Crockpot Cooking Tips For Delicious Meals

Crockpot cooking makes it incredibly easy to have a delicious dinner ready and waiting for you when you get home. Simply fill the crockpot with the proper ingredients, turn the knob, and off you go to work or school. Once you get back home, you will be welcomed by the enticing smell of a fully-prepared and delicious meal. Here are a few tips to ensure that your crockpot meals are not only convenient, but tasty as well.

Don't overfill the crockpot

Crockpot

One of the big mistakes new crockpot owners make is over filling it. When you are adding ingredients, try to keep the crockpot level somewhere between half-way and three quarters full. If the pot is filled beyond these amounts, your food will not be cooked properly. If the pot is under filled, you will likely come home to an overcooked dinner because your food cooked too quickly.

Keep vegetables on the bottom

If your recipe calls for fresh vegetables, be sure to place them on the bottom of the crockpot. Vegetables need more time to cook than meat, so you will want to keep them closer to the heat. On the other hand, if you are cooking with frozen vegetables, you can place above the meat because they take less time to cook.

Brown your meat first

A great way to enhance the flavor of your meat is to brown it before you put it into the pot. Browning renders the feat and caramelizes the natural sugars within meat, both of which work to enhance its flavor. After you brown your meat. try deglazing the pan with some wine or broth. Add these delicious pan drippings into your slow cooker for added flavor to your dish.

Keep the lid on

While your crockpot is busy doing its thing, try your best not to remove the lid. If you have to add more ingredients into the mix, add them at one time to prevent the crockpot from losing too much heat. It can be quite tempting to want to smell your food or take a quick taste, but you should try to keep it to a minimum. Each time you remove the lid, you can add about 20 to 30 minutes of extra cooking time.

In the hectic world we live in today, a crockpot is a great way to help free up some of your time. While your off working all day, why not have your crockpot simultaneously working for you?

Crockpot Cooking Tips For Delicious Meals

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