There are many ways you can cook your food. For most people, cooking involves spending the least amount of time possible. While conventional cooking is quite popular, there is something called slow cooking.
Slow cooking is a cooking art that dates back to many centuries ago. But it made its way into our lives sometime in 1970 with the introduction of Crock Pots. Millions of homes made sure they had a Crock pot to help their cooking. And then later on, different types of slow cookers came on board to make slow cooking easier and better.
While the popularity of crock pots seemed to have died in the 80s because of the introduction of microwaves, it equally bounced back in the 21st century. In fact, a report from Statista published in March 2022 reveals that between 2010 to 2019, not less than 11.6 million slow cookers were sold in the United States alone.
In this article, you will learn everything you need to know about slow cooking. Perhaps, you might consider getting a slow cooker after reading this article.
What is Slow Cooking?
In simple terms, slow cooking is when you cook a meal longer than you would cook your usual meal. When it comes to slow cooking, the cooking is done under stable low heat. The essence of slow cooking a meal is to allow the food get tender and to release a lot of flavors. No matter how hard the connective tissues of a meat are, you can break it down with slow cooking.
Generally, any cooking that extends beyond 3 hours is regarded as slow cooking. When slow-cooking, you might need to wrap your food with a foil or put it in a pot with a tight cover to trap in the moisture. Slow cooking allows different food ingredients to exchange flavors.
What Do You Use For Slow Cooking?
You can use any cooking appliance to slow-cook your food; luau pits, ovens, barbecues and slow cookers.
But the most popular one is Crock pot, which is also known as slow cooker. These types of pots take hours to cook a meal.
The slow cooker is a counter-top ceramic bowl or pot that is electrically heated. It also has a see-through glass lid to help you see the progress of your cooking.
If you have a pressure cooker, then a slow cooker is the exact opposite. While a pressure cooker or pot can cook food in lesser amount of time than the original time, slow cookers can cook food for up to 14 hours or more depending on the make.
What Type Of Food Is Slow Cooking Good For?
There was a time when only the rich could afford the meatier and tender parts of meat. And so, the only part majority of the poor population could afford were the cheaper and tougher parts of meat. The only way to get the meat cooked was to cook it on low heat for a period of time. This was how slow cooking evolved.
So, while we can say that slow cooking can be used for a lot of food. However, it does well with hard-to-cook or tougher cut of meat. It actually cooks it down to the point where it melts in your mouth. You can also cook your vegetables, especially root vegetables in a slow cooker.
How Does A Slow Cooker Work?
A slow cooker has 3 major components that help it cook food. First is the inner container also known as the crock. Second is the outer casing, and third is the lid.
The crock part is made of ceramic which is encapsulated by the outer casing made of metal. The outer part is the one that generates heat for the cooking. Some slow cookers are designed in such a way that the inner part can be detached from the outer part. Then you have the lid which covers the pot and ensures that moisture is trapped in.
Slow cookers also have different temperature settings- low, medium and high. You don’t have to worry about the units getting too hot and setting things on fire in the house. They are actually safe enough to leave on for a long period of time.
When you want to cook with the slow cooker, you need to cut your food ingredients in large chunks and put them in the pot. Next, you add liquid and seasoning, cover the lid and set the heat to your desired temperature. Some come with a timer so that when the cooking is done, it switches to warm mode automatically.
How Is Slow Cooking Different From Normal Cooking?
Slow cooking is very different from conventional or normal cooking in many ways. Here are some of them:
Cooking time
The cook time is one obvious difference between the two types of cooking. Slow cooking takes anything between 8 to 14 hours to cook. Normal cooking on a stovetop doesn’t take more than 1 to 2 hours to cook.
Temperature setting
The temperature for slow cooking is usually set to low. On the other hand, normal cooking is done on high heat.
Deep flavor
Slow cooking leaves food with a lot of deep flavors. Normal cooking doesn’t quite give the same result.
Less attention
Slow cooking doesn’t require much attention; you just prep your food, add everything to the pot and set to cook. Normal cooking requires that you check the progress of the food and stir it from time to time.
Food preparation in advance
Slow cooking is great for preparing for a party in advance, or if you just want to prep meals that you want to store in the freezer. Normal cooking is both for meals to be consumed immediately or for later.
Benefits of Slow Cooking
There is a reason people love using slow cooking, or in this case, slow cooker to prepare their foods. Let’s take a look:
- It is very convenient because it doesn’t call for a lot of protocols.
- It saves time since it allows you to prepare your food ahead of time.
- It uses less electricity than standard ovens. Also, it doesn’t heat up the kitchen the way oven does.
- It saves you money because it can tenderize cheap and tough cuts of meat.
- Your food can be cooking over night while you are asleep or at work and it won’t burn (as long as there is enough liquid inside).
- It ensures you have a nice warm meal when you get back from work without the need to warm it. You just dish and eat.
- Slow cookers take lesser cooking space on the kitchen counter than most conventional cooking that takes up larger spaces.
Drawbacks of Slow Cooking
Slow cooking is not all rosy. There are some drawbacks to the art.
- Slow cooking recipes can be hard to come by. Some recipes will require that you sign up for a fee, or get their slow cooker product before you can have access to a variety of slow cooker dishes.
- Food can get over cooked through slow cooking. Except for stews and soups, any other meals cooked in the slow cooker can turn mushy when left unattended.
- Veggies do not well with slow cooking. You will end up with a very soft veggie that has lost most of its nutrients because of overcooking. But it will sure taste very flavorful. To prevent this, you can add your veggies few hours to the end of the cooking.
- Slow cookers do not brown meats or give them that crispy texture we all love. If you want to achieve that browning on your meat, you will have to do it on a pan (or in some slow cookers) before adding the liquid and allowing it to cook.
Conclusion
Slow cooking is one popular way of preparing meals that isn’t going away anytime soon.
It offers you the opportunity to cook down tough meats and enriches it with deep flavor. If you haven’t tried this cooking method, perhaps you should give it a try and let me know in the comment section how it turns out.