Slow Cooker Hacks For Busy Moms Who Simply Can't Spend All Damn Day in the Kitchen

Updated on 6/26/2018 at 2:55 PM

Flickr user Your Best Digs

More often than not, the idea of having to cook dinner after a long day of work or being home with the kids is particularly daunting. Enter: your handy-dandy slow cooker, which already makes cooking meals easier but can actually be used in even more efficient ways to ensure you have a meal on the table with minimal fuss.

Scroll through for our favorite tips and tricks for using your slow cooker, and make homecooking weeknight meals as easy as possible.

Serve big drink batches at parties.

If you're making a big batch of a warm drink, serve it in the slow cooker on the warm setting — just pop a ladle inside so guests can serve themselves.

Cook anything in a slow cooker with the appropriate time conversions.

Have a favorite oven-roasted recipe? It can be cooked in a slow cooker thanks to these handy conversions:

Traditional Oven or Stovetop Low	Low Slow Cooker Setting (about 200°F)	High Slow Cooker Setting (about 300°F)
15-30 minutes	4-6 hours	1.5-2.5 hours
35-45 minutes	6-8 hours	3-4 hours
50 minutes-3 hours	8-10 hours	4-6 hours

Brown any meats in your slow cooker recipe on the stove first.

To really bring out the flavor in the meat you're cooking, brown the top, bottom, and sides on the stove first, then toss into the slow cooker to cook throughout.

Don’t open the lid unless you’re adding an ingredient or are required to stir.

Unless your recipe specifically says to open the lid to either stir or add an ingredient toward the end, don't open up that lid out of curiosity! Each time you open the lid, it adds 20 to 30 minutes of cooking time, thanks to all of the heat that's been released.

But if you have too much liquid or water, do open the lid for the last 30 minutes.

If your recipe shouldn't be as full of liquid as it is, or water from an ingredient (like a pepper) is being retained at the bottom, cook your meal with the lid off for the last 30 minutes or so, so that some of the water can cook off.

Don’t overfill your slow cooker, especially when cooking meats.

Slow cookers should only be filled about two thirds of the way to ensure everything has room to cook, especially the meat.

Use liners to avoid excessive clean-up.

These Reynolds Slow Cooker Liners ($9 per 2-pack) make it so you're not left scrubbing and scraping leftover food stuck to the insert for hours after enjoying your meal.

Reynolds Slow Cooker Liners

From

Or, if you don’t have any, line the insert with aluminum foil.

Good ol' aluminum foil works the same magic as the liners, but is probably already in your house.

If your slow cooker doesn’t have a programmable timer, use a plug-in timer.

Any 24-hour plug-in mechanical timer ($9) gives you the freedom to time your slow-cooker meal beyond the typical four- and six-hour settings on those versions that don't allow you to adjust the time manually.

24-hour plug-in mechanical timer

From

Clean the inside using white vinegar and baking soda.

If, after cleaning, you're still left with that weird white residue on the inside of your Crock-Pot, follow these easy instructions to get it thoroughly clean:

Fill with water to right above the leftover food line.
Add one cup (for a 6-quart cooker) or half cup (for 3-quart cooker) distilled vinegar.
Slowly add one cup (for 6-quart cooker) or half cup (for 3-quart cooker) baking soda, waiting for the bubbles to die down before adding more.
Set the cooker for an hour on the low setting.
Remove the lid, scrub with a sponge or brush, and repeat for four hours.
Let cool for an hour, then rinse with soapy water and dry before next use.

Cook large pieces of meat, rather than small chunks.

One of the things slow cookers do best is cooking large pieces of meat evenly and throughout with no fuss. The result of low and steady cooking? Tender meat that cuts through like butter and melts in your mouth.

Go beyond dinner and slow-cook breakfast, dessert, and snacks.

Slow cookers aren't just for making delicious and hearty warm dinners — try making breakfast, desserts, and snacks in your cooker and open up a world of slow-cooking possibilities.

Prep all of a meal’s ingredients and freeze until ready to use.

Bag up all of the ingredients and seasonings you'd need for a full meal in the slow cooker, label it, and throw it in the freezer so it's ready when you need it!

But don’t forget to defrost them first!

Cooking food that hasn't been thoroughly defrosted could result in bacteria growth, as they won't come to the cooking temperature quick enough.

Slow-cook lasagna and other baked pasta dishes.

Forget cooking noodles on the stove, layering them in an oven-safe dish, and salivating for far too long in-between. Construct your uncooked lasagna in the slow cooker, set the timer, and forget about it until it's time to dig in.

Add pasta, rice, dairy, and soft vegetables at the end.

To avoid mushy veggies and pastas, add all of those ingredients at the end of the cooking period, just long enough for them to cook through. Same goes for dairy products — letting them cook for too long could result in curdles.

Use your slow cooker to keep dishes warm during parties.

Even if you're not initially cooking something in the slow cooker, like a can of baked beans, use the warm setting of your cooker to keep dishes warm during a party, especially if you know people will be grazing all night.

Cut vegetables uniformly.

The best way to ensure equal cooking is to chop all of the veggies the same size (even if they're softer veggies you're adding in last — see number 16).

Cook most things on low, if possible.

For best results, cook your meals on low when possible.