Cooking Tools

Cheaper Meat for Slow Cookers Even if you know nothing about beef and what the various parts are called, you can pick the right ones. Just look at the price tags. There are many more cuts on a cow that require long, slow cooking than there are ...

Eggs and Slow Cookers The slow cooker is very successful with egg dishes because eggs need to cook at a low temperature to remain tender. The protein in an egg becomes hard at 165°F, which is just about what the slow cooker heats to on Low. Egg...

Correct Amounts for Slow Cookers When you're cooking conventionally, it's important to remember that white meat cooks a bit faster than dark meat. When you're using a slow cooker, the difference between the parts is so negligible that they are n...

Party Pleasers A great advantage of serving stews at buffet parties is that your guests don't have to grow extra arms to eat their meals. The pieces of meat in stews are bite-size, so a fork is all that's needed. I suggest serving stews in shall...

Jump-Start Dinner Cooker Caveats Bacteria have a better chance of growing if food has been partially cooked and then re-refrigerated That's why it's okay to cook onions but not brown meat. Slow Savvy You can easily make salad dressings at home i...

Glorious Garnishes Slow Savvy If you have problems separating strips of bacon, pull off the total number of strips you want and place the whole block in the skillet. Within a few minutes, the slices will soften, and they'll be easy to pull apart...

Cooking with Cheese Dairy products are not treated kindly by the slow cooker. Cheeses, cream, and milk tend to curdle or separate after even a few hours of low heat. One solution is to use processed cheeses, such as American cheese or Velveeta i...

Beans and Pulses in Slow Cookers Slow cookers are perfect for cooking beans and pulses. After all, today's slow cookers evolved from a bean pot. There is no end to the list of delicious slow cooked dishes made with healthful, inexpensive dried b...

Fragile Fish and Slow Cookers Slow Savvy An easy way to remove pesky little pin bones from fish fillets is with your vegetable peeler. Run the blade of the peeler against the grain of the fish and the bones will stick out. If you can't remove th...

Poultry with Panache Ellen on Edibles White meat or dark? In my book, there's nothing like the texture of succulent dark meat that's been through the slow cooker. Skinless thighs are my favorite cut, and they can be used in place of mixed pieces...

Best Meats for Slow Cookers Ellen on Edibles Marbling has nothing to do with stone, but the patterns that swirl through some polished sheets of marble are echoed by the fat patterns in cuts of meat. Although marbling is not wanted in lean cuts ...