HI All,

Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but it's not a recipe or recipe question...so I thought "general" might be okay...

SO, How do you all put everything in the slow cooker in the morning and end up eating it at night after work?

A. For how Long do you set it? HI or LOW? long cook or short?
B. Do you have to add liquid?
C. If it "warms" after cooking for, hours!, won;t we get food poisoning?
D. Again, how can the food stay in there so long and not burn/dry out...etc..??

I have used the slow cooker, but only when I'm home to watch it.

I'm interested in using it as a tool to have "dinner ready" when we get home (usually around 5pm). We leave in the morning at 7:30am.


Thanks for your help!

PS Bought a nice roast tonight, want to cook it for dinner for tomorrow.

I'm no expert on the slow cooker but it seems to me that you will definitely need to add liquid of some type and maybe throw in some onions and garlic if you can stand the carbs.
I know what you mean about only doing it when your home, me too.
Maybe pour in a can of crushed tomatoes, 4g carbs for the can I bought last week or water or beef stock. I think I would fill it at least half way full to cook all day and not dry out.

PS and a bay leaf and some thyme and sage is good.

Definitely on LOW if leaving it for a whole day. And don't open the lid to keep temp constant.

Internet has general tips http://www.foodnetwork.com/how-to/a...oker-meals.html. And thousands of great LC and Paleo slow cooker recipes. Check pinterest or any recipe website for something fancier, but I too like an "Italian style" roast. Add a can of diced tomatoes, some onions or carrots for the not LC family members, and some spices but a little goes a long way in a slow cooker, so follow a recipe at first.


When you are ready to try something different, and can spend a little extra time in the morning browning the outside with a rub, try this unique Smokey Roast, with Coffee! And spices. http://everydaypaleo.com/smokey-roast/

Here is a list of crock pot recipes we have on the forum.

It depends on what you're making. When I want to try something in the crockpot and I don't know how, I do a search on food.com for "crock pot (whatever)" and look at the highest-rated recipes. Ignore the fact that they're probably not low carb; you just want an idea for instructions on how to cook it. Then you can go find a LC recipe if you think you need one. I'd say this is important for different cuts of meat. Not everything works in the crock pot the way you'd like it to.

In general, here are my quick rules of thumb:

• Because of the lid, water won't cook out the way it does on the stove top, so for soups and stews, don't go crazy on the liquid. You can always add extra broth or cream at the end.
• When I make chili, I drain the tomatoes (you can save the juice) and add tomato paste to thicken it. It will still be more watery than if you made it on the stovetop.
• I've cooked whole chicken and chicken parts. I like to put it on balls of rolled-up foil so it doesn't sit in the liquid. I don't add any liquid because a lot cooks out. (Save it; it's good broth.) You can put veggies in the bottom, but they'll be soupy. The chicken will be almost too tender, it falls apart on me, and you won't get crispy skin; but you've got dinner ready.
• I cooked a tougher/cheaper beef roast in it recently, covered in broth as recommended by others. It was FANTASTIC. The meat was so tender and flavourful. I was too lazy to make a gravy out of the broth and it didn't even need it.
• Ribs. OH YEAH. You can't even screw them up. Cut them into pieces, slather on some sauce (I use this recipe) and they'll be awesome at dinnertime.
• I've done pulled pork in the crockpot, but again, it gets pretty liquidy and I ended up reducing the sauce on the stovetop. I'd use a really thick sauce; like mostly tomato paste.

Low vs high: I always use low because it's generally a work day and I'll be gone 8+ hours.

I don't worry about food poisoning - as long as your meat is properly thawed, you're fine.

Yeah, I wouldn't add much, if any extra liquid because the water doesn't evaporate. All the fat and water in your meat and veggies will end up in your pot. It just depends on what you're making!

Also, even on low or warm your crockpot is still hot enough that anything that could cause food poisoning won't survive or grow.

Sometimes I put my crockpot out in the garage so the house won't smell like whatever I'm cooking.

when I do a roast beef or pork shoulder in the slow cooker, I add minimal liquid. I may add a layer of carrot/onion underneath.

I do not leave the slow cooker all day while I'm at work because with my commute it's over 12 hours, and just about anything but bone broth will be too soft if cooked that long, even on low.

A couple of times I've put all the ingredients in the slow cooker pan the night before, refrigerated it overnight, then put it in the cooker before I head to work, with a time to start it two hours later. I figure two hours of "coming to room temperature" in a thick ceramic container won't be too dangerous. But I've only done that with single big pieces of meat. I wouldn't do that with cut up chicken, for instance.

Most times, I use my slow cooker on the weekend, then we eat from that meat for a number of meals. I make it fairly plain, knowing that it will become leftovers that can be dressed many ways for salads, soups, stews, etc.

I did leftover turkey in garlic/lemon/butter this evening. When the slices of turkey breast were heated through, I removed them and sauteed zucchini zoodles in the butter/garlic sauce. Wonderful, tasty, fast meal.

glad I found this post. I have a 1.5# boneless pork loin roast I was going to throw in the crock pot before leaving the house tomorrow. given its size, I'm thinking I'll be gone 6 hours in which time the roast should be done. i'll sear the roast on the stove, maybe season in the pot with salt pepper garlic onion cumin, and add maybe 1/2 - 3/4 C water. LOW. any suggestions, comments???

Thanks Kristine, I'll look at these later tonight! I'm heading to TJs for a few odds and ends. Maybe I'll find a tasty seasoning mix for this roast

Great idea. This is why I enjoy the grill on my back porch. No clean up and no lingering smell!

BTW - with regard to my pork roast, I'll marinade overnight with soy sauce and a rub (TJs "Everyday Seasoning" Grinder w/ sea salt mustard seeds, coriander, onion, garlic, paprika, chili pepper, black peppercorns). In the morning I'll sear and set in crock on LOW.

You went to Trader Joe's without me!! I have a long shopping list you could have used! but here's my favorite recipe for a pork roast:

Put pork in slow cooker, pour a jar of TJ green salsa over it, cook on low.
(I know it's a complicated recipe and all, opening the jar like that, but worth the effort ) if you want to be creative, try another flavor of salsa, found near the chips. Also buy a bag of the already shredded cabbage, quick sautéed, as the base and put fajita type toppings over it, shredded Mexican cheese, etc.

For Trader Joe's Favorites: here's a link to one thread, within a link to another of the many TJ threads on here, and that second thread has my LC shopping list. Since I wrote that for friends going LC a few years ago, TJ has added many new items, notably coconut based Paleo friendly items.

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=452984

Wonderful posts and advice from everyone!

I use my crock pot to cook chicken breast. Works like a charm. If I'm home I set it at High and let it cook 2.5 hrs with a couple of cups of water and some dry spices and bay leaves. I like the broth that's why I add so much water. Someone suggested DON'T remove the lid...that's critical!

If I leave it because of work, I set it on low and it will cook for about 8.5 hrs.

I don't pre-brown it because I just usually cub it up and toss it in the broth for a soup like meal.

I use slow cookers at school in my Foods Lab. We have 40 minute classes and one can not make anything in 40 minutes with a class of 24 kids including prepping, clean etc. So they'll make their slow cooker meals one day, we refrigerate the crocks and the next day I pop them back into the cookers and their meals are ready when they come to class... We've been able to make some really great things because of them.

What a great idea! I love that you're teaching them how to use this versatile tool. So many people think they "can't cook" because they don't have time after work to do a lot of prep.