Crockpot recipes that do well with long hours

[Anonymous]

I have a crockpot and generally like using it, but so many of the recipes have cooking hours of 4-6 hours or less, which to me defeats the whole purpose of the thing - having food ready when we get home from work (more like 10 hours away from the house). Any favorite recipes that do well or OK with the longer cooking time? I should say, my crockpot does have a timer and can keep warm after things are done, but I find it's a pretty hot "warm" and can burn things.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I've found adding extra liquid helps things not to burn when on "warm" for a couple of hours when I get home.

[Anonymous]

Most recipes that call for 4-6 hours on high actually taste better done for 8-10 hours on low (with the one caveat that meat needs to reach a safe internal temperature within 2 hours).

If I'm following a meat-heavy recipe that says to cook for 4-6 hours on high, I'll usually put it on high, set the timer for 2 hours, and let it spend the rest of the day on warm. It tends to work better than the actual recipe.

[Anonymous]

Tips on not burning:

* start with the shortest cooking time suggested
* make sure the pot is 2/3 - 3/4 full. This can be difficult when you have a 6+ qt slow cooker like I have (but it was the smallest with a timer).
* if it isn't that full, it can help to either put a sheet of foil on the top of the contents,
* OR put the food in a smaller dish inside the crock, then a water bath

Although my friends who work at the USDA would scold me for saying this, you can try putting the meat in still frozen. USDA will tell you that the meat will spend too long in the "danger zone" if you do this, but the authors of various cooking blogs I've read have done this with success.

[Anonymous]

OP here - thanks for the great ideas! I would have never thought of using the shorter time. Brilliant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Although my friends who work at the USDA would scold me for saying this, you can try putting the meat in still frozen. USDA will tell you that the meat will spend too long in the "danger zone" if you do this, but the authors of various cooking blogs I've read have done this with success.

Well, the ones that killed themselves didn't get to write a blog entry about the experience.

OP, another good option if you want to let it cook until you get home is to do a soup since most soups only get better with additional cooking and they're extremely hard to burn.

I don't like soups that have no texture, so when I make a crockpot soup I prep all of the aromatics (celery, carrots, etc.) but put only half of them in the soup. Then, when I get home from work, I toss the remaining aromatics in and let it cook another 20-30 minutes. That way there's still some bite.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't like soups that have no texture, so when I make a crockpot soup I prep all of the aromatics (celery, carrots, etc.) but put only half of them in the soup. Then, when I get home from work, I toss the remaining aromatics in and let it cook another 20-30 minutes. That way there's still some bite.

Great idea!

[Anonymous]

I've done these for 10 hours on low (we're also away from the house for a long time). I typically add more liquid (if it fits)

Beef Stew
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/slow-cooker-beef-stew-i/detail.aspx

Chicken Tortilla soup
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/slow-cooker-chicken-tortilla-soup/detail.aspx

[Anonymous]

The fattier cuts of meat do much much better in long hours than the leaner cuts of meat. I'e. Chicken thighs come out better than breasts.

[Anonymous]

Lean meat in a crockpot is atrocious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've done these for 10 hours on low (we're also away from the house for a long time). I typically add more liquid (if it fits)

Beef Stew
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/slow-cooker-beef-stew-i/detail.aspx

Chicken Tortilla soup
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/slow-cooker-chicken-tortilla-soup/detail.aspx

This may be a really dumb question, but what is "beef stew meat"? I think my family would really like this recipe!

[Anonymous]

Grocery stores (or the meat guy at the farmers' market) usually sells packages of "stew meat". They are chunks of Chuck Roast (I think) cut into 1 inch pieces. You of course could cut up your own into pieces.

[Anonymous]

yum, thanks so much for the recipes.

[Anonymous]

Stew meat is whatever the butcher has left over. Its better to buy shoulder or chuck (but sometimes the stew meat is a great deal and takes no time at all to prep. . . )

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most recipes that call for 4-6 hours on high actually taste better done for 8-10 hours on low (with the one caveat that meat needs to reach a safe internal temperature within 2 hours).

If I'm following a meat-heavy recipe that says to cook for 4-6 hours on high, I'll usually put it on high, set the timer for 2 hours, and let it spend the rest of the day on warm. It tends to work better than the actual recipe.

Yes, exactly.

Try America's Test Kitchen, OP, for recipes. They have an entire cookbook dedicated to the slow cooker.