HINTS ON USING YOUR SLOW COOKER
1 Prepare and use ingredients at room temperature rather than straight from the refrigerator.
However ingredients such as meat and fish should not be left out of the refrigerator for lon-
ger than is necessary, so remove from the refrigerator just to take the chill off and keep
covered with plastic wrap. Do not prepare food in advance and then leave out of the refri-
gerator.
2 Cut root vegetables such as carrots, onions, turnips etc into fairly small pieces as they take
longer to cook than meat.
3 Cut each type of ingredient into even sized pieces, this will assist with even cooking.
4 Browning the meat and sauteing the vegetables first in a separate pan will help to remove
a fair amount of fat from the meat and also improve the appearance and flavor of both
meat and vegetables. However this is not essential.
5 Do not lift the lid more than necessary during cooking as this will cause loss of heat and
evaporation of liquid. It may be necessary depending upon how often the lid is removed
and for how long, to allow an extra 20 minutes to half an hour cooking time.
6 Cooking always takes place in the cooking pot. Never place food directly into the base
unit.
7 Never plunge the hot cooking pot into cold water immediately after use or pour boiling
water into an empty cold cooking pot. Subjecting it to a sudden change in temperature
could cause it to crack.
8 After several months of use the glaze on the cooking pot may become crackled: this is
common with glazed stoneware and will not affect the efficiency of the slow cooker.
9 If you are adapting recipes from conventional cooking you may need to reduce the amount
of liquid used. In slow cooking liquid does not evaporate as quickly as with conventional
cooking although a fair amount of liquid is necessary to help the transfer of heat.
10 Never fill the slow cooker more than 2/3 full.
11 Milk products, including cream, sour cream and yogurt, should be added towards the end
of cooking to help combat any curdling that might take place.
12 Frozen vegetables such as peas should be thawed and added during the last 1/2 to 1
hour of cooking. This will ensure retention of color and texture in the vegetables and tem-
perature within the pot.
13 Best results are achieved when the ingredients are covered in liquid.
14 Trim excess fat from meat.
15 When cooking whole jointed meats make sure they fit comfortably into the cooking pot
and always add liquid. Turn part way through the cooking process.
16 Using hot stock will speed up the cooking process.
17 To thicken gravy etc., mix some cornstarch with a little cold water to form a smooth paste.
Add the mixture to the cooking pot towards the end of the cooking time. Cover and cook
for additional time until the juices are bubbling and thickened.
18 Please note that some spitting around the lid may occur.
CARE AND CLEANING
Always switch off, unplug and allow the appliance to cool before cleaning.
BASE UNIT
Wipe the outside of the slow cooker with a damp cloth and then dry. Never immerse the base
unit in water.
LID, COOKING POT
Wash in warm soapy water, rinse and then dry thoroughly. Food that has stuck to the inside
of the bowl can be removed with the aid of a soft bristled brush.
The cooking pot and lid can be washed in the dishwasher
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