Slow cookers seem to make everything taste better, but what are the things you shouldn’t put in a slow cooker? It’s essential to examine which meats and produce should be pre-cooked before you put them in a crockpot.
Here are some things you shouldn’t put in a slow cooker:
- Frozen food
- Raw meat
- Raw seafood
- Dry beans (uncooked)
- Fresh herbs
- Dairy products
- Fragile vegetables
- Pasta
- Rice
With a busy schedule, you rely on a slow cooker to provide tasty meals without requiring a lot of preparation. Crockpots take from four to twelve hours to complete a meal, but most recipes benefit from adding ingredients at different periods of the cooking process.
It would be nice to throw everything in at once, add liquid, set a timer, and walk away. However, all meat and vegetables vary in thickness, density, and texture.
Food that You Should Avoid Adding to a Slow Cooker
If you throw your potatoes, leeks, beef, fresh herbs, and asparagus in to your slow cooker at the same time, your stew will be a soggy mess. When you cook some of the ingredients before slow cooking and add produce and meats at different times, your slow-cooked meals will be delicious and satisfying.
Let’s walk through what not to put in.
Frozen Food
Never add frozen meat or seafood to your slow cooker. Some frozen food takes over 24 hours to defrost in your refrigerator at a temperature of 41. If you try to defrost and cook frozen meat in your crockpot, the meat’s internal temperature will unlikely reach a safe level.
The liquid and other food may reach a safe temperature above 165°, but the meat may not thaw during the slow cooking process or reach a safe internal temperature. Defrost frozen meat or seafood and cook it before you add it to the slow cooker.
With frozen vegetables, it’s better to defrost the veggies before you cook them. For instance, frozen broccoli will turn out overcooked and soggy if you add it to a crockpot. Vegetables that do not require a long cooking time, like broccoli, can be added near the end of the cooking cycle.
Raw Meat
Raw chicken, beef, shellfish, or fish should be cooked before you add it to the crockpot. With beef, you can brown the meat in a skillet for a few minutes on each side and add it to the pot.
Shellfish and fish only need a few minutes of sautéing before you them to the stew, but to avoid toughness, add the seafood in the last hour of cooking.
Since chicken requires a higher temperature to destroy bacteria, cook the chicken to an internal temperature of 165° F. If you’re looking for an inexpensive, quality sauté pan, click here.
Raw Beans
Because of a potentially toxic substance present in some raw beans, always cook dry beans thoroughly before you cook them in a slow cooker. If you boil the beans for at least ten minutes, you can safely add them to a crockpot.
Try to add the boiled beans in the last hour of cooking to avoid soggy beans.
Fresh Herbs
If you want to add fresh herbs to your slow cooker, wait until the end of the cooking period before you add them. Most fresh herbs like basil, oregano, and parsley will quickly wilt if you add them too early.
You can add most dry herbs at the beginning, but wait until you have twenty minutes or less on your cooking time before you add fresh herbs to the crockpot. Rosemary is sturdier than other fresh herbs and can be added to the pot at any time.
Rinse the herbs and wait until your stew is almost finished before you slice the herbs. Herbs like basil quickly turn brown after you cut them and will look more appetizing if you add the herbs at the end of the cooking time.
Dairy Products
Dairy products such as cream, milk, or cheese are not suitable for a slow cooker. Most slow cookers have a low temperature of 165° F and a high temperature of 200° F. The low and high temperatures will cause milk or cream to curdle and will cause the cheese to separate.
Although there is not a health risk involved in adding dairy to a crockpot, your family or dinner guest will not enjoy the appearance or the taste of curdled dairy.
Heat cream or milk in a saucepan and add it to the pot right before you serve the meal. You can also add cheese just before you serve the meal.
Fragile Vegetables
Vegetables with a delicate composition like green peas or asparagus should not be added to your slow cooker. The vegetables will break down during the lengthy cooking period and result in a soggy, discolored mess.
Thinly sliced onions or potatoes can also break down quickly. Wait until you only have twenty to thirty minutes left of slow cooking to add fragile vegetables.
Pasta
If you want to add pasta to your crockpot, cook the pasta separately and add it at the end of the cooking process. If you add dry pasta to the slow cooker in the beginning, it will become soggy and fall apart.
Rice
Rice is another food that’s better to cook in a separate pot. Rice will break down and become soggy in a slow cooker. Add the cooked rice at the end of the cooking process, and if you save the stew for leftovers, separate the rice from the rest of the meal.
What Can You Put in a Slow Cooker?
- Browned Beef
- Fully cooked poultry
- Cooked seafood
- Dense vegetables
- Dried herbs and spices
Browned Beef
Before you add a London broil or strip to a slow cooker, brown the meat for a few minutes on each side. Sautéing the meat will intensify the flavor. If you add a large chunk of beef without pre-cooking it, the beef will be bland and taste like it’s boiled.
Large pieces of sautéed beef can be added to a slow cooker at the beginning of cooking. With lean cuts of beef, wait until the halfway point before you add them to the pot. If you would like to watch an informative video on how to make pot roast in a slow cooker, click here.
Cooked Poultry
Like the beef, you can add large pieces of cooked poultry at the beginning of the cooking process. If you’re worried about the chicken becoming overcooked, you can tenderize the chicken with a dry rub or brine the night before you plan to cook.
When you pre-cook the chicken, make sure to check the internal temperature with a probe thermometer before you add it to the crockpot. The temperature should reach 165° F.
Cooked Seafood
Cooked seafood can be added to a crockpot, but unlike beef or chicken, most seafood has a more delicate composition. Large pieces of cooked fish can be added at the halfway point, but cooked shellfish should be added close to the end of the cooking process.
Shrimp, crawfish, and scallops will become tough if you add them too early.
Dense Vegetables
Vegetables like carrots, celery, and large slices of onions can be added to the slow cooker at the beginning. Collards and kale also benefit from a slower cooking time, but whole potatoes may become overcooked if you add them too early.
For large slices of russets or whole red potatoes, wait until the halfway point before you add them. Red and yellow potatoes will break down less than a baking potato and are ideal for the crockpot.
Dried Herbs and Spices
Dried herbs like parsley, oregano, or thyme can be added to the slow cooker in the beginning. Some spices like cayenne pepper become stronger when they are in a slow cooker. If you want to decrease the heat and spice, wait a few hours before you add the spices.
Closing Remarks
Slow cookers are incredibly useful appliances that can cook an entire meal with little preparation. There are countless recipes and cookbooks devoted solely to the slow cooker, but some recipes fail to mention when you should add the meat and vegetables.
If you pre-cook your meat and seafood and wait to add your delicate vegetables, your guests will enjoy a delicious, slow-cooked meal.