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Adapting Recipes for Slow Cooking

Adapting recipes for the slow cooker is not difficult but you have to follow some guidelines. The most important thing to remember is that there is no evaporation in slow cooking so liquid amounts will not decrease with cooking time.

In fact, you'll have more liquid at the end of cooking than you started out with. So it's best if you reduce liquid by half or 1 cup total at most.

I have found that 1 cup of liquid IS really more than enough for most recipes. Exceptions are if you're cooking pasta, rice or soup.

When choosing recipes to adapt, choose those that take 45 minutes and above to cook. This is because those recipes generally use ingredients that will hold up to long cooking times. Here's a time-conversion chart:

OVEN OR STOVETOP COOK TIME COOKING TIME IN SLOW COOKER ON LOW COOKING  TIME IN SLOW COOKER ON HIGH
15 TO 30 minutes 4 TO 6 hours 1-1/2 TO 2-1/2 hours
35 TO 45 minutes 6 TO 8 hours 3 TO 4 hours
50 minutes TO 3 hours 8 TO 12 hours 4 TO 6 hours

If adapting recipes for soups, add soup ingredients to slow cooker or crock pot. then add only enough water or broth to cover. If a thinner soup is desired, add more liquid at serving time.

Tips on Adapting Recipes for the Slow Cooker or Crockpot