Fresh Herbs
Cooks often use herbs like parsley, basil, and cilantro when preparing meals. These herbs taste best fresh, as they develop a bitter flavor when cooked on low heat for a long time. It is better to introduce them at the last steps of the cooking process. This way, they will not lose their taste. To bring out the real taste of herbs in your dish, use the dried ones. They last long in the cooking process.
Alcohol
If there is one thing that is not to be done when cooking in a slow cooker, it is to add wine or beer to a dish. This does add an extra dimension of flavor to it. The problem is that the alcohol doesn’t have a chance to evaporate as it would when you heat the mixture in a pot on the stove, for example. This means that your dish may develop an interesting, quite possibly unpleasant flavor of alcohol. If the recipe has a bit of alcohol, it is advised to cook the alcohol first on the pan and then add it to the slow cooker.
Rice
Do not prepare rice in a slow cooker. It has a tendency of sticking to the bottom of the pan and burning. This makes it have a very poor texture that is neither fluffy nor crispy. If you want to prepare any of those dishes with rice, you should avoid adding the rice to the slow cooker. It is best that you cook the rice separately and incorporate it near the end of the cooking time.
Pasta
Also, pasta does not do well when prepared in a slow cooker. Under intense heat it becomes soft and doesn’t look very appealing to eat. I was able to learn this the hard way when I once tried to make lasagna in the slow cooker. The noodles became soggy and stuck together into a single massive portion that resembled a grayish. paste.
Leafy Greens
Avoid cooking delicate green leafy vegetables like spinach, kale, or arugula for too long, especially on low heat. They tend to lose their texture and become soft and watery. They end up as lumps that are not pleasant to the eye and will not improve the looks of your food.
Delicate Vegetables
There are some vegetables that do not work well in slow cooking such as zucchini, bell peppers, and asparagus. They become soft and tasteless after quite some time of being cooked. These are some of the most sensitive vegetables; it is best to incorporate them towards the final stages of the cooking process.
Lean Meats
Some of the lean meats like chicken breasts or pork loin become very dry in a slow cooker. They turn out to be tough and tasteless. Slow cookers are particularly suitable for gravy cuts, fatty cuts, or beef chuck or pork shoulder, for instance. These meats become tender and juicy after a long time of cooking. If you have to use lean meat, then you should ensure that you add liquid or fats to increase the tenderness of the meat.
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Bacon and Crispy Ingredients
Searing bacon or onions with other food in a slow cooker may seem like a good idea. However, by the time the meal is ready, the bacon or onions will be soft and not crispy. Some guidelines can be followed. For instance, add foods that are likely to become soft such as the crispy ones towards the last process of cooking. Alternatively, add them just before serving to enhance their crispiness.
Too Much Liquid
This one is a bit of a technicality. It’s not about a certain item of the list but rather the quantity of the liquid you are going to use. Slow cookers do not have much evaporation so if you put a lot of liquid at the beginning of cooking, your food will be too soft. Starting off with a smaller amount is preferable.
While slow cookers are a great tool to use when making juicy and tender foods with rich taste, not every food is good for slow cooking. When you use the slow cooking method to prepare a dish, make sure the ingredients can withstand long cooking times. Sauté delicate foods that overcook easily on the stove instead.
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