Converting Recipes for the Crockpot

In going sorting my recipe collection, I'm finding lots of kitchen tips that I've tucked away! I think this one was cut out from one of the Taste of Home magazines.

* Find a similar recipe that is intended for a slow cooker. Use it as a guide with regards to the weight and size of your meat and veggie pieces, and adjust the liquid in your standard recipe to mirror that of the crock pot recipe. The heat setting and cooking time should be similar.

* You'll likely need to reduce the amount of liquid because there is no evaporation in crock pots. Although if the standard recipe doesn't call for any liquid at all, you'll want to add half a cup of water, broth, or juice.

* When making stews and soups, place the veggies on the bottom and up the sides of your slow cooker. To get them to go up the sides, make sort of a well in them in which to set the meat.

* Canned condensed cream soups can be substituted for dairy as they'll hold up to the longer cooking time without breaking down. To be safe, you may want to add them near the end of the cooking time.

Here are some rules of thumb for converting cooking time:

Conventinal Recipe: 15 to 30 minutes
Crock Pot Low: 4 to 6 hours
Crock Pot High: 1 1/2 to 2 hours

Conventinal Recipe: 35 to 45 minutes
Crock Pot Low: 6 to 8 hours
Crock Pot High: 3 to 4 hours

Conventinal Recipe: 50 minutes or more
Crock Pot Low: 8 to 10 hours
Crock Pot High: 4 to 6 hours

And remember, to keep your kitchen cool, you can plug your crock pot in outside, on a porch, or in a garage (as long as you have an outlet available).

For more kitchen tips, visit Tammy's Recipes.