Crockpot Cooking: The Benefits of Cooking with a Slow Cooker

Who has the time to cook good old rustic healthy home cooking, when your life is filled with work and play? Discover crockpot cooking; the benefits of cooking with a slow cooker, and leave your student ways behind you!

Welcome to my fun, new weekly food column on YouQueen Magazine, where I will be introducing you to the wonders of crockpot cooking this Autumn and Winter, and sharing with you lots of easy, low-maintenance healthy eating ideas. The first thing you have to do is get yourself a crockpot!

#1 What on earth is a crockpot?

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I hear your confusion. A crockpot, also known as a ‘slow-cooker’, is basically a cooking pot which you plug into the mains, and leave to do it’s thing for hours, while you do your own thing, and it slowly cooks you an amazing, hearty and healthy dish that will remind you of the kind of home cooking your mum used to do when you lived at home!

Crock pots are not an expensive investment, and they are available in a variety of sizes, so you can cook a dish that will last you the whole week, or just a few days; perfect if you are cooking for just yourself, or for you and your partner.

#2 Why cook with a crockpot?

Cooking with a crockpot, or a slow cooker is ideal for busy full-time workers who get home too late or are too tired to be bothered cooking anything substantial. They are also great for students who would rather be out partying than slaving away over an oven. Because of the way the crockpot works, it is safe to leave it on, unattended for literally hours. So you can leave your dish cooking overnight or even while you are at work or in classes, and then come home to the welcoming smell of home cooked food that is ready to be served up and enjoyed in front of the tv!

#3 Is it healthy to cook with a crockpot?

Considering that you use mainly fresh ingredients that all stay in the pot, you can’t get much healthier, or more satisfying than a meal cooked in a crockpot. You may be concerned by cooking ingredients for such an extended period of time, that they might lose their nutritional value, but you couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, ingredients lose nutritional value when they are exposed to high heat and air; but with an airtight lid and low heat settings, you can be assured that all nutrients are staying in the pot! So as long as you are consuming all the contents, including any liquid that your ingredients are being stewed in, you will be consuming all the original nutrients too.

#4 What kinds of food can you cook in a crockpot?

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Crockpots are incredibly versatile. I have even seen recipes where you can cook an entire roast dinner using crockpots! You can also bake bread in them, and make cakes. They are most typically known for making soups, stews and casseroles, but there is no reason why you can’t get inventive with a crockpot!

#5 Will I come home to a pot full of slop?

Not at all! Just because a crockpot cooks your dish very, very slowly, it doesn’t mean you will come home to a congealed dish that just isn’t very appetizing. On the contrary, because the ingredients have been cooked so slowly and at such a low temperature for a long time, they will retain more flavorur, and the flavours will have more time to blend and mature. Have you ever made a Bolognese sauce and left it cooking for a good few hours so that it is rich and yummy? It’s quite a difference from the watery result you get when you don’t leave it to simmer for a longer period of time, isn’t it? A slow cooker ensures that all flavours are well integrated into the dish so that you get a fuller and more rounded taste.

#6 How much effort does crockpot cooking involve?

The amount of time, effort and knowledge you will need to cook with your crockpot will depend on the recipe, but generally speaking, cooking with a crockpot is simply a matter of preparing your ingredients and letting the pot do the rest. Some recipes will require you to brown your meat first in a frying pan, or prepare a dough, which doesn’t usually take a lot of time or effort. Once the ingredients are in the crockpot though, you don’t have to think about cooking anymore because you can leave the pot to do it’s thing on the required heat setting for the specified time. Usually this is long enough to leave it overnight while you sleep, or on during the day while you are at work or college. You don’t usually have to worry about burning either, because crockpots cook at such a low heat setting and have automatic settings which keep the dish warm without cooking it once the time is up. This means that you can come home and enjoy a ready cooked meal straight out of the pot!

#7 What can you expect to find if you follow my weekly crockpot cooking column?

I will be writing this column every week to be published here on YouQueen Magazine, and I will be taking you on a journey to discover your crockpot! So get yourself one this week and get ready to join in the fun. The cold weather is quickly taking over, which is perfect for crockpot cooking. I am going to find all the best recipes for you, plus lots of interesting information relating to healthy eating and useful cooking tips to use with your crockpot. Follow the column by subscribing to YouQueen Magazine, or follow YouQueen on Facebook.

Cover photo: yourhomebasedmom.com

About the author

Zara M.

I love to write, draw, take photographs, dance tango, write in my Midori Traveler’s Notebook and ogle other people’s Filofaxes. Oh – and I like LOTS of sugar in my tea! I want to inspire you, and show you the world through my eyes.

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