Tips For Slow Cooking; Cooking Guide - Morphy Richards Slow Cooker Instructions Manual

48795MAUS Rev2_9225 47507 MEE pump - Jon 29/07/2011 10:00 Page 6

Tips for slow cooking

• The slow cooker must be at least half full for best results.
• Slow cooking retains moisture. If you wish to reduce this, remove
the lid after cooking and turn the control to (HIGH), if set to
(LOW) or (MEDIUM), and reduce the moisture by simmering for
30-45 minutes.
• Removing the lid will allow valuable heat to escape, reducing the
efficiency of your slow cooker and increasing the cooking time. If
you remove the lid more than a couple of times to stir or add
ingredients, then you will need to allow 10-15 minutes extra
cooking time each time you remove the lid.
• If cooking soups, leave 5 cm space between the top of the
ceramic pot and the food surface to allow for simmering.
• Many recipes will take several hours to cook. If you don't have
time to prepare food in the morning, prepare it the night before,
storing the food in a covered container in the fridge. Transfer the
food to the ceramic pot and add boiling liquid/stock.
• In most of the recipes in this book, the meat ingredients are
browned first to improve their appearance and flavour. If you are
short on preparation time and would prefer to skip the browning
stage, simply add your meat and other ingredients into the slow
cooker and cover with boiling liquid/stock.You will need to
increase the recipe cooking time as follows: (HIGH) setting +1
hour, (MEDIUM) setting +1-2 hours, (LOW) Setting +2-3 hours.
• Most meat and vegetable recipes require: 8 - 10 hours on
(LOW), 5-7 hours on (MEDIUM), and 4-6 hours on (HIGH).
• Do not use frozen meat or poultry unless it is thoroughly thawed
out first.
• Some ingredients are not suitable for slow cooking. Pasta,
seafood, milk, and cream should be added towards the end of the
cooking time. Many things can affect how quickly a recipe will
cook: water and fat content, initial temperature of the food and
the size of the food.
• Pieces of food cut into small pieces will cook quicker. A degree of
'trial and error' will be required to fully optimise the potential of
your slow cooker.
• Vegetables usually take longer to cook than meat, so try and
arrange vegetables in the lower half of the ceramic pot.
• After food is cooked, switch to the
covered with the lid. There will be enough heat in the ceramic pot
to keep warm for 30 minutes. If you require longer to keep warm,
switch to the (LOW) setting.
• All food should be covered with a liquid, gravy or sauce. In a
separate pan or jug, prepare your liquid, gravy or sauce and
completely cover the food in the ceramic pot.
• Pre-brown meat and onions in a pan to seal in the juices, this also
reduces the fat content if separated before adding to the ceramic
pot. This is not necessary if the time is limited, but improves the
flavour.
• When cooking joints of meat, ham, poultry etc, the size and shape
of the joint is important.
Try to keep the joint in the lower 2/3 of the ceramic pot and fully
cover with water. If necessary, cut into two pieces. Joint weight
should be kept within the maximum limit of 1.5kg for this slow
cooker.
6
A Equivalent cook times for (low) and (high) settings
Cook on (MEDIUM)
4 - 6 hours
6 - 8 hours
8 - 10 hours
(OFF) position and leave

COOKING GUIDE

The cooking times given in the following recipes are for the
(MEDIUM) setting. Should you want to increase or reduce the
time, please refer to the cooking guide in the table below A.
Please note that these cooking times are for guidance only and
may vary depending on food type and personal tastes. For your
convenience, a conversion table for weight and volume has been
included on page 18.
Eg. If the recipe says cook for 4 - 6 hours (MEDIUM), and you
require this to be shorter, cook on (HIGH) , which will reduce the
cooking time to 3 - 4 hours. Alternatively, if you wish to increase
the time, choose (LOW) which will increase the cooking time to
6 - 8 hours.
The recipes are based on MAXIMUM WORKING VOLUMES.
This 6.5 litre slow cooker has a working capacity of
4.5 litres / 8 pts. This allows a 3cm space between the top of the
ceramic pot and the food.
Cook on (LOW)
6 - 8 hours
8 - 10 hours
10 - 12 hours
Cook on (HIGH)
3 - 4 hours
5 - 6 hours
7 - 8 hours