Foods You Should Never Cook In Your Slow Cooker
Slow cookers are a real life saver when itcomes to preparing dinner on busy weeknights.
Is there anything better than walking intoyour house after a long day and being greeted
with the enticing smell of a home-cooked meal?
But contrary to popular belief, even the mightyslow cooker does have its limitations.
Here's a look at some foods you should neverprepare in a slow cooker.
Fish, chicken, and bacon
According to culinary producer and chef ClareLangan, "slow cookers are excellent at braising
or cooking things like tough cuts of meat…
Problems arise a lot when home cooks put quick-cookingproteins in the slow cooker.
Fish and white meat poultry come to mind.
Using lean proteins in a slow cooker missesthe point.
You are much better pan-searing or oven-roastingand cooking until just done."
That's because fish and boneless chicken areso lean they'll just become tough and dried
out in a slow cooker.
Unfortunately, so will bacon.
If you want to add these to your slow cookedmeal, your best bet is to cook them separately
and add them in right at the end.
And those aren't the only ones...
Cheese
Another ingredient you should only add tothe slow cooker right at the end is cheese.
According to food blogger Caroline Caron-Phelps,"cooking cheese for too long at a slow temperature
breaks down the whey and causes the cheeseto lump.
So what you end up with is a big oily mess…stirring the cheese in once the cooking process
is done, and leaving in for about 10 minutesto melt properly is the way to go."
You know what that means, Slow Cooker StockPhoto Lady!
Good steak
If you're splurging on a great steak for youranniversary, don't use your slow cooker.
The slow cooker is perfect for cheaper cutsof meat, because it tenderizes the meat over
hours and hours and cooking.
A quality steak is already tender, so doesn'tneed all that cooking time.
Save the slow cooker for weeknight meals,and keep your date night special by treating
your steak — and your partner — right.
Pasta
While pasta seems like one of the easiestdishes to prepare, it can actually be difficult
to get it just right.
The perfect pasta needs salted water and justthe right amount of boiling time.
But cooking pasta in a slow cooker gives youmuch less control and makes it very likely
the pasta will be overcooked.
And because pasta cooks so quickly and isso starchy, leaving it in the slow cooker
all day will cause it to become a disgusting,congealed lump.
Dinner anyone?
Long-grain rice
The slow cooker is not the best option forcooking rice, as it's difficult to make sure
it cooks evenly in there.
Typically the rice on the edges will becomeovercooked and taste hard and dry, while the
rice in the center will be undercooked.
According to Better Homes and Gardens, wildrice works better in the slow cooker, because
it's a sturdier grain, and can adapt.
Wine and alcohol
When you make a wine sauce on your stovetop,the alcohol will evaporate from the saucepan.
But when you cook wine or any other alcoholin a slow cooker, that alcohol has no place
to escape, because it gets trapped inside.
That may sound good, but in fact it will simplyadd an overpoweringly bitter alcohol taste
to your food.
Leave the wine where it was meant to be: inyour glass.
Dried beans
Kidney beans and other dried beans containa natural toxin that cooks off in boiling
water.
But if your slow cooker never comes to a boil,you could be serving...
TOXIC BEANS!!
The University of Minnesota recommends soakingyour beans in water for 12 hours, then boiling
them for ten minutes before adding them tothe slow cooker.
That should ensure that your famous chilistays famous for the right reasons — and
not because it killed somebody.
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If you're new, Subscribe! → http://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-Mashed Slow cookers are a real life saver when it comes to preparing dinner on busy weeknights. Is there anything better than walking into your house after a long day and being greeted with the enticing smell of a home-cooked meal? But contrary to popular belief, even the mighty slow cooker does have its limitations. Here's a look at some foods you should never prepare in a slow cooker… Fish, chicken, and bacon | 0:22 Cheese | 1:05 Good steak | 1:33 Pasta | 1:58 Long-grain rice | 2:27 Wine and alcohol | 2:49 Dried beans | 3:13 Read more here → http://www.mashed.com/87010/foods-never-cook-slow-cooker/ Website → http://www.mashed.com/ Like us → https://www.facebook.com/MashedFood/ Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/mashedfood/ Pinterest → https://www.pinterest.com/mashedfood/ Mashed is the ultimate destination for food lovers. Whether you're just learning how to cook or ready to take your kitchen skills to the next level, Mashed has all the tips and tricks you'll ever need to be a chef… Or at least enough hacks to help you fake it til you make it. We’ve got your back at every step, from grocery shopping smarts to serving a perfectly prepared dish. Would you rather eat out than whip it up yourself? Mashed has all the info you’ll need for that, too — from the best and worst foods to order at your favorite restaurants, to what today’s most popular chefs really have up their sleeves. No matter what kind of foodie you are, Mashed has your recipe for success.