How To Use A Crock Pot: 15 Things I Learned In 100 Days

The crock pot is God’s gift to moms, dads, working people, grandparents, and basically anyone who wants to save time and money. So learning how to use a crock pot and making tasty meals was a must! 

I made it my mission while preparing my Aldi meal plans to challenge what I thought of the crock pot and what I could accomplish with the slow cooker and easy ingredients.

So far this year, I’ve spent 100 days slow-cooking! Some days, I had 2 slow cookers going at once to make meals and lunches ready a day early just because it was so easy. 

Through trial and error, here’s what I’ve learned:

Key Takeaways

1. Thaw meat before adding it to the slow cooker to prevent bacteria and food poisoning.
2. Skip searing the meat- it doesn’t change the juiciness of the meat or its texture.
3. You don’t need to mix liquids together if you don’t want to.
4. Shred meat in the slow cooker using a potato masher or hand mixer- no need to transfer it to another bowl.
5. It’s safe to thaw your meat and refreeze it within a day or 2 if you don’t end up using it.
6. Layering vegetables under the meat helps them cook thoroughly in slow cooker recipes.
7. My exception to #6? Put onions and potatoes on the bottom so they stay in the liquid and get softer.
8. Freeze chopped or cubed Russet potatoes for slow cooker meals; the texture will be fine after cooking.
9. Cook shredded chicken for four hours on high for optimal juiciness and structure.
10. Large cuts of beef turn out tender when cooked for eight hours on low.
11. Chuck roast is the ideal cut for slow cooking due to its affordability, size, and flavor.
12. Ground beef, especially lean varieties, can be cooked directly in the slow cooker without pre-cooking.
13. A small or medium-sized slow cooker is sufficient for a family of 2-5, ensuring better liquid coverage.
14. Rice generally fails to cook well in a slow cooker and should be prepared using other methods.
15. Thawing frozen food in cold water speeds up the process significantly, but ensure the freezer bags are high quality.

How To Use A Crock Pot: 15 Things I Learned About Slow Cookers

1. You should thaw meats before you throw them in the crock pot.

The USDA agrees with me- I make a blanket statement on most recipes that I recommend thawing meat before putting it in the slow cooker.

When you place a piece of meat in the slow cooker, for the first hour or two, it’s really just thawing from the outside in. During this process, the center of the meat might be in the danger zone (between 70 and 117 F), where bacteria grow very easily.

Some people recommend using frozen meat as long as you add more time to the cooking time. But it may still not be safe from bacteria!

It’s better to be safe than sorry because bacteria can grow fast and cause food poisoning even once the frozen meat reaches temperature later in cooking.

Skip the uncertainty and potential food poisoning by thawing your meats.

2. You don’t need to sear or brown meat ahead of time.

I’ve seen so many slow cooker recipes with 6+ steps listed before actually using the slow cooker, including searing the meat in oil before placing it in the slow cooker.

I don’t see anything wrong with it- browning meat or prepping things might be worth the effort to some.

But you don’t need to do it. Searing the meat and getting that little bit of brown crust (called the Maillard reaction) does provide benefits with food – especially meats and bread.

But I don’t think it makes much of a difference in the slow cooker. Any extra “depth of flavor” seems to get lost in all of the other flavors and textures that develop while the food is slowly cooking.

I’ve tried some recipes both ways—searing before placing in the slow cooker vs. just tossing it in raw—and nine times out of ten, I couldn’t taste much of a difference or notice a texture change.

Save your time and skip searing the meat.

3. You don’t need to mix anything ahead of time unless you feel like it.

Again, so many slow cooker recipes will tell you to mix the spices and wet ingredients together and then pour in the slow cooker with the other ingredients. But you can save the step and washing the mixing bowl!

Instead, after the food has been cooking for a couple of hours (or any time while the slow cooker is running), take the lid off and give it a good stir.

When you cook food in liquid, the flavors and spices get to where they need to go by permeating through the liquid and basically boiling all together.

4. A potato masher or hand mixer is amazing for shredding meats instead of forks.

When shredding chicken and other meats, stop using forks. Use a potato masher instead, and without even removing meat from crock pots. 

For a slow cooker recipe like Honey Garlic Chicken or Chicken Tacos, it makes life much easier.

You can also use your Kitchen-Aid mixer or cheap old hand mixer to shred chicken in under 30 seconds, too.

5. You can thaw, freeze, and refreeze meat.

Alright, sometimes we thaw our meat and then change our plans- so I’ll refreeze thawed meat if I don’t have a backup plan to use it or we want something different for dinner.

Although there could be a slight loss of moisture, thawing and then freezing meat again to use later is perfectly safe.

I’ve done this many times and found no loss of quality either—the meat seems to thaw again just fine. This is probably because the meat had stayed in the fridge, and I never left meat thawed for more than a day.

6. When placing food in the crock pot, generally follow this order of operations:

• Meat*
• Spices
• Vegetables*
• Other non-liquid ingredients
• Liquids
• *see number 7 for exceptions.

If you follow this order, you generally won’t have to mix of stir anything ahead of time.

This layering style ensures that the meat is completely covered in liquid. The spices will end up flavoring the meal and disappearing through the liquid evenly.

If you’re placing food in a freezer bag to cook at a later time, this doesn’t really matter too much since the ingredients probably mixed pretty well while in the bag and marinade a bit before it’s fully frozen.

However, I have found exceptions to this. If it’s a soup or a very ‘liquidy’ meal, it isn’t necessary. And as with my Slow Cooker Chicken Parmesan recipe, there may be a reason to place the meat on top of the sauce.

7. Potatoes and onions – put them on the bottom.

Usually, it’s most important for the meat to cook in liquid. But have you ever cooked cubed potatoes or sliced onions in the slow cooker?

The ones kicking around and floating on top never quite get cooked all the way. Since I want my onions and potatoes soft in most of my slow cooker recipes, I pop them under the meat to keep them all in the liquid.

The meat weighs them down so they don’t float around, but the liquid can still soak underneath between the vegetables and cook them thoroughly. 

8. You can freeze Russet potatoes.

I don’t mean freezing whole potatoes to cook at a later time. I’ve never tried that and probably never will.

I’m referring to chopped or cubed Russet potatoes as part of a slow cooker meal that I freeze prior to cooking. 

They get a little discolored, and the texture seems soft and strange as they thaw. But once they’re cooked, the texture and flavor are fine.

9. Shredded chicken works best when cooked for 4 hours on high.

After 4 hours on high, chicken will both shred easily and also stay together well, depending on the meal you are making.

That’s not to say that you couldn’t cook it longer. For example, if you’re out of the house for 8 or 9 hours at your job, you don’t have a choice but to cook it on low for a long time.

It will turn out just fine, and I’ll still cook chicken on low for 8 hours during work days, but I find the shreds are more juicy when it isn’t sitting around as long. 

10. Large cuts of beef work best when cooked for up to eight hours on low.

Beef cooked low and slow is always the most tender. A beef roast will be “done” after cooking on high for 4 hours, but you better be ready for a slice of chewier meat.

More collagen and less fat in large and inexpensive cuts of beef could make it rubbery and make the meat really tough.

If you cook it too hot and fast, it will only tighten up even more. But if you cook it “low and slow”, it will liquify and also lubricate the cooked meat fibers.

11. The chuck roast is the king of the crock pot.

This tough cut of beef, which comes from the shoulder of the cow, is PERFECT for slow cooking. Here’s why:

1. It’s cheap. Beef prices have gotten out of control, but you can still get a chuck roast for $4.99 a pound.
2. It’s the perfect size and shape. A chuck roast is usually 2-3.5 lbs. and seems to be the perfect shape to sit perfectly in the bottom of your slow cooker.
3. It’s DELICIOUS. The chuck roast might be the most flavorful and rich cut of meat after slow cooking.
4. It doesn’t get tough even if the slow cooker is on the warm setting for a bit.
5. It’s obviously named after Chuck Norris, so it has to be the best, LOL.

Want some good chuck roast recipes? Check out this Mongolian Beef and this Italian Pot Roast. They’re AMAZING.

12. Hamburger (aka ground beef) cooks great.

I was afraid of having that layer of grease and fat on top of the chili, sauce, soup, or whatever I was making—which is a valid concern. But it didn’t really happen much, and there wasn’t a ton of grease overall.

Then I tried using lean ground beef—90% lean or higher—and it worked even better. Yes, it is a bit more expensive, but it does cut some of the grease that does get mixed into your meals.

Seriously, try my slow cooker meat sauce or chili. They both use raw ground beef in the bottom of the slow cooker with no issue at all.

13. Unless you’re cooking a lot of food, a small or medium-sized crock pot works best.

Unless you are cooking for an army or want lots of leftovers, a 3—or 4-quart slow cooker works well for making dinner for a family of 2-5.

You want the meat covered in liquid as much as possible, and smaller slow cookers still allow plenty of room for that.

Think of a 2 lb. chuck roast with 1 cup of liquid added in a small slow cooker vs. a large slow cooker. the liquid will better immerse the meat in the smaller slow cooker.

14. Rice doesn’t work.

I’ve tried making rice time and time again and it doesn’t work!

Rice stays crunchy and doesn’t absorb liquid as you would think. It’s weird, and you can make it in less than 20 minutes using an Instapot, rice cooker, or just a regular pot on the stove.

15. Thawing in cold water is best.

Want to cut that thaw time down drastically? Make sure the freezer bag is tightly closed and immerse it in cold water. I’ve found that food thaws about 10 times as quickly done this way.

Just make sure that the water stays cold. Either keep cold water from the faucet constantly running into it (it only needs to be on very low) – or make sure to replace the water if it starts getting too warm.

But – make sure you are using high-quality freezer bags. You all know how much I love ALDI, but I gotta tell you, their freezer bags aren’t that great. 

Water can dilute the recipe, and then the meal ends up under-seasoned and watery. So buy some good name-brand freezer bags if you plan on defrosting in cold water.

Final Thoughts

Slow cookers are fantastic kitchen appliances for busy families. They provide an easy and convenient way to prepare delicious meals.

By following these tips and tricks, you can make the most out of your slow cooker and create healthy, flavorful dishes without any hassle.

From defrosting meat properly to choosing the right size slow cooker for your needs, these tips will help you become a pro at using this handy kitchen tool.

So go ahead, experiment with different recipes, and enjoy the convenience of slow cooking!

Agree? Disagree? I’m just sharing what I do and what I’ve learned over the past 100 days.