Slow cooking secrets

For anyone who has ever thrown a bunch of ingredients into a slow cooker, fantasized all day about the incredible dish inside and then opened the lid a few hours later only to find sloppy mush, don't despair.

Here’s a few tips to help!

1. Don’t skip preheating

A lot of people will throw in their ingredients and then turn on the slow cooker, but a slow cooker is like a small oven and getting it going for that extra 20 minutes matters a lot.

This is the most commonly overlooked step and we’d advise that all you lovely home cooks should always start by preheating your devices while assembling other ingredients.

2. Start with room temperature meat

Many people who regularly use a slow cooker know that meat should usually be browned before it is added to the device. Like most other cooking methods, starting with cold meat is a slow cooker no-no.

Room temperature meat is more relaxed and flexible, and the natural juices are evenly distributed and remember, placing the meat in a saucepan isn't the only way to brown it. We would also suggest roasting the meat at 400 degrees until it is browned.

3. Add gingerbread cookies to meat dishes

Yes you read that right! Believe it or not, adding crumbled gingerbread or gingersnap cookies to meat dishes like beef stew, or pot roast is a well-kept secret of in-the-know slow cooker pros.

The gingerbread cookies flavour the sauce and give the pan juices an amazing texture!

4. Only use wine that you'd want to drink

Never cook with turned wine. Each ingredient that's used should be at its best. Our local wine buff Noel Young Wines can advise you on this!

Simply a long cooking process is not going to make up for a bad product. It's like baking a cake and using cheap chocolate — you have to use the good stuff.

Using wines that are fairly dry and have a high alcohol content is a great touch because they add more nuance and complex flavors to a slow cooker braised dish than a sugary wine or one with a low alcohol content.

5. Know the slow cooker's limits

The high setting is for when you just want to heat things up. If you want vegetables to stay whole, don't put them in the slow cooker on high for 12 hours unless they're hard-shelled, like squashes.

Delicate vegetables like zucchini or peppers will melt into nothing. And that's a bad thing for zucchinis but can be great for peppers. When you're slow cooking vegetables, put the slow cooker on a delayed start for about three to four hours and keep it set to low.

We hope those small tips help! Drop us a comment to let us know what you think!