Now that we have you hooked on slow cooking I bet there are heaps of your old family favourite recipes that are traditionally cooked in the oven or on the stove top that you now want to have a go at in the slow cooker
And there is no reason you can’t for almost all of them!
Here’s some simple pointers to remember:
- Reduce the amount of liquid in your original recipe when slow cooking
Due to the condensation that forms in your slow cooker during cooking, recipes cooked in slow cookers need much less liquid then their traditional stove top or oven counterparts. As a general rule try reducing the total recipe liquid by approximately 1/3. - Use cheaper cuts of meat
Remember that almost any cut of meat is sure to be tender after slow cooking so if your recipe has a more expensive cut of meat feel free to substitute it for a cheaper cut for your slow cooker version - Adjust the amount of herbs/spices
Many recommend that when converting a regular recipe to slow cooker that fresh/dried herbs be reduced by half. - Adjust the time
See the chart below to convert your stove time & oven times to slow cooker times for your recipe - Arrange the ingredients
When filling your slow cooker place hard/root vegetables around the bottom/side of your slow cooker then place your meat on top - Take notes and experiment
It may take some trial and error to tweak your old favourite recipe to get it just right but by adjusting liquids and cooking times until you have it just right you’ll soon have a recipe you can use anywhere! Adjust liquids as you go along (adding or removing) and keep an eye on cooking times the first time. Take notes as you try new things so you’ll always know just what worked the best for you.
|
Stove Top & Oven |
Slow Cooking on LOW |
Slow Cooking on HIGH |
|
15 – 30 Minutes
|
4 – 6 Hours
|
1.5 – 2.5 Hours
|
|
45min – 1 Hours
|
6.5 – 8 Hours
|
3 – 4 Hours
|
|
1.5 – 2.5 Hours
|
9 – 12 Hours
|
4.5 – 6 Hours
|
|
3 – 5 Hours
|
12.5 – 18 Hours
|
5 – 7 Hours
|
WIth converting an oven baked dish to slow cooker when can you add a cheese topping ?
Thanks !
I tend to add cheese on top in the last half hour or so 🙂
need help: beef spareribs recipe 2.5 hours in oven 180 deg.
I have west bend slow cooker.
settings 1-5
What setting and how long. Will brown first
I’m not familiar with the cooker that has 1-5 settings but at a guess I’d do ribs nice and long and slow. Perhaps 6hrs or so on a 3 ish?
Hi,
I want to convert a oven slow cooked Christmas pudding to slow cooker.
it calls for 160c/140c fan for 6 hours.
what am I looking at for a slow cooker please?
also how far up the pudding bowl do I pour the water?
Thanks Bek
Hi Bek
I’d suggest having a look at our slow cooked Xmas puddings to find one with a similar ingredients to give you the best guide for times in your slow cooker 🙂
Pudding Recipe Here
Help! I’m making a 2 ingredient cake with packet cake and tin of fruit, on high for 1.5 to 2 hours. It has been an hour and it’s burning on the outside and mush on inside. How do I stop this happening in future?
Sounds like your cooker may be extra hot Jane?
Next time try it on low for longer
Or if you have a big enough slow cooker use a cake container inside it elevated to keep it up off the hot sides 🙂
Thankyou so much . I will try it longer next time
If I halve a recipe do I need to change the cooking time please. As most recipes are for 4 or more I am only wanting to cook for one. Thank you ?
I wouldn’t fully halve them but definitely reduce them
Bear in mind too that an emptier cooker will cook hotter 🙂
Hi,
This is really great but can you tell me if these same principles would apply to milky puddings such as Rice Pudding?
This is realy great to be able to use our old favourites in the slow cooker just love it and just changing the receipe around a little doesn’t lose
The flavour how good is that
Advise needed:
Can i substitute condensed milk with chocolate condensed milk to make chocolate fudge?
Talking about ovens, is it possible to use a oven just like a slow cooker? My oven lets me set the temperature as low as 30 ºC, so I could use a closed recipient and set a “standard” slow cooking temperature. Would that work, or I am missing something?
Hey how would I do a recipe the other way around. A slow cooker recipe in the oven if it’s 3-4 hrs on high
How long and what temp in the oven
And do I
Need to double ingredients
Thanks
so is it safe to say that you can divide the low cooking time in half to get the high cooking time
Not always no. Many things will burn or not taste as good as low and slow.
ok so I guess its up to the recipe you do that may be adjusted between high and low try and see first if it can be changed
Morning
I have a casserole recipe which requires 21/2 hours on 140 degrees fan how long do I need to allow in my slow cooker.
Many thanks
What sort of casserole is it? Like beef or chicken or lamb? And does it have hard veg like potatoes etc in it?
I want to make my Porcupine recipe, which has rice in it in my slow cooker. How would I do this?
Hi Dee
If you search porcupines in our recipe tab you’ll see we have several 🙂
Then you can compare yours to them and see if the same or similar
Hello
I want to do some soy chicken wings that usually takes about 1- 1/12 hours in the oven on 180 deg .. how long do I put it in slow cooker for please ? And if it already has the sauce on it , do I add water or not ?
Thank you
No water to add Nicole. Around 4hrs low for wings
Hi Paulene, I will be slow cooking a curry beef casserole , it calls for 2 cups of coconut cream, not sure how much I should reduce it down too .Thank you Paulene in advance.
As a general rule around 1/3 of the original amount. I’d go with around 3/4 cup
Thank you Paulene