Although you can use your slow cooker any time of year, many people associate them with the warm, rich foods of autumn and winter. It’s true that slow cookers are ideal for meaty stews and other hearty winter dishes. They are also economical.
Regardless of what style or size of slow cooker you have, there are other benefits to using a slow cooker as well. Here are some to consider.
1 – The Busy Woman’s Best Friend
The slow cooker can be a busy woman’s best friend, especially if you are going to be gone all day. While quick-cooking foods can be convenient too, a slow cooker allows you to do something else all day while dinner cooks. There are some breakfast foods you can allow to cook all night, too, so that you can awake to a hot breakfast or have a meal ready to take to a morning or afternoon potluck.
These are also great for work-at-home moms too. If you’re busy running a business all day, you’re just as busy as someone who works away from home. Take advantage of the slow cooker.
2 – Make Extra and Freeze the Left-overs
One of the great advantages of the slow cooker is that you can cook extra food for the freezer. You can have a slow cooker going any day of the week, including days where you are cooking regular meals, and simply freeze the meal when it’s done. If you’re an empty nester and have a large crock pot, use it for this purpose. You can freeze either single serving containers or double servings either one. You can also do both.
3 – Use Cheaper Cuts of Meat
Slow cookers allow you to get away with cheaper cuts of meat. The moisture contained in a slow cooker combines with a low temperature to tenderize tough meats and connective tissue. Also, you can make a very tasty stock using cheap cuts of meat and bones.
4 – Energy Efficient
A slow cooker on your counter uses a lot less energy than a conventional oven. Even though it’s on for hours, the slow cooker uses low temperatures and contained heat, so there’s less energy output needed to keep it hot.
5 – Extremely Versatile
You’d be amazed at what you can make with your slow cooker. Most people associate them with roasts and stews, and slow cookers are great for that. However, you can also make jams, cobblers, sauces, desserts, pasta, and even bread in your slow cooker. You can even make yogurt with the right recipe.
6 – Clean-Up is a Snap
While you can’t submerge the heating unit that surrounds the crock in the middle, you can submerge the crock. It’s usually very easy to clean, as most crocks are glazed ceramic. Also, with many recipes, you have a complete meal in one pot, so you don’t have lots of saucepans and bowls to wash.
7 – Lower Cooking Temperatures
Have you ever been frustrated by burned, scorched, or stuck-to-the-bottom-of-the-pan foods? One of the things that a slow cooker can help avoid is burned food. The low temperatures mean you won’t have to deal with those high-heat problems. Foods can burn and get scorched in a slow cooker, so you still need to keep an eye on it, especially for items like boxed stuffing mix or adding grated cheese on top. If it’s left too long the cheese will scorch.
8 -Foods Taste Better
More often than not, a roast done in the slow cooker will taste much better than one done in the oven. This is due to the longer cooking time. The flavors have time to come out and set in. Your spices will have more time to mingle with the other ingredients too.
