Amazon has reported a notable increase in its sales of slow cookers the worldover. Slow cooking is not only a great way to cook delicious, nutritious meals, but also tremendously efficient. Although you need to undertake some preparation – the same as with most other methods – the actual cooking is done while you’re at work, out shopping, or dealing with all the other things making demands on your time. On top of that, they’re also energy-friendly.
Slow cookers first became popular in the early 1970s when the original Crock-Pot was introduced to the American market. The principle is simple – a low-power heating element slowly cooks the contents of the ceramic pot in water or other liquid. The temperature is brought to just below boiling point to cook your food gradually over several hours. This makes slow cookers ideal for dishes such as stews and casseroles, soups, hotpots and pot roasts, and even some ragù, curry and tagine recipes.
Some critics complain that food needs to be prepared in advance, and to an extent this is true. Vegetables need to be washed and chopped, garlic peeled and crushed, and some recipes call for meat to be browned or seared in advance. You may not want to put in that amount of effort, particularly first thing in the morning before heading off to work. However, the trade-off is that once those bits and pieces are done, you can head out for the day knowing that when you return home, a tasty, hot meal is just waiting to be served with no additional effort required.
Cooking meat or vegetables for a long time (for example boiling for a lengthy period) usually causes them to lose a considerable amount of nutrients. This is less of a problem with slow cookers, however – lower temperature means fewer nutrients are destroyed during cooking, and the lid means the nutrients that do escape from meat and vegetables remain in the liquid, rather than draining away. Meals from a slow cooker are therefore healthier than some other cooking methods – although it’s a good idea to trim fat off meat before slow cooking.
With energy consumption only slightly higher than a domestic light bulb, slow cookers are the perfect option in these times. While the cooking method may take a little getting used to, chances are you’ll be surprised by their versatility and the results.