they help to save electricity and they make batch cooking easy. Freeze leftover portions for another time.

Slow Cooker Tips

• Spraying the inside of the slow cooker with cooking spray helps to make clean up a breeze.
• Keep the lid in place during cooking.  If you remove the lid it slows the cooking time – you lose about 15 minutes of cooking time every time you lift the lid.
• Add milk and other dairy products during the last hour of cooking.  This helps to prevent curdling.
• Add soft vegetables like zucchini during the last hour of cooking.
• If you are making a roast or chicken with vegetables.  Put the meat on top of the vegetables.
• Add pasta or other grains toward the end of cooking so they don’t become too soft.
• Avoid overfilling your slow cooker.  A good rule of thumb is no more than 3/4 full and no less than 1/2 full.

Slow Cooker Recipes

This time of year one of my favorite things to make in the slow cooker is chili.  This Slow Cooker Vegan Chili recipe is on my list to try out this winter.  The Emilie Eats blog did a nice recipe round-up of 30 Cozy Vegan Slow Cooker recipes.  For those of you looking for more plant-based slow cooker recipes – these recipes sound DELICIOUS.

Slow cookers aren’t just for dinner.  Imagine waking up to the smell of maple and brown sugar coming from the kitchen.  This slow cooker maple brown sugar oatmeal recipe cooks overnight so when you wake up breakfast is ready!  Apples make great desserts and this Slow Cooker Apple Crisp recipe sounds amazing.

Food Safety for Slow Cookers

Not everyone loves to cook or knows how to cook. Slow cookers are a great appliance for individuals who are just starting out in the kitchen. Slow cookers definitely save time in the kitchen but caution should be taken to use the appliance correctly to ensure food is prepared safely. The United States Department of Agriculture gives Four Important Slow Cooker Food Safety Tips.

A google search for slow cooker recipes will give you tons of great options. Part of the fun of slow cooking is experimenting. Make sure to come back here and leave a comment with some of your favorite slow cooker recipes.