Stovetop simmer --> crockpot?
April 4, 2015 8:51 AM
With recipes that call to "bring to a boil and then simmer for 2 [or 3 or 4] hours," how do I translate this to a crockpot?
I have a number of recipes (largely for braising meat or making Chinese-style noodle soups) that all have this ending step of bringing the liquid in the pot to a boil and then simmering for several hours on the stove. This is obviously not that difficult but has the disadvantage of me not being able to leave my house while this is happening.
But now that I have a (birthday-gift) crockpot, I feel like this is the perfect application for this. It has high and low settings and a timer that goes up to some ridiculous time like 13 hours or so.
How do I translate this step? Should I just skip the boiling and then put it all on the crockpot (on low? on high?)
I have a number of recipes (largely for braising meat or making Chinese-style noodle soups) that all have this ending step of bringing the liquid in the pot to a boil and then simmering for several hours on the stove. This is obviously not that difficult but has the disadvantage of me not being able to leave my house while this is happening.
But now that I have a (birthday-gift) crockpot, I feel like this is the perfect application for this. It has high and low settings and a timer that goes up to some ridiculous time like 13 hours or so.
How do I translate this step? Should I just skip the boiling and then put it all on the crockpot (on low? on high?)
I would put it on 'high' for an hour, and then drop it to low for however long they want it to simmer. In my crock pot, "high" is a very low boil and it takes about an hour for the liquid to reach that temp, and "low" is basically simmer. I'm sure everyone will suggest different things since every crockpot varies a bit.
posted by gatorae at 9:04 AM on April 4, 2015
posted by gatorae at 9:04 AM on April 4, 2015
According to The Joy of Cooking:
To adapt standard recipes for the slow cooker, estimate 2 hours on low or 1 hour on high in a slow cooker for every 30 minutes of cooking time in the original recipe. Just as for a stew or roast, brown the meat and saute the vegetables to maximize flavor. Vegetables, especially root vegetables, cook more slowly than meat and should be placed in the bottom of the slow cooker so they can heat directly in the cooking liquid. To compensate for the steam that will collect, decrease the liquid called for in the oven or stovetop recipe by 1/2 cup.
I wouldn't worry too much about the "bring to a boil" part of the recipe - just get it to where you would do that step and then put it in the slow cooker on low. High and low settings on slow cookers are not standardized, but generally low is just below a boil and high is just above it.
posted by backseatpilot at 9:05 AM on April 4, 2015
To adapt standard recipes for the slow cooker, estimate 2 hours on low or 1 hour on high in a slow cooker for every 30 minutes of cooking time in the original recipe. Just as for a stew or roast, brown the meat and saute the vegetables to maximize flavor. Vegetables, especially root vegetables, cook more slowly than meat and should be placed in the bottom of the slow cooker so they can heat directly in the cooking liquid. To compensate for the steam that will collect, decrease the liquid called for in the oven or stovetop recipe by 1/2 cup.
I wouldn't worry too much about the "bring to a boil" part of the recipe - just get it to where you would do that step and then put it in the slow cooker on low. High and low settings on slow cookers are not standardized, but generally low is just below a boil and high is just above it.
posted by backseatpilot at 9:05 AM on April 4, 2015
I would reduce the liquid to near what the end result would be and cook in the crockpot as usual.
posted by Aranquis at 9:16 AM on April 4, 2015
posted by Aranquis at 9:16 AM on April 4, 2015
In case it matters I have literally the Crock-Pot brand of slow cooker (oof, they've really lost that generic trademark battle, haven't they?)
posted by andrewesque at 9:57 AM on April 4, 2015
posted by andrewesque at 9:57 AM on April 4, 2015
Mostly the whole 'bring to a boil' thing is about ensuring a relatively standard temperature, quickly. Boiling something means it's 100C (ish), and then backing down from there attempts to make sure the recipe time is relatively accurate.
For braising just throw everything in the pot, turn it on, and leave it alone. (Ideally brown proteins first of course).
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 10:00 AM on April 4, 2015
For braising just throw everything in the pot, turn it on, and leave it alone. (Ideally brown proteins first of course).
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 10:00 AM on April 4, 2015
Mostly the whole 'bring to a boil' thing is about ensuring a relatively standard temperature, quickly. Boiling something means it's 100C (ish), and then backing down from there attempts to make sure the recipe time is relatively accurate.
This is actually super helpful! I'm a "good cook" in that I can follow recipes fairly well but I often still don't know why I do some of the things that I do. In this particular case I didn't know if bringing it to a boil and then to a simmer was some sort of magical stew/braise-creation step.
posted by andrewesque at 10:07 AM on April 4, 2015
This is actually super helpful! I'm a "good cook" in that I can follow recipes fairly well but I often still don't know why I do some of the things that I do. In this particular case I didn't know if bringing it to a boil and then to a simmer was some sort of magical stew/braise-creation step.
posted by andrewesque at 10:07 AM on April 4, 2015
Nope, mainly just time-saving and recipe accuracy.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 10:14 AM on April 4, 2015
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 10:14 AM on April 4, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Lyn Never at 8:57 AM on April 4, 2015