Welcome back to 5 Days of Using Your Slow Cooker.
If you missed the earlier posts, check out:
Day 1 – Freezer to Slow Cooker, Week 4 with Shopping List Printable
Day 2 – Slow Cooker Tips & Tricks
Today is Day 3 and we’re going to discuss the foods that you should avoid or at least delay cooking in your slow cooker.
1. Dairy – Dairy products tend to separate and clump up when cooked at high heats. If you’re needing to put dairy in, add it at the end and you’ll still have the results you were hoping for.
2. Couscous – It will be best to cook this on the stove and add it at the end as well.
3. Pasta – It is best to cook according to the directions on the package and then add it to the recipe at the end. Sometimes, you can cook it for about 5 minutes and then add it to the slow cooker with the other ingredients, like in the Macaroni & Cheese recipe I shared earlier this week. You can also turn the crockpot up to high at the end and add your pasta directly to the slow cooker for about 45 minutes to an hour and it should cook to the consistency you’re wanting.
4. Quick Oats – If your recipe calls for oats, you should try to use a thicker cut than quick oats. Rolled regular oats or even steal cut oats are a good option.
5. Instant Rice – It will become mushy if cooked all day in the crock pot. It is best to use a long grain type of rice.
6. Seafood & Fish – Yuck. Mush. It is possible to do it, but once again, add it at the end of cooking time, or just do it for very short times. Fish typically cooks pretty fast anyway, so no need to slow cook it.
7. Fat – If at all possible, trim fats off of your cuts of meat. Large amounts of fat will increase your cooking temperature and produce inconsistent results. Burning could result.
There’s a common theme in most of these foods, that I listed. Add them at the end of cooking time. So, basically, most foods that you’d want to eat, you can cook in a slow cooker, but you may have some more specific instructions of when to add them.
Are there any I missed? Feel free to add them in the comments section!
This post is part of a 5 Day series I’m doing with iHomeschool Network. There are 19 other bloggers, sharing on many different topics. Some of the topics include 5 Days of Family Games, 5 Days of Summer Un-School and 5 Days of Oven Free Dinners.
