14 Easy Cooking Tips for Meat and Poultry Slow Cooker Recipes

The first Christmas we spent with my in-laws in their new country home, my mother-in-law wisely gave me a slow cooker. Her thoughtful gift helped Dan and I enjoy the most convenient of all cooking methods, even with our long work days and commute.

I'll always treasure the memories of delicious aromas wafting through the front door as we stepped into the house after a long day at work and a nerve-jangling commute in heavy traffic.

Most of the slow cooker recipes I used were based on meats and poultry. Here are 14 easy tips to make your slow cooker recipes tasty and safe:

Tip # 1 - According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, bacteria in food are killed at a temperature of 165°F. Meats cooked in the slow cooker reach an internal temperature of 170° in beef and as high as 190°F in poultry. It is important to follow the recommended cooking times and to keep the cover on your slow cooker during the cooking process.

Tip # 2 - It is best not use the slow cooker for large pieces like a roast or whole chicken because the food will cook so slowly it could remain in the bacterial "danger zone" too long.

Tip # 3 - Always defrost meat or poultry before putting it into a slow cooker.

Tip # 4 - Meats generally cook faster than most vegetables in a slow cooker.

Tip # 5 - Trim all fat from meat and poultry. Fat can increase the temperature of the liquid in the slow cooker and decrease the cooking time. This will cause the food t be overcooked. Fats will also melt with long cooking times, and will add an unpleasant texture to the finished dish.
Tip! What I am trying to do is show you how to save money and give different cooking tips. Looking on the web, everybody and their brother has recipes.

Tip # 6 - Cooking at higher temperatures will generally give you a tougher piece of meat. for all day cooking or for less-tender cuts of meat, you may want to use the low setting.

Tip # 7 - The slow cooker recipes are best used with the tougher cuts of meats.

Tip # 8 - For the best color and texture, ground beef is best browned before using, except in meatloaf or other similar dishes.

Tip # 9 - It is not necessary to brown meat before slow cooking, but it gives more depth of flavor in the food and removes some of the fat, especially in pork, lamb and sausages. If the meat is lean, well trimmed and not highly marbled, it doesn't need to be browned.

Tip # 10 - For roasts and stews, pour liquid over meat. Use no more liquid than specified in the slow cooker recipes. More juices in meats and vegetables are retained in slow cooking than in conventional cooking.

Tip # 11 - Dark meat takes longer to cook, so if a whole cut up chicken is used, put the thighs and legs on the bottom.

Tip # 12 - The slightly coarser texture of corn-fed, organic or free-range poultry is ideal for slow cooker recipes.

Tip # 13 - Most meats require 8 hours of cooking on LOW. Use cheaper cuts of meat - not only do you save money, but these meats work better for slow cooker recipes. Cheaper cuts of meat have less fat, which makes them more suited to crockpot cooking. Moist, long cooking times result in very tender meats.
Tip! There are unlimited resources on the Web that can lead you in the right direction. Great recipes without ever having to invest in cookbooks, outstanding cooking tips without having to go to expensive cooking schools, tips for kitchen basics that will inform you of what you need to keep on hand without breaking the bank.

Tip # 14 - Farberware FSC600 6-quart Oval Slow Cooker oval design accommodates oversize roasts, whole chickens, hams, and/or ribs. It features a large, 6-quart capacity stoneware liner, which nests inside a chrome slow cooker base and the auto setting switches to a lower 'keep warm' setting after cooking food.

For those who are not concerned about cooking in aluminum the West Bend Versatility 6-quart Oval Slow Cooker will work well to cook meats. It has a removable aluminum insert that can be used on the stovetop to brown meats and caramelize onions before slow cooking. The bottom unit can also be used on its own as a small griddle. Its dishwasher-safe insert has a nonstick interior and an included roasting rack.
Tip! Billy Bristol is editor and owner of How to Barbeque Texas Style, a website offering bbq recipes, outdoor cooking tips, and advice, as well as outdoor building projects and plans.

Visit Anjali's slow cooker recipes site for free recipes and tips. Anjali has 45 years of experience in cooking, from exotic Indian cuisine with her family in Nepal and India, to home-style American cooking with her mother-in-law in Alaska. She refined her gourmet talents working with her chefs as a Restaurateur. http://www.easy-slow-cooker-recipes.com/

Cooking Tips - 5 Ways to Create Magic in the Kitchen

Cooking Secret No.1 - Buy Top Quality Ingredients

Leading chef's only use the freshest and best tasting food they can find. Even the best chefs in the world would have difficulty making food taste good from inferior products. However, this does not mean everything has to be made from scratch.

When buying pre-prepared goods always go for quality and freshness. If cost is an issue try smaller portions. It is better for your waistline and your health to have small servings of good quality food rather than a large serving of an inferior product.

A helpful tip when using frozen or canned goods is to use them up as soon as possible. Don't wait until they are near the end of their shelf life, as there is already deterioration in quality by then.

Cooking Secret No.2 - Keep it Simple

Some of the best tasting meals in the world are the simplest. I find that they have fewer ingredients but just compliment each other superbly.

Adding too many ingredients to a dish can create a canceling of flavors. Like when making pasta sauce, where the onion in the dish overrides the garlic flavor. I prefer not to add onion to my pasta sauces so the full flavor of the garlic can be brought out.

The opposite is the case when making French Onion Soup. For a fuller bodied onion flavor, don't add garlic. Cooking Secret No.3 - Use Complimentary Foods

A secret to cooking well lies in combining complimentary foods, where one ingredient actually enhances the flavor of the other. One of my favorite combinations is tomato and basil. Whether you're making a pasta sauce or just putting tomato on a pizza nothing compliments it better than the herb basil.

Another great mix is oats, brown sugar and cinnamon. Whether I've used this complimentary combination for an apple crumble topping or just for hot oatmeal it creates an unbeatable flavor

You can come up with more of your own complimentary food groups simply by taking note of what foods taste great together!

Cooking Secret No.4 - Use only the Best Equipment

Good equipment makes your work in the kitchen a breeze. Ask any craftsman and he will tell you the value of good tools. Go for quality, ease of use and buy the best that you can afford. If there were only one thing I would recommend investing in, it would be to get a good knife set and keeping them sharp.

Good tools not only make your life easier in the kitchen but can also improve the final result, like in the case of my stainless steel cooking pots. Everything I cook in them comes out better than average simply because the cooking utensils are better than average.
Tip! With the explosion in Internet content, a huge amount of information has become available free of charge to anyone interested in cooking. With the click of a mouse, you can open huge recipe collections, read cooking tips and even see video demonstrations of basic cooking procedures, if your computer is beefy enough to handle such things.

Cooking Secret No.5 - Collect Good Recipes

Good recipes can come from many sources other than a cookbook or finding them online. Most of my favorite ones have actually come from family and friends. The benefit of obtaining recipes this way is that I have usually been able to taste them for myself beforehand. Live cooking demonstrations sometimes offer free samples so that you can test to see if the recipe suits your taste.

Televised cooking shows and magazines are another way to collect good recipes. I keep organized by putting any loose-leaf recipes I collect in a plastic leaflet file folder.

I'm glad to have been able to share my easy to follow secrets for creating cooking magic. Remember that being selective and keeping it simple are the two main ingredients to creating magic in the kitchen.
Tip! What I am trying to do is show you how to save money and give different cooking tips. Looking on the web, everybody and their brother has recipes.

Happy Cooking!

If you would like to print out a free copy of Jeannette's favorite recipes, go to http://cookingmagic.blogspot.com/ Then click on "My Favorite Recipes" on the right hand side of the page.