Free 50 Top Slow Cooker Recipes - Easy One Pot Recipes For The Whole Family (Easy and Healthy Cookbooks) by Sarah Stevens

Getting the most out of your slow cooker or crock pot
    Before you embark on your slow cooker journey, here are a few tips and tricks to take your meals from nominal to phenomenal :
     
Make sure you use a slow cooker that is the right size for your meal. If it’s too full or, on the converse, doesn’t have enough in it, it will affect the outcome of your meal as it won’t cook as well.
Every time you remove the lid, you’re slowing the cooking process, so try to resist the urge to peek at your yummy meal until it should be ready and you’re trying to make sure it’s done (unless the recipe says to). Yes, it smells good when you release the aroma into the kitchen, but you’ll be able to taste your masterpiece soon enough. Keep the moisture in your meal instead of in the air around you.
Don’t worry about stirring your slow cooker meal. The recipes are designed to cook just as they are, no mixing required. (This takes away your excuse to continue lifting the lid!)
Sear your meat or vegetables in a pan before adding them to the slow cooker if you have time. This seals in their juices and nutrients and creates better tasting food as an end product. Add some water to whatever juice and meat pieces are left in the pan and pour that into the slow cooker as well for some additional flavor.
Don’t add frozen meat to your slow cooker. As it takes longer to get it in a safe heat zone (above 40 degrees F), you risk the formation of bacteria by using food that has to thaw before it cooks. Just put your slow cooker ingredients in the fridge the night before to make sure they’re ready to go the next morning.
Don’t cook whole chickens or huge roasts in a slow cooker. The meat will cook unevenly and, like the frozen foods, it will stay in an unsafe temperature zone for too long. Get past this by cutting your meat into smaller portions, thereby allowing it to cook evenly and safely.
Put your vegetables in before the meat. That’s right. The vegetables will actually take longer to cook, so you’ll want them on the bottom of the cooker. Also, make sure they’re all cut around the same size so that they cook at the same rate. If you have some small pieces and some large, you may end up with overcooked and undercooked bits.
Be cautious of how much water you put in with your meat. You don’t actually have to cover the meat for it to be juicy and tender. Think about when you cook a roast in the oven; it’s the same thing. Adding a little water for some moisture and to make some gravy at the end is okay, but anything more is a waste.
Remove excess fat from your cuts of meat. It isn’t necessary for taste, so why add extra pounds to your body? If you notice that a lot of fat forms at the top of your slow cooker, dip a piece of bread lightly on the top to soak up all the excess.
Also, don’t worry about buying the best cuts of meat. It’s unnecessary and a waste of money as it will all cook around the same.
Use the right temperature. Most slow cookers have both high and low settings. Depending on what you have in it and how long before you want to eat, you should pick the setting that best suits your needs. A good rule to follow is that it will take your food twice as long to cook on low as it does on high. So, if you want your meal around lunch time, you may want to use high, but if it’s a warm dinner you’re after, then low is more appropriate. Having said that coking on low usually creates more tender meat so is what I recommend.
    Using a slow cooker will allow you to make healthy, satisfying meals even when your schedule is packed full. Now, let’s put what you’ve learned to use with great recipes like these:

Temperature and Weight Conversions
    Oven temperature

    If using a fan-forced oven, your cooking time may be a little quicker, so start checking your food a little earlier.

 
    Mass(weight)

Pork Slow Cooker Recipes
    Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder
    A slow roasted pork shoulder is one of the best, special meals that you