If you see a non-slow-cooker recipe you love, but wish you could adapt it for slow cooker cooking, our Tips for Converting Slow Cooker Recipes are here to help! With these easy tips you can make a recipe with the appliance of your choice. Our tips for converting your favorite recipes to the slow cooker are invaluable and simple to follow. Our stove top and oven to slow cooker conversion guide will come in handy, especially when you're preparing a large-scale meal and you're running out of room in your oven. Your slow cooker can come to the rescue!

It's especially handy to use your slow cooker for recipes that require long simmering or roasting times. Slow cooking is easy, safe--as it doesn't require supervision--and it won't heat up your house during warm, summer months. Our tips will help you to figure out how long to slow cook a recipe when you might normally cook it in your oven.

Tips for Converting Slow Cooker Recipes

General Tips for Converting Your Favorite Recipes to the Slow Cooker:

1. Before you take on the task of converting a recipe for a slow cooker, consult the guidelines from your slow cooker's manufacturer.
    
2. Find a similar recipe to the recipe you are converting and use it as a guide. Take note of the ingredient quantities and liquid quantities indicated in that recipe
    
3. Slow Cookers produce their own moisture; you can reduce the liquid called for in the recipe a third to a half. For instance, if a recipe calls for 6 to 8 cups of water, perhaps begin with 5 cups of liquid.
    
4. If a recipe does not include liquid at all, it's advised to add a 1/2 cup of water or broth.
    
5. To thicken soups and stews in your slow cooker, you can add flour or cornstarch.
    
6. When cooking soups and stews, place the vegetables on the bottom and sides of your crock, and place the meat on top.
    
7. As a rule of thumb, 1 hour of simmering on your stove or baking at 350 degrees F in the oven is equivalent to a 6 to 8 hours on LOW/ 3 to 4 hours on HIGH cooking time in your slow cooker.
    

More Slow Cooker Tips and Tricks:

• Dishes cooked on the LOW setting on your slow cooker can often be cooked safely on the HIGH setting for half the time.
   
• Keep the lid on: Slow cookers lose 20 to 30 minutes of cooking time when the lid is taken off.
   
• Make sure frozen foods are completely defrosted before placing them in your slow cooker.
   
• Layer ingredients in your crock so that the ingredients that are most dense and take the longest to cook are on the bottom.

For more handy kitchen tips, check out our free eBook, The Ultimate Kitchen Guide: How-Tos, Cooking Tips & Essential Kitchen Knowledge.